New trailer lands for Studio Ghibli alumni's first film

Keeping the spirit alive

New trailer lands for Studio Ghibli alumni's first film

The retirement of Hayao Miyazaki – co-founder of the legendary Studio Ghibli and lifelong maker of extremely, almost unreasonably lovely animated films – was rather short-lived, but when the animation maestro first announced his decision (straight up lie) to bow out, a number of ex-Ghibli employees – led by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura - got together and decided to form Studio Ponoc. 

Two years later and anticipation for their first feature film continues to build. Mary and the Witch’s Flower is based on British novelist Mary Stewart’s book, The Little Broomstick, and tells the story of a young girl (Mary) who discovers that, for one night only, she has within her the power to become a witch. 

The movie is set to release in Japan this summer, and the latest teaser trailer (complete with English subtitles) is as visually alluring as you’d expect from Ghibli alumni. There’s a taste of esteemed composer Takatsugu Muramatsu’s typically soaring score, as well as what appears to be a talking fox on a broomstick – which is always fine by us. 

Have a watch. 

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Matt Tate
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Matt Tate is a freelance journalist and contributor at for Shortlist. Formerly Stuff Magazine’s news editor and based in the UK, he’s been writing about consumer tech for around eight years, with a particular focus on gaming.

For his sins, Matt is a huge Tottenham Hotspur fan and unfortunately spends a lot of his time scanning his published work for Spurs-related digs that may have been slyly inserted by editors. Otherwise, he’s often buying Lego sets he can no longer accommodate and trying to perfect his carbonara recipe. He can be found tweeting (mostly about football and video games) at @MattWTate.