Mary e il fiore della strega

One of Studio Ghibli's most wonderful films was "Kiki's Delivery Service"---an anime movie about a young witch who goes into the world to find herself. In many ways, "Mary and the Witch's Flower" is like taking Kiki from that classic movie and sending her to Hogwarts! Seriously.

When the story begins, Mary seems to be a pretty ordinary young girl. However, when she meets a black cat in the forest and finds a broom, something very strange happens....a weird slime pours from a flower onto her hands and instantly she can fly using the broom. She has no idea what she's doing but soon she and the cat are in a far away magical land with talking animals as well as a witch's school....Endor! But things aren't all happy and laughter there....and after a while she isn't sure who to trust. What's next? Well, it's a bit like "Frankenstein"...but you'll have to see for yourself.

This film is based on Mary Stewart's 1971 story "The Little Broomstick"....which came out long before Kiki or Harry Potter....so although similar to the other stories, it is an original as well. I have never read this book nor had I heard of it before seeing the movie.

So it is any good? Well, the animation quality is excellent and although it looks just like a Studio Ghibli movie, it's instead made by a different Japanese studio. I liked the film quite a bit. I only really have one quibble...the resolution to the story was very fast and not especially satisfying.