Miyazaki creates ‘sacrilegious’ Ghibli movie
Even protagonist a departure in studio’s first 3DCG feature
“Earwig and the Witch” is about a young orphaned girl who is not afraid to do what she has to do to get what she wants.
Her personality alone sets her apart from a majority of the heroes depicted in the films from Studio Ghibli. But she’s also the central character of the acclaimed Japanese animation studio’s first-ever 3D computer graphics feature.
“Earwig is this protagonist who talks about controlling people and is someone that always tries to get payback,” said director Goro Miyazaki. “She is not a proper good kid, really, and I thought that made her very charming.
“I wanted to portray her as someone who is energetic and honest about her wants who just doesn’t fit the ‘good kid’ mold.”
After working on the computer-animated TV series “Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter,” Miyazaki returned to Ghibli with an eye toward working on a CG feature. When the project he had been preparing for fell through, Ghibli co-founders Hayao Miyazaki — his father
— and Toshio Suzuki approached him about directing “Earwig and the Witch.”
“Earwig,” which is available to stream on HBO Max, is Goro Miyazaki’s third feature, and he said he particularly enjoyed tackling the comedic elements on the film. Each of his Ghibli films, which also include 2006’s “Tales From Earthsea” and 2011’s “From Up on Poppy Hill,” have been distinct in topics and themes. And “Earwig” is the first of the three that feels particularly suitable for a younger audience.
This interview with Miyazaki has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What was it that made you think “Earwig’s” story was something that would work in 3DCG?
A: After working on “Ronja” and making a computer-animated TV show, I came to see that there are allures and possibilities unique to CG as much as there are with hand-drawn animation.
Then I was handed the plans for “Earwig,” and I thought it felt just right. As a story that focuses on a handful of characters in limited situations, it felt like the perfect scope for Ghibli’s first full-CG endeavor.
Q: What are these allures you found that are specific to CG animation?
A: I think that there are certain advantages in CG
with regard to character animation and acting.
For example, a minutelong one-shot scene is extremely hard to do in hand-drawn animation, particularly if it involves detailed acting. With handdrawn animation, you first have to get the drawing right, and these proper drawings have to seamlessly convey the detailed acting. So creating good acting requires finding an artist with the right technique, experience and sensibilities, which is very difficult.
But with CG it’s possible to have different people contribute to one scene, so there is this possibility of raising the bar on the quality of the acting. That was very appealing to me.
Q: How did you decide on what visual approach to use for “Earwig”?
A: Ghibli has done handdrawn cel animation for so
long, going out of the way to use CG just to re-create that look feels unnecessary. So what we ended up looking to was stop-motion animation like the work at Laika and Aardman. We ultimately decided crafting CG that looks like stopmotion would be a good style to pursue.
Having it be 3DCG that was reminiscent of the drawings that Ghibli has done for so long was also something always on our minds.
Q: So you wanted to make a movie that was both “Ghibli-like” and in 3DCG?
A: I agree it’s sacrilegious when you really think about it.
It’s hard to put into words, really, but my thought throughout the whole production process was that the movie would be a success if it was something that people could
watch and say “it’s CG, but it’s still Ghibli-like.”
Q: What inspired you to incorporate Earwig the rock band and that back story?
A: Rock music made sense because the story takes place in an Englandlike place, but some time in the not-too-distant past.
The back story about Earwig’s mother being in a rock band came about because we knew she was being chased by those 12 witches. To me that implied she was a person who did something to make the 12 witches dislike her or that she broke some rules. So I imagined her to be someone with a bit of a rebellious streak.
Since we were already doing something new by making a 3DCG movie, I thought we might as well do something new with the music too. And I personally like rock music.
Q: Were you worried at all about being compared with Ghibli’s other movie with a young girl witch and a talking black cat?
A: I wasn’t really worried about it. But the character designer for “Earwig” is Katsuya Kondo, who also designed Kiki and Jiji for “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” So when we approached him about designing another black cat, he did worry that the cats looked the same no matter how many attempts he made.
Q: Did you find anything particularly difficult to animate or encounter any challenges that were specific to “Earwig”?
A: Everything was a first for me so everything was difficult in its own way.
But along the lines of that idea of trying to maintain our “Ghibli-ness,” Ghibli films are known for their scenes involving food and cooking and eating. I don’t think there are a lot of CG works that are as serious in their depiction of food, so that was one of the areas I really focused on getting right.
It might seem like a small thing, but it definitely was a challenge.
Q: There is an impression that Japanese animation fans in the U.S. are a bit hesitant toward 3DCG anime, but how is it in Japan?
A: I would say it’s similar here. People will watch and enjoy the 3DCG movies from studios like Disney and Pixar and even Illumination.
But they hate 3DCG works that are made here. I think there is this belief that if you’re Japanese, you should be making handdrawn cel animation.
But I also think that’s just among the adults. Children aren’t concerned about whether something is 3DCG or cel animation, or whether something was made in Japan or abroad.
On Feb. 28, 1784, John Wesley, the co-founder of Methodism, chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States in Leesburg, Virginia.
In 1849, the California gold
rush began in earnest as regular steamship service started bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.
In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
In 1983, the long-running TV series “M-A-S-H” ended after 11 seasons on CBS with a special
2 ½-hour finale that was watched by an estimated 121.6 million people.
In 1988, the 15th Olympic Winter Games held its closing ceremony in Calgary, Alberta.
In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to resign. (Benedict was succeeded the following month by Pope Francis.)