Studio Ghibli's upcoming CG-animated film, ‘Aya and the Witch’, generated a fair bit of buzz when the first movie stills were released. Many netizens expressed their delight for yet another Ghibli feature while others turned their nose up at the deviation from Hayao Miyazaki’s signature hand-drawn animation style (this new film is directed by Miyazaki’s son, Goro). Despite the mixed feelings surrounding Ghibli’s new look, the film will mark a new chapter for the studio’s animators, and the level of anticipation for its release later this month is palpable.
In honour of the film’s premiere on NHK in a couple of weeks’ time – it won’t be released in cinemas – Studio Ghibli staff have had puppets of the main characters made. Yes, there will be an ‘Aya and the Witch’ puppet show at the Ghibli Museum. In this video featured on the museum’s YouTube channel, the animation crew put aside scripts and storyboards to try their hand with the puppets of Aya, the witch and Mandrake.
Astonishingly, the puppets look like an exact 3D replica of the animated characters in the film. When producer Toshio Suzuki was working with Aya’s puppet halfway through the video, he couldn’t help but experiment by giving the puppet a demonic expression and having it shudder as though possessed.
The Ghibli Museum is currently closed for maintenance but is expected to reopen sometime in January 2021 – hopefully along with the staging of the puppet show. Until then, tune in to NHK to see the premiere of ‘Aya and the Witch’ at 7.30pm on December 30.
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