Earwig and the Witch Trailer Introduces Studio Ghibli’s Newest Heroine

The first trailer for Studio Ghibli’s newest animated and first-ever CG film Earwig and the Witch has finally arrived online through Twitter (via NHK), featuring a new look at Aya’s magical world as she bravely stands up to her evil foster parents. The film is still set to make its world premiere on December 18 in Japan and it is expected to be released in the U.S. by GKIDS. Check out the video in the player below!

First trailer of new Studio Ghibli movie “Earwig and the Witch”, directed by Goro Miyazaki.https://t.co/KDUFbyclIIpic.twitter.com/fV9Rzn7lcq

— Catsuka (@catsuka) December 1, 2020

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Earwig and the Witch (or Aya and the Witch) will be based on the 2011 children’s novel of the same name which was written by the late British author Diana Wynne Jones, who has also written the source novel for Studio Ghibli’s popular fantasy film Howl’s Moving Castle. The novel follows the story of a smart orphan girl named Earwig as she gets adopted by a woman named Bella Yaga, who turns out to be a cruel witch that takes her to live in a haunted house.

Pick up a copy of the book here!

In the film, Not every orphan would love living at St. Morwald’s Home for Children, but Earwig does. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it, and it’s been that way since she was dropped on the orphanage doorstep as a baby. But all that changes the day Bella Yaga and the Mandrake come to St. Morwald’s, disguised as foster parents. Earwig is whisked off to their mysterious house full of invisible rooms, potions, and spell books, with magic around every corner. Most children would run in terror from a house like that . . . but not Earwig. Using her own cleverness—with a lot of help from a talking cat—she decides to show the witch who’s boss.

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Earwig and the Witch is directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of Spirited Away director Hayao Miyazaki, who is also being credited with the planning of the film. It is a co-production by Studio Ghibli, NHK, and NEP.