A full-length trailer for the first feature film from Studio Ponoc, the Japanese animating studio founded by legendary Ghibli veterans, has landed. 

Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a stunning anime fantasy film by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (behind Arrietty and When Marnie Was There) and Yoshiaki Nishimura (producer of When Marnie Was There and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya). It’s based on The Little Broomstick, an English children’s novel by Mary Stewart – this follows in a similar vein to Ghibli films like Kiki’s Delivery Service and Tales from Earthsea.

The story is set in a school of witchcraft and wizardry, which harbours a dark secret. Mary is a young witch who sets out to free those under an evil spell inside its walls. Of course, we’re getting real Kiki vibes from this, as well as the fantastical elements of Howl’s Moving Castle, and the lush animation of the entire Ghibli canon.

Dubbed in English, the film will feature Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Ewen Bremner and Louis Serkis.

Yonebayashi is famed for his work as a director and animator canonical films like Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away and From up on Poppy Hill. Nishimura also worked on Howl’s Moving Castle. 

Mary and the Witch’s Flower will hit UK cinemas in Spring 2018.