Studio Ghibli released the trailer for its first CGI film ‘Earwig and the Witch’. It gives audiences a first look at the studio’s first fully 3D CGI feature film.

With the studio’s co-founder Hayao Miyazaki contributing in the film’s planning and development, the 82-minute feature is directed by his son Goro Miyazaki himself. It’s based on a 2011 novel of the same name by English author Diana Wynne Jones and follows the adventures of an orphan named Earwig, who finds herself loving life at the St. Morwald’s Home for Children.

One day, Bella Yaga and Mandrake come disguised as foster parents, bringing Earwig back to their mysterious, magical house full of invisible rooms, spell books, and potions. Undeterred by this new environment, Earwig decides to “show the witch who’s boss.”

Check out the trailer below:

https://youtu.be/ncs4AGA8Sfc

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The casting for the film has also been revealed alongside the December release date, with 13-year-old child actress Kokoro Hirasawa as Earwig, Shinobu Terajima as Bella Yaga, Etsushi Toyokawa as Mandrake, and Gaku Hamada as Thomas. Earwig and the Witch will air on NHK General on December 30, followed by a theatrical release in North America in early 2021.

This will be the first voice acting role Hirasawa has landed, though she has already acted in a number of TV series and films. Studio Ghibli has created such a legacy of outstanding works,” Hirasawa says, “and I’m so excited to be able to participate in one of their productions.”

The studio has produced some of the most critically and commercially successful animated films ever made. In particular, Miyazaki’s 2001 film Spirited Away remains the highest-grossing movie in Japanese history and is frequently ranked among the most important films of the 21st century so far.

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