First Trailer: Studio Ghibli’s “Earwig And The Witch”

Studio Ghibli recently released the first trailer for their eagerly anticipated new feature, Earwig and the Witch. This is notable because it marks the company’s first foray into CG animation, something they have long shied away from, though it has become the standard in the industry.

The film is directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of the legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki, and is based on a 2011 children’s book of the same name, written by celebrated author Diana Wynne Jones. The story follows a young orphan named Earwig who gets adopted by a woman called Bella Yaga. But things quickly go awry when Earwig learns that Bella is actually a witch that’s taking her to live in a haunted house.

The movie was originally set to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival but was postponed when the festival shutdown due to the pandemic, and it has been several months since anything has been announced for the project. With the release of the trailer on December 1st, though, it was also reiterated that Earwig and the Witch is now earmarked for an early 2021 theatrical release, though no specific release date has been provided.