By It’s still weird to say that there hasn’t been a new Studio Ghibli film in almost half a decade, but that is going to end very soon. After having a television debut in Japan, Earwig and the Witch, the latest Studio Ghibli film, was set to have a North American theatrical run sometime in the beginning of the year, but now we have a concrete date it will premiere.
Earwig and the Witch is going to have a limited theatrical run from Fathom Events beginning on February 3rd, which is less than a month away. The film will most likely only play in theaters for two or three days, as is usually the case with limited anime releases, before dropping exclusively on HBO Max on February 5th.
Fun fact about the film; while it is the first feature-length film created by Studio Ghibli almost entirely in CG, it’s not actually their first attempt at working with CG. The distinction goes to the much overlooked Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter, which was a 24 episode anime series that premiered in 2014, also directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki and the director of Earwig and the Witch. While I still have reservations about the film, at least the film is in the mostly capable hands of someone who understands the differences between hand-drawn animation and CG.
Earwig and the Witch will release theatrically on February 3, 2021, followed by an HBO Max release on February 5, 2021.
