Studio Ghibli goes 3D
EARWIG AND THE WITCH I Gorō Miyazaki pilots Studio Ghibli into the world of 3D animation…
Earwig And The Witch is the first computer-animated film by Japanese powerhouse Studio Ghibli. But anyone thinking it’s a necessary move in order for the 36-year-old production house to continue to flourish in today’s market is, according to director Gor Miyazaki, wrong.
“If you’re looking for commercial success, especially in Japan, you wouldn’t go for 3D CG, you’d have to go for hand-drawn animation,” says Miyazaki, the son of Ghibli co-founder and directorial doyen Hayao Miyazaki. “Japanese people like hand-drawn animation over CG. I decided to do computer graphics because I was curious in making animation using these new technologies.”
Gor ’s first two movies, Tales From Earthsea and From Up On Poppy Hill, were hand-drawn. Before embarking on Earwig And The Witch, he stepped away from Studio Ghibli to make TV series Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter for Polygon Pictures. It blended computer animation and cel animation and proved a vital stepping stone. “The producer of Studio
Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki, wanted to see a Studio Ghibli film made in CG,” explains Miyazaki. “And I was curious to make a film in CG.”
Based on a novel by the late English author Diana Wynn Jones, who also provided the source material for Howl’s Moving Castle, Earwig And The Witch sees English orphan Earwig (voiced by Taylor Henderson) adopted by witch Bella Yaga (Vanessa Marshall) and reclusive warlock Mandrake (Richard E. Grant). Before you can say ‘Cinderella’, she’s put to work doing menial tasks, but this is no coy, browbeaten girl who meekly accepts her lot. Back in the orphanage, she was the leader of the pack, and she’s not about to do chores when there are magical spells to be learned…
Eagle-eyed viewers might spot that Hayao Miyazaki gets a ‘Planning’ credit, but that, says Gor , is because he originally had the idea of adapting Jones’ novel, and was involved in early discussions as to “the challenge of Earwig – how does she manipulate people, and how can we make her into a likeable character?” But Gor was left entirely to his own devices – vital if he’s to ever divorce himself from his father’s work and legacy.
“I think I’ve been able to do that with this film in particular,” he says, admitting that part of the reason he did Ronja elsewhere was to “not worry about him looking over my shoulder.” He smiles. “Using computer animation, I was able to step out of his shadow and do my own film.”
So will there be more 3D animation in Ghibli’s future? “Having done it, the feeling was, ‘OK, we can do this.’ But there are things that I feel I could improve, or things I feel I could do in a different way. That will totally be my next challenge.” JG
ETA | 28 MAY / EARWIG AND THE WITCH OPENS IN CINEMAS THIS SPRING.