Breaking the Spell

DEPARTING FROM THE DISTINCTIVE VISUAL STYLE THAT MADE THE COMPANY FAMOUS, STUDIO GHIBLI’S FIRST 3D-ANIMATED FEATURE FILM – DIRECTED BY GOR ō 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. In the closing credits of Earwig and the Witch (Gorō Miyakazi, 2020), the twenty-third feature from Studio Ghibli connects with the legendary Japanese animation studio’s past. It features a host of stills, painted in watercolour, that show future adventures: a kind of credit-roll postscript that functions as a what-happened-next epilogue. It’s a direct homage to the credits of the classic My Neighbour…