Mary and the Witch's Flower - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Mary and the Witch's Flower

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

​

Movie
If you noticed the “A Studio Ponoc Film” banner across the top of Mary and the Witch’s Flower and wondered why it looks SOOOO similar to a Studio Ghibli film, then you’re not the only one. Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the debut film of brand new Studio Ponoc, a studio created by Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaka Nishimura, after the demise of Studio Ghibli. For those not in the know, Studio Ghibli has decided to stop making new films from here on and out after Miyazaki left, and co-founder of the studio, Isao Takahata died recently. This left a gaping whole in the animated industry, so, Nishimura decided to create his own studio, and continue on the legacy that Studio Ghibli was known for. For their first feature film, they used Studio Ghibli regular, Hiromasa Yonebayashi (known for When Marnie was there and The Secret World of Arietty) and craft a delightful little fantasy film that doesn’t reach the heights of Miyazaki’s works, or even Yonebayashi’s Arietty, but still manages to be a fun ride for the fledgling studio.

Mary Smith (Hana Sugisaki) is a young girl with unruly red hair and a bit of a loner on her great aunt Charlotte’s (Shinobu Otake) estate. She has no real friends to speak of, and her ability to help around the garden is fairly limited by her clumsy nature. Nothing ever that good happens in her life, and the poor girl just desperately wants to be useful and good at something. Her life takes a drastic turn when a pair of stray cats named Tib and Gib come in through her window and lead her into the forest where Mary finds a beautiful blue flower growing. These flowers are known as Fly by Nights (or witch’s flowers) and only bloom once every 7 years. Plucking a stem of flowers, Mary starts to meander back when she runs across an old broom stuck up against a viny old tree. When she touches the broom, a catalyst reaction between the flowers and Mary and the now flying broom whisks the redheaded child up into the clouds and to the magical school of Endor.

Mary is greeted by Mrs. Mumblechook (Yuki Amami) who claims that Mary is a magic child prodigy, and that she would make a fine addition to the school. Along with another witch named Doctor Dee (Fumiyo Kohinata), Mrs. Mumblechook practically lays out the red carpet for Mary. Low and behold Mary DOES seem to possess magical powers and instead of letting the two teachers at the academy know that she only got these powers after picking the flowers, goes along with the facade and gets herself deeper and deeper into the schools inner workings. However, things are not as they seem, and the little clues that something else is going on begin to reveal themselves to Mary. In an effort to shift responsibility off herself, she confesses that her powers only came from those Fly by Night flowers, and that her neighbor Peter (Ryunosuke Kamiki) was the one who actually owned them. Mrs. Mumblechook seems a bit TOO interested in that information, and after dismissing Mary kidnaps the young boy to get ahold of the magical flowers for her own twisted machinations. Upon arriving back home, Mary finds out that Peter is missing, and has to dig deep within herself and go back up to the magical college of Endor (sorry, no Ewoks).

Thematically Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a very simple film. It’s a movie about a young girl who lives with her own personal negativity. A negativity that destroys everything around her and leads to nothing good. When she is whisked away to the magical world of Endor, she is given an ego boost, and the wining and dining of the staff makes her feel more important than she has any right to be. However, this false pride is soon to fall back to earth, and Mary has to find out that the only magic that she has available, is the one she makes for herself. A fact that causes her to come face to face with her own self doubt and grow into a powerful young woman who relies on her OWN confidence, rather than the false confidence of a magical power that she stumbles upon. Basically it’s a plea to take hold of your own destiny, and embrace your own personal strengths and weaknesses, not just reject them and mope around.

The film is quite good, but doesn’t measure up to some of the truly epic films that Studio Ponoc’s predecessor was famous for. However, Mary may not be the BEST of the film’s in the genre, but it is far from the worst either. The movie is simple, sweet and full of a wonderful joy that just brims from within. The animation is stunning beyond belief, and the work of Hiromasa Yonebayashi brings a sense of confidence and familiarity to the fledgling studio’s first feature film.




Rating:

Rated PG by the MPAA




Video:

Wowza. Studio Ponoc starts off with a bang, giving us one amazing looking 1080p Blu-ray to enjoy. The brightly colored film is just gorgeous to look at, with crisp and clean animation lines and lovingly done mixture of hand drawn animation and CGI (at least it looks like that to my eyes). The backdrops show wonderful details, with a mixture of watercolors and well defined backgrounds. Close ups are incredibly revealing, with every fiber and hair of Mary’s showing of perfectly, and luscious colors just popping off the screen. I didn’t notice any jaggies or compression artifacts for the animated flick, and black levels are deep and silky black, showing no signs of crush or other anomalies. Simply put, a picture perfect image that is 100% demo material on Blu-ray.





Audio:

Universal gives us a dual audio experience, with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track in both the original Japanese and in English as well. Both tracks are amazing to listen to, but once again my purist nature gravitates towards the original Japanese language track as the most enjoyable. Voices are clean and clear, locked up front and evenly balanced with a rocking adventure track that really knows how to play the nuance card. The opening shot of the movie is of a red headed witch escaping Endor, and that scene really rips the doors off with incredible surround usage and some deep LFE thundering down low. However, when the movie isn’t engaged in magical battles, the track maintains a lovely sense of calm and restraint. LFE is soft and mellow, but the surrounds are still active with the little background noises (such as the crunching of footsteps in the forest, or trickling of water in the Endor fountain). But fear not, the thunderous LFE and whirling sense of sonic immersion is not far behind, and the end battle for Mary is one that really brings down the house.






Extras:

• NTV Special: Creating Mary and The Witch's Flower
• A Special Conversation: Sekai No Owari, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and Yoshiaki Nishimura
• Film Completion Press Conference
• Theatrical Promotional Movie
• Interview with the Filmmakers
• Trailers
• TV Spots

Final Score: ​

As I said above, Mary and the Witch’s Flower can’t match some of the true greats of the old Studio Ghibli lineup, but it is a fun film that really is a great start for Studio Ponoc. It’s visually stunning, filled with some great action, and an uplifting story that really does warm the heart quite nicely. The film’s adventures are palpable, and the high flying magical battles are sure to put a smile on your face. Universal’s Blu-ray is nothing short of jaw dropping, with perfect video and audio, and even a decent array of extras as well. I’m a huge fan of Studio Ghibli, and with their inevitable demise, Studio Ponoc looks like it’s poised to take over when it’s mentor ended. Which hopefully should give us many more years of classic films. Highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Yuki Amami, Hana Sugisaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki
Directed by: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Written by: Mary Stewart (book), Riko Sakaguchi (screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG
Runtime: 103 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: May 1st, 2018

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will check it out.