Mary And The Witch's Flower

Alright, and I'm back. Some stuff has happened but I'm glad to be back regardless and we are kicking off with some more animation straight from Japan.

I must admit I rented Mary And The Witch's Flower months before now when I'm writing the review. I noticed they had a special screening of it at a theater in town, but I never saw it. So when I had a free rental at Redbox I decided to check it out for fun, and I really enjoyed it. And time hasn't changed my opinion, this is a really really good movie, the breakout film of Studio Ponoc with animators straight out of Studio Ghibli. And yes, the film has a heavy Studio Ghibli style but it doesn't feel....ripped off or trying to emulate the art direction. It's done with love and care in all departments, and I actually did come to a sort of revelation while I watched this movie a second time. I'm never getting tired of animation of any kind for the rest of my life because, you can always see the most beautiful and excellent environments. You can't always see a massive golden full moon or a magnificent sky of clouds at sunset in real life, but you can as Bob Ross always said, the most unreal scenery and beautiful landscapes you've ever seen.  You can do so much with animation, and create such beautiful scenery. So visuals are outstanding, but how's the story? Well for an almost 2 hour film it goes at a pretty leisure pace, even when the action picks up there's still quiet moments. So the story involves a young girl named Mary who recently has moved into a new town, and soon discovers a magical flower that imbues her with magical abilities and the discovery of a magical college by the name of Endor (Yes, I checked the spelling and that is how it is spelled.), but the magical abilities only last for so long and the higher ups want the flower for their own desires thrusting our heroine to stop them. Basic but interesting story, gorgeous animation, very fine voice acting including some big hitters like Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet, and a promising beginning to a new studio. Definite recommendation, happy to be back, and we got a Studio Ghibli classic coming up! Until next time, Dude out.