GKIDS Acquires Studio Ghibli’s Goro Miyazaki-Directed ‘Earwig And the Witch’
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GKIDS has acquired the North American distribution rights to Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch, directed by Goro Miyazaki (From Up on Poppy Hill, Tales from Earthsea) and produced by studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki, with planning on the feature from his father and Oscar winner Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro).
Based on the children’s novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle), Earwig and the Witch marks Studio Ghibli’s first entirely 3DCG animated feature. The film follows the titular Earwig, who grew up in an orphanage and never knew her mother had magical powers. Her life takes a new turn when a strange family takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch.
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“Nowadays, in our country, there are many adults and few children. It must be tough for these children, so few of them having to deal with so many adults,” Miyazaki said of the film. “It was while I was thinking about this that I got to know Earwig. And I realized, ‘That’s it!’ How does Earwig deal with the annoying adults? Please watch Earwig and The Witch to find out. She may be cheeky, but I sincerely hope that our adorable Earwig will encourage children and cheer up adults.”
The feature is an official selection for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and is set to air on NHK in Japan Winter 2020. GKIDS will release the film theatrically in North America in early 2021. Check out the poster below.
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