Former Ghibli animator/director Hiromasa Yonebayashi has miraculously harnessed the charm of his previous employer for this feature debut from Studio Ponoc; a new anime company founded by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura. Mary and the Witch’s Flower, Yonebayashi’s third feature following Arrietty and When Marnie Was There, is a sprightly and spirited fantasy adventure that’s garlanded with that unparalleled Ghibli magic and matchless capacity to whisk viewers away into captivating fantasylands.
After an action-loaded prologue, the story sashays into serener settings where we meet Mary at the start of her adventure. Mary is an affable yet lumbering youngster, staying with her aunt in a chocolate box village, while her parents are away on a business trip. Mary befriends a black cat who leads her to discover a rare, purple flower (the Fly-by-night). She is then swiftly spirited away to a city in the clouds and welcomed to the Endor College (of witchcraft) by the melancholy Madame Mumblechook . After reluctantly enrolling, Mary uncovers dark secrets at the heart of Endor and discovers her friends and esteemed associates might not be as hospitable as they first appeared.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower does little to deviate from the classic Ghibli templates but graciously picks up where its predecessors parted. Along with similar palettes, landscapes, characters and motifs, MATWF’s script (based on the British novel The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart) isn’t a stone’s throw from the type that Ghibli would have crafted or green-lit in a heartbeat back in their day. With a dash of Roald Dahl, MATWF is that classic, fish out of water story that makes one wonder whether Ponoc could have done better by taking a pluckier path for their first outing, instead of playing it safe as they have done here.
Despite the similarities, there are still many moments that make MATWF an often masterful work. Creatures twist into fish then water while light particles morph and twinkle on trees. An array of vibrant supporting characters compliment the world with grounded traits that meld well with familiar fantasy facets. Creative comedy comes in the guise of Tib (Mary’s cat), who is also her “familiar” (all witches have one). Tib’s feline traits counteract spookier scenes in forests which augment MATWF’s pleasantries with an appropriate PG edge, as do Mumblechook (the Russian doll like headmistress who recalls Yubaba from Spirited Away) and her slimy second in command, the devious Doctor Dee (a non-spider like Kamaji). Both are fun and crooked antagonists but a tad too motivated by Miyazaki to make MATWF as unique and enthralling work as it should have been.
Where anime film-maker Masaaki Yuasa battled to fashion the perplexingly bat shit Night is Short, Walk on Girl into comprehensible film/prose, MATWF could have done with some of Yuasa’s audacious energy to buttress its design. Yonebayashi stays too close to his comfort zone to make Ponoc’s debut extraordinary, but he has still crafted a truly charming and spirited work that’s impossible not to warm to. MATWF is also often staggeringly beautiful and sometimes slightly spry yet captures a childlike wonder through the characters which make it as awe-inspiring as Ghibli’s almost greatest. While never topping the dizzy brilliance of CoMix Wave’s Your Name, MATWF is a commendable feature and should be adored by viewers beyond it’s anime fan-base.
