We brought word in December last year that Studio Ponoc, spawned from a team who decided to keep the Studio Ghibli spirit alive after the facility shuttered its doors (it has since re-opened them), was at work on its first release, Mary And The Witch's Flower. We now know that the likes of Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Ewen Bremner, Louis Ashbourne Serkis and The BFG's Ruby Barnhill will provide the English-language voices for the States, here and elsewhere.
Adapting Mary Stewart’s The Littlest Broomstick, the film finds young Mary meeting a black cat and discovering a strange flower in the woods. Before long, she's flying over the treetops on a broomstick and discovering a world of magic. Arriving at Endor College, which purports to teach magic, she discovers a dark purpose lurking at its heart and resolves to stop it. The cast also includes Lynda Baron, Rasmus Hardiker, Teresa Gallagher and Morwenna Banks.
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, director of Arrietty and When Marnie Was There, is overseeing this one alongside writer Riko Sakaguchi and a team that formed Studio Ponoc last year after leaving Ghibli. Altitude Film Distribution has nabbed the UK rights to the movie, but there has been no announcement on a release date yet.
This story will likely have arrived too late, though, to spark the inevitable response from our Pod-team. We can just hear Chris' Jim Broadbent impression now...
Studio Ponoc Aims To Bring The Ghibli Magic With Mary And The Witch's Flower
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