Mary and the Witch's Flower

As the first film by Studio Ponoc, I expected something spectacular to make it worth members of a very respected animation studio splintering off on their own. "Mary and the Witch's Flower" is competent, but not much more. It's not surprising that the animation is good, but even with the magic elements this one's story seems downright benal compared to the imagination possessed by Ghibli.

I hoped this would be just like getting another Studio Ghibli film, and although it looks like a Ghibli film a lot of the time, it didn't really feel like one. It was just kind of a mix between Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and Harry Potter. The animation was good, and the voice-work was adequate. But the story did feel a little derivative, and not all that engaging in parts. It was a perfectly competent film, and I'm sure kids would enjoy it, but it's just nothing that special

I felt like the whole magic school world was not developed at all (as were the villains) so I felt like there wasn't much depth. But I loved Mary and Tibb!

A safe, harmless little tale about a young girl acquiring some limited powers and learning from a bad choice. While this isn't my favorite anime movie, it's still good. Plenty of good voice acting and some colorful imagery. The story is simple but it thrives on it with every chance it gets. It is probably one of my favorite animated movies from 2018 so far. If you are looking for something that is cute, paced well, and fun for the whole family, this is a good one to rent or buy.

It's a more simplified tale of good vs evil than your typical Ghibli film but an enchanting and frequently visually gorgeous experience all the same. I like the way it flips Harry Potter on its head; less a story of embracing magic and more one of tasting but ultimately rejecting power for the simple life.

It's not going to go down in history as one of the great movies by animators from Ghibli, but it will certainly go down as something worth a watch. The visuals are what you'd expect, which means they're vibrant and amazing; the story is sweet and heartfelt though a tad forgettable and predictable. It doesn't carry a lot of weight, doesn't offer us a real message, but is entertaining for the whole family.

Really cute movie. The Ghibli style lives on with Studio Ponoc. The plot tricks you into thinking it's a cliché movie about a magic academy, but it ends up being unique enough to differentiate itself from the countless movies in that genre. If even someone like me who dislikes most anime and cartoons liked this, stop hesitating and just go watch it already.

Smooth animation and endless creativity enhance the delightful, if shallow, little story. A magical, beautiful film.

A throwback to the days of magical technicolor dreamlands.

Stunning visuals and kinda interesting verse. But thats all. Very unlikeable characters, confusing and meaningless plot. Poor motivations. Too many "deus ex machina" moments. Shits happens out of nowhere. Imitating ghibli and miyazaki =/= same quality as Miyazaki. People should start to learn this fact. Musics are very good but voice acting was pretty bad.

Mary and the Witch's Flower honors its creator's Studio Ghibli roots with a gentle, beautifully animated story whose simplicity is rounded out by its entrancing visuals.

If you told me this movie was done by Hayao Miyazaki, I would have believed you but been surprised there was no real message with this film. This film, made by a studio of former Ghibli animators that formed when Miyazaki retired, has beautiful art and attention to detail. The story is really sweet and does a good job not being too predictable. The story does lack any impact, so it ends up being forgettable in the long run unlike Studio Ghibli films

Great animation with some neat things I haven't seen before. Suspenseful villains and interesting backstory but the plot is bare. Looking forward to Studio Ponoc's next films.

I loved the animation but found the story and characterizations lacking. As expected from animators from Ghibli this films looks and sounds great with great music throughout. It's the story itself or rather how its presented that the problem lies. Unlike most of the Ghibli film the two main characters here are not very relatable and two dimensional. Its still enjoyable and I look forward to more from this studio.

So you know how a couple of weeks ago, I wrote that The Swan Princess could be mistaken for a Disney movie, but only the intro could be passed of as something from a great Disney movie? This is exactly the same thing, only in relation to Studio Ghibli. This gets a higher score than The Swan Princess, though, because it has weird shit and I like weird shit and also, Ghibli is better than Disney, so being almost but not quite as good as Ghibli is better than the same thing with Disney.

Mary as a person was well build and animated. She was whole and working character. Then again the magic world and villains were left half done. The story was a mish mash of something you have already seen, and the entire plot needed a strong rewriting or longer running time to get more depth.

It's fine, but it's just not memorable at all, unlike even the mediocre Ghibli releases. In some moments it almost gets there, and Ponoc can be cut some slack given that this is their first release. But there's really no excuse for being this derivative.

Ghibli-level quality when it comes to animation and world-building, but definitely not on the same level when it comes to writing. Characters explain their every inner thought multiple times and plague the dialog with awkward expo-speak, the characters all could've been more developed and the central conflict felt threadbare. Even compared to Ghibli, this film is intensely sweet and saccharine, which I didn't mind personally, but I'd understand if it was a turn off to others.

Takes some notes from Miyazaki's Kiki and Chihiro in particular, and while it lacks their offbeat genius (and has well-defined 'villains' which they don't), this is still a highly imaginative film that I would definitely recommend for children of all ages.

Can't say any great lesson is learned and really it feels like dangerous magics and problems are still out there, forgotten. The movie feels pointless at its end.

You can see the Ghibli influence in this. Fun little story :)

A very competent Ghibli style animation from ex-Ghibli people. I watched it in cinema with a lot of young kids and it really engaged them, including mine. The animistic storyline and the soundtrack were the appealing parts for me. There were some great designs, but Ponoc needs to try a bit more to differentiate itself from Ghibli works. On the other hand, it was clearly better than the Arrietty they did in Ghibli with under creative restraints I assume; so it was the right decision to leave.

Visuals are stunning-- obviously heavily influenced by time at Studio Ghibli. The story, however, had too many unnecessary elements, the character relationships were shallow, and the leads were not particularly likable.

Mary Smith: "Let's go home together."

Animation top-drawer but the plot is very ho-hum generic - lost me at 4/5ths mark.. Pre-teens (esp girls?) IMO would rate this as "great" but older cynical viewers would say "seen this before and way better done".

This is a funky little flick, note that Mary is kind of a dumbass.

Atleasttheintrowasdopelolthenitkindafucksaroundtil/andwhileshegettingintotheschool

This was perfectly fine animation which biggest obstacle is being compared to Ghibli films due to the background of it’s director. It’s visually strong and entertaining, but feels a bit like a calculated megamix of Ghibli films like Kiki and Spirited Away which is understandable with this being Studio Ponoc's first. Hopefully they are not afraid to take bigger risks with the next one.

Bland plot, bland setting, bland animation, bland music. Which the pseudo-Ghibli style is unable to cover up. Feels very much like its made for children. Probably due to the characters being so gullible and literal all the time.

This animated adaptation of a children's book from the early 70's is the first project of Studio Ponoc, a company formed by former employees of Studio Ghibli. It has the fierce imagination and meticulous craftsmanship of their work, but the plot is less focused than their work.

Surprisingly uncharming. Just because you look like a Miyazaki movie doesn't mean that you feel like a Miyazaki movie.