Studio Ghibli has long been associated with traditional hand-drawn animation, having produced some of the most highly-acclaimed movies of this type ever made, including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. But now the famed Japanese studio is shaking things up, as it’s been announced that it will be releasing its first-ever fully computer-animated film later this year.
Entertainment Weekly reports that the film, titled Aya and the Witch, will premiere on Japanese network NHK this winter. Legendary director Hayao Miyazaki has been involved with the planning for this project, but directing duties are actually being handled by his son Goro Miyazaki, who has previously directed the films Tales from Earthsea and From Up on Poppy Hill for the studio.
According to NHK, the movie will be an adaptation of Earwig and the Witch, a 2011 children’s book by author Diana Wynne Jones about an orphan girl who has to use her wits to survive living in the magical home of the terrible witch that adopts her. This will be the second time one of Jones’ stories has been adapted by Ghibli, following 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle.
Presently, it’s unknown if there are plans to make Aya and the Witch widely available outside of Japan following its TV premiere. While that mystery waits to be solved, though, fans of the studio’s works can now enjoy them with greater ease than ever before, as most of Studio Ghibli’s films are available to stream on the recently-launched HBO Max.
Aya and the Witch will premiere on NHK this winter.
Source: Entertainment Weekly