Mary and the Witch's Flower is the newest film carrying on the Studio Ghibli legacy
And you can go see it in US theaters on January 18th
GKIDS has sponsored this video letting you guys know about that screening and given me a pair of tickets and merch pouch to giveaway
Links to all that will be below
Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Snagged himself an oscar nomination with his previous film When Marnie Was There and his film before that The Secret World of Arrietty
became one of Ghibli's highest-grossing ever
as such would only make sense that this
Promising young director wouldn't let the winding down of the studio where he got his start in anime prevent him from continuing
To turn his artistic vision into reality he has gone out and formed his own
brand-new studio taking a huge group of talented former Ghibli employees who were in a similar spot to him along for this endeavor
Outside of all that though one of my favorite aspects of the film is actually its English dub
which surprised me a bit since I'm generally quite the sub fan really the second I heard I
This is Endor Collage
I was sold on it, but things do go a bit deeper than that for starters
They got some legitimate talent in to dub it Kate Winslet is the name that immediately jumps off the list
But there's also Ruby Barnhill giving voice to the protagonist Mary. She was cast to play the lead role in Steven Spielberg's
2016 film The BFG
Which came out when she was just 12 years old and was nominated for a number of awards for that performance
However the appeal of this dub lies deeper still it's got accurate accents
Mary and the Witches Flower is based upon an English novel and definitely has that European inspired setting
characteristic of many Ghibli films yet
Rarely do those films go with something outside of the typical American accents when they're dubbed
Here our ears get to revel in a soundscape that doesn't just allow us to understand
What's being said it allows us to inhabit that space to be drawn into it and make it our home
For the duration of the film I did still hear some people that weren't too hot on this dub but for my money
This is the exact position where dubs can shine when they bring a setting to life
It's in that same vein as the fan-favorite dub of Baccano with it's pretty authentically voiced prohibition-era portrayal of Chicago and New York
This dub isn't at all the only strong point about the film of course
I noted the large presence of Ghibli staff
And it should go without saying that as always their work was utterly
Captivating at that level of quality that put Ghibli at the top of the anime industry, but looky there
I just said it anyway
I mean this staff list is just stacked Musashi Ando the guy who designs the characters and
Directed the animation of your name is one of the animators on meri in the witch's flower
I'll spare you from me excitedly shouting out names that only I am enough of a geek to see as sources of excitement
but I can assure you that there's a ton of talent here wherever you look
I'd Love for Hiromasa Yonebayashi's new studio here to be able to be a good home for all these
Immensely talented people and be the continued source of works with this fantastic
Craftsmanship for decades to come that's why I think Mary and the Witch's Flower is
absolutely worth supporting
And why I really felt like I had made it as someone who covers anime when I got a chance to help promote it myself
It's still utterly surreal to me that I'm still just some kid and yet here
I am part of the actual commercial
Effort behind a movie that was made by many of the people who put together so many films that helped define my childhood
There was a bit of messiness that I'll explain in the pinned comment, but this was still a fantastic experience.
Thank you once again to the sponsor GKIDS go check out that contest for a chance to win tickets and a merch pouch
And head on over to fathom events to get tickets to see your local showing on January 18th
Thanks to everyone for sticking with me through all of this