Serving as the inaugural feature film from Studio Ponoc, the animation studio founded by the now former Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Mary and the Witch’s Flower (メアリと魔女の花 | Meari to Majo no Hana) will be headed to Australian and New Zealand markets in the very near future. The animated feature film has been acquired by anime publisher Madman Entertainment, who have handled the release of pretty much every Studio Ghibli film in their covered regions.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower is still several months off, and is currently in post-production prior to a Japanese release. Therefore, don’t expect to see it in cinemas or available on home video formats for some time yet.
Featuring a screenplay by Riko Sakaguchi in collaboration with Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a film adaptation of Mary Stewart’s novel, The Little Broomstick. According to Madman ENtertainment, this film will feature a “sublime blend of magic and fantasy that will sweep audiences along with its charming, heartfelt adventure”. Set primarily within a school for witches, this film sets out to combine “rollicking adventure with the unique richness, art and animation of Studio Ghibli-style storytelling”.
Mary, bored and lonely while spending the summer with her great aunt, follows an odd cat into the nearby woods. There she stumbles upon flowers imbued with a magical juice that transforms Mary’s humble little broomstick. Whisking her above the clouds, the broomstick takes her to a secret place where she finds Endor College – a school of magic!
At Endor, Mary discovers that all is not as it seems – there are experiments that horrify! All too soon she confronts great danger – and a life-changing choice.
Expect to hear more about Mary and the Witch’s Flower, including a release date, in the future.
Tim Anderson | Madman Entertainment Managing Director
Madman has been fortunate to represent the great films that Yonebayashi-san and Nishimura-san have been involved in to date and we are thrilled to be working with Studio Ponoc on this exciting new project.
