Breaking the Spell: Nostalgia and New Directions in 'Earwig and the Witch'

Departing from the distinctive visual style that made the company famous, Studio Ghibli's first 3D-animated feature film – directed by Gor&333; Miyazaki and adapted from a book by Diana Wynne Jones – nonetheless carries on the sensibilities of previous works: magic-filled settings, determined child characters and sympathetic antagonists. As Anthony Carew writes, the journey of the film's orphanage-raised protagonist from servitude to music-inspired self-discovery is a classic tale of liberation.

Additional keywords:
My Neighbour Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, CGI, animation, Tales from Earthsea, Pixar, witchcraft, music