Synopsis
Mary Smith, a young girl who lives with her great-aunt in the countryside, follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest where she finds a strange flower and an old broom, none of which is as ordinary as it seems.
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Cast
- Yuki AmamiMadam Mumblechook (voice)
- Ryunosuke KamikiPeter (voice)
- Hana SugisakiMary (voice)
- Fumiyo KohinataDoctor Dee (voice)
- Hikari MitsushimaThe Red-Haired Witch (voice)
- Jiro SatoFlanagan (voice)
- Kenichi EndoZebedee (voice)
- Eri WatanabeMiss Banks (voice)
- Shinobu OtakeGreat-Aunt Charlotte (voice)
- Ikue OtaniTib (voice)
- 95
The Verge
Mary and the Witch’s Flower doesn’t just borrow elements from Ghibli, it feels like a complete continuation of the studio’s work. It’s a welcome relief for every animation fan who thought that particular era of Japanese animation had, after 30 years, quietly come to a close. - 87
TheWrap
A lovingly crafted fantasy on an epic scale, Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a film about transformation made by filmmakers in transition. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Director Yonebayashi Hiromasa (When Marnie Was There) returns with a more lighthearted anime feature in Mary and the Witch’s Flower, a stirring adventure most suitable for tweens and teens. - 80
Los Angeles Times
If Yonebayashi’s movie doesn’t have the visual richness and imaginative depth of Ghibli masterpieces like Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away,” its emotional warmth and wondrously inviting hand-drawn imagery carry on that company’s proud tradition. - 75
The A.V. Club
It’s a movie with no greater ambition than to charm and occasionally delight. Mission accomplished. - 70
The New York Times
The spell Mr. Yonebayashi casts is effective, but also ephemeral. It’s minor magic. - 67
The Film Stage
Mary and the Witch’s Flower is safe, containing no assertion of Ponoc as an artistic force beyond its overall technical accomplishment. - 63
Slant Magazine
This is a film about the adolescent pangs to belong that also mines its tale of magic and malevolence for an imaginative allegory about the excesses of scientific inquiry.