Respond to these rapid questions in our Earwig And The Witch quiz and we will tell you which Earwig And The Witch character you are. Play it now.
In the case of the computer-animated Japanese kiddy fantasy “Earwig and the Witch,” the hurdles are relatively low, given that it is a new anime produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of Studio Ghibli figurehead and anime pioneer Hayao Miyazaki. After “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Earwig and the Witch” is the second Ghibli adaptation of a Diana Wynne Jones novel. Because the film is visually similar to other Ghibli films (imagine a more timid “Kiki’s Delivery Service”), it would be reasonable to assume that much of the visual style—as well as narrative beats, character types, and general mood—is familiar.
When it comes to the generic misadventures of plucky orphan Earwig (Kokoro Hirasawa), the apprentice to stingy witch-for-hire Bella Yaga (Shinobu Terajima), and the biological daughter of mysteriously absent rocker Akira, there isn’t much new to be found in this film (Sherina Munaf). And while being conventional isn’t always a bad thing, “Earwig and the Witch” is a disappointing Ghibli retread, owing primarily to the film’s unimpressive 3-D animation style and Goro’s relative lack of experience with animation. Goro’s approach to “Tales from Earthsea,” Goro’s directorial debut, was initially met with disapproval, though Hayao later expressed some ambivalence about it, saying, “It was made honestly so it was good.”
When it comes to visuals, “Earwig and the Witch” is nothing more than a sloppy cover version of Hayao’s greatest hits, which is particularly disappointing given that so much of the film is about the frustration that comes with having parents who either don’t notice or care about you beyond a certain point.
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After all is said and done, Earwig is distinct from Annie, Oliver, and so many other fictional orphans who have come before her in that she appears to be more concerned with controlling her environment than she is with reuniting with her mother. She has everyone at the orphanage wrapped around her little finger, so when she is adopted by Bella Yaga and her reclusive warlock partner Mandrake, she isn’t overjoyed at the prospect of being taken in by them (Etsushi Toyokawa). Earwig’s disposition only slightly changes once Bella Yaga assigns her to work, where she completes menial witchy tasks but never learns the fundamentals of spellcraft.
Earwig And The Witch Quiz
There is no sense of urgency in Earwig’s studies or development as a witch, and there is no real conflict or suspenseful elements such as a ticking clock. Aside from that, Earwig doesn’t grow or progress much as a character: she doesn’t spend much time thinking about her orphanage buddy Custard (Yusei Saito), though she does occasionally refer to him by his given name when referring to her talking cat Thomas (Gaku Hamada). According to the evidence of her physical gestures and on-screen behavior, that Freudian slip might be more interesting if Earwig appeared to have some kind of inner life in addition to her outward appearance.
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The design and animation of “Earwig and the Witch” reach a real tipping point at this point: while it’s easy to admire Katsuya Kondo’s character designs and Yuhki Takeuchi’s art direction (especially his background art), it’s much more difficult to find much emotional resonance in the film’s stiff computer-generated animation, which is credited to Yukinori Nakamura (computer graphics) and Tan Se Ri (animation) (general animation). When it comes to emotions, characters’ expressions are frequently reduced to inexpressive, but widely over-accented gestures or features, such as Eearwig’s over-arched pencil eyebrows or Bella Yaga’s Medusa-like curls. These small details convey a great deal without ever being truly expressive, perhaps as a result of the restrictions imposed by the film’s made-for-TV budget.
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The images and scenes in “Earwig and the Witch” that stand out the most are those in which the characters are represented as elements of their surroundings. Earwig’s occasional daydreams about Mandrake (who is often shown hiding behind a newspaper or his bedroom walls), or children hidden under bed sheets as they skip up a spiral staircase, are all examples of what can be found in the show. When characters’ facial expressions and physical movements are required to convey their respective characteristics, difficulties are inevitably encountered in the production process. Sadly, this is not surprising given the fact that all three of Goro’s films are visually flat, including “From Up On Poppy Hill,” which was originally planned and scripted by his father, papa Hayao.
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Despite the fact that Goro’s films all seem to lack his father’s personal touch, it’s possible that this is because they’re all cast in the same fantasy mold that Hayao spent decades perfecting. Goro’s feelings of inadequacy aren’t exactly hidden either—he recently admitted to the Los Angeles Times that there is a “huge gap in sheer ability” between himself and his father—making it easy to read “Earwig and the Witch” as semi-autobiographical, especially given how frequently Mangrove withdraws into his cottage’s bedroom walls. According to Toshio Suzuki, the producer of “Earwig,” Hayao Miyazaki is “not a father, but rather a tall wall” for Goro in the above-quoted 2013 Los Angeles Times article.
Despite this, in-depth readings of “Earwig and the Witch” are only useful to a limited extent, given the film’s tendency to be dramatically inert. Perhaps Goro Miyazaki’s most outlandish feature to date, but it’s also his least interesting. If you have a last name like Miyazaki, it’s dangerous if your movie “Earwig and the Witch” doesn’t move the way it should.
The film opens in select theaters today, February 3, and will premiere on HBO Max on February 5.
For more personality quizzes check this: Ailey Quiz.
