“Why does magic have to smell so awful?” —Earwig
Today’s quick review: Earwig and the Witch. Earwig (Taylor Paige Henderson), a girl who was left at an orphanage by her witch mother (Kacey Musgraves), finally gets adopted by Bella Yaga (Vanessa Marshall), a stern witch who needs an assistant to help her brew potions. Worked hard and treated cruelly, Earwig searches for a way to escape. Meanwhile, she tries to learn more about the house’s other magical inhabitant: the Mandrake (Richard E. Grant).
Earwig and the Witch is a Japanese animated family fantasy adventure from Studio Ghibli. The movie tells the story of a spirited girl who gradually learns more about her magical heritage. Earwig and the Witch trades Studio Ghibli’s traditional hand animation for CGI. The movie’s bright colors and cheerful attitude make it a pleasant watch, but issues with its story, characters, and visual details make it a step down from other Ghibli films.
Visually, Earwig and the Witch brings a few new things to the table, but it struggles with some of the finer points of the medium. The environments are well-designed and charming, the bright color palette sets the mood nicely, and the CGI works well for cloth and liquids. But the characters themselves are wooden, with none of the subtle touches needed to make them feel alive. Likewise, the presentation never quite finds the right rhythm.
Earwig and the Witch has deeper issues with its story. The movie drags its feet getting around to the interesting parts, focusing on Earwig at the orphanage and her early days with Bella Yaga rather than her attempts to learn magic or the mystery surrounding her mother. Earwig herself is a mixed bag, a bold but manipulative girl who never learns any real lessons. Finally, the story cuts off abruptly without resolving many of its main threads.
The result is a light fantasy movie that’s cute in places but has a lot of missed potential. Earwig and the Witch feels like the beginning of something, both in terms of its incomplete story structure and in terms of the characters and concepts it introduces. But its best ideas are never fully realized, and the movie lacks the richness and sense of adventure seen in its competition. Skip it unless you are truly interested.
For a more charming animated film about a young witch, try Kiki’s Delivery Service or Mary and the Witch’s Flower. For a family comedy with fantasy elements about a plucky young girl overcoming oppressive home conditions, try Matilda. For a live action fantasy adventure about a teenager coming into a magical inheritance, try The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the Harry Potter series, or The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
[4.7 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12441478/). I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for charming but flawed art and a half-baked story.