Goro Miyazaki’s EARWIG AND THE WITCH is coming to home video from GKIDS and Shout! Factory. Image courtesy of GKIDS. © 2020 NHK, NEP, Studio GhibliSource: Shout! Factory press release
Official Site: gkids.com/films/earwig-and-the-witch (US)
Special Thanks to Shannon Meehan
EARWIG AND THE WITCH (アーヤと魔女, Āya to Majo, 2020), the first new release in four years from the legendary Studio Ghibli, will be released on digital platforms on March 23, as well as in both a Limited Edition Steelbook and a Blu-ray + DVD combo on April 6 from GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory. Directed by Goro Miyazaki (TALES FROM EARTHSEA, FROM UP ON POPPY HILL) and produced by studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki, with planning from Academy Award-winner Hayao Miyazaki, the feature is based on the children’s novel Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle), and marks Studio Ghibli’s first entirely 3DCG animated feature.
The all-star voice cast for the English dub features the voices of Richard E. Grant (CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, GOSFORD PARK), Kacey Musgraves (“Golden Hour,” “Same Trailer Different Park”) and Dan Stevens (EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA, FX’s LEGION), as well as Taylor Paige Henderson as “Earwig”. In addition to her debut voice acting role as “Earwig’s Mother,” six-time Grammy Award winner Kacey Musgraves sings the English language version of the film’s theme song, “Don’t Disturb Me.” The EARWIG AND THE WITCH Blu-ray + DVD Combo is packed with bonus features, including behind-the-scenes interviews with director Goro Miyazaki, producer Toshio Suzuki and Japanese cast and crew, and feature-length storyboards.
Growing up in an orphanage in the British countryside, Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. As the headstrong young girl sets out to uncover the secrets of her new guardians, she discovers a world of spells and potions, and a mysterious song that may be the key to finding the family she has always wanted.
Image courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 2020 NHK, NEP, Studio GhibliAn official selection for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, the film is scheduled for release in theaters beginning February 3, and will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning February 5.
Limited Edition Steelbook
SKU: 826663216189
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Rating: PG
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Region: A/1
Discs: 2
Run Time: 82 Minutes
Language: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
SRP: $32.98
Bonus Features
● Feature-Length Storyboards
● Behind The Scenes
● Interview With Director Goro Miyazaki
● Interview With Producer Toshio Suzuki
● Interviews with Japanese Voice Cast
● Theatrical Trailers & Teasers
Image courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 2020 NHK, NEP, Studio GhibliBlu-ray + DVD Combo
SKU: 826663216189
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Rating: PG
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Region: A/1
Discs: 2
Run Time: 82 Minutes
Language: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
SRP: $26.98
Bonus Features
● Feature-Length Storyboards
● Behind The Scenes
● Interview With Director Goro Miyazaki
● Interview With Producer Toshio Suzuki
● Interviews with Japanese Voice Cast
● Theatrical Trailers & Teasers
Image courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 2020 NHK, NEP, Studio GhibliDVD
SKU: 826663215618
Release Date: April 6, 2021
Rating: PG
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Run Time: 82 Minutes
Language: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
SRP: $19.98
Bonus Features
● Behind The Scenes
● Interview With Director Goro Miyazaki
● Interview With Producer Toshio Suzuki
● Theatrical Trailers & Teasers
About GKIDS
GKIDS is a producer and distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2010, the company has scored an astounding eleven Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations with THE SECRET OF KELLS in 2010, A CAT IN PARIS and CHICO & RITA in 2012, ERNEST & CELESTINE in 2014, THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA and SONG OF THE SEA in 2015, BOY AND THE WORLD and WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE in 2016, MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI in 2017, THE BREADWINNER in 2018, and MIRAI in 2019. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles SPIRITED AWAY, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, PRINCESS MONONOKE and others.
GKIDS also produces the annual LA-based film festival, ANIMATION IS FILM, which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of their work to the fullest range of expression that the medium is capable of.
About Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC is a diversified multi-platform media company devoted to producing, uncovering, preserving and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their entire careers sharing their music, television and film favorites with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s entertainment offerings serve up feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music and comedy specials. In addition, Shout! Factory maintains a vast entertainment distribution network which delivers culturally relevant programming, movie and audio content to all the leading digital service providers in North America and across multiple platforms. Shout! Factory owns and operates Shout! Studios, Scream Factory, Shout! Factory Kids, Shout! Factory Films, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Timeless Media Group and Shout! Factory TV. These riches are the result of a creative acquisition mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Los Angeles, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com.
About Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators, and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli’s films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation, and epic storytelling. The films have become a beloved part of Japanese popular culture, and have garnered worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Hayao Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature of 2002 and in 2005 Miyazaki was named one of “the most influential people” by Time Magazine.
For more information on EARWIG AND THE WITCH, please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: