Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Mary and the Witch’s Flower – When she finds some strange flowers in a nearby forest, Mary discovers a magical school and is mistakenly made a pupil there by headmistress, Madam Munblechook. However, when it is discovered that she is not actually a witch, she has to flee the school. Unfortunately when Madam and mad scientist, Dr Dee realise Mary has discovered the long lost magical flowers, she and those around her are put in danger.

Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017) – Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Giles New

Rating: U

Running Length: 103 mins

Starring (English Dub): Ruby Barnhill, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent

Genre: Animated, Fantasy

REVIEW: ‘MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER’

Having directed two popular movie with Studio Ghibli – ‘Arrietty‘ and ‘When Marnie was There‘, ‘Mary and the Witch’s Flower was Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s directorial debut with fledgling Japanese animation studio Studio Ponoc. As their first feature length story, Studio Ponoc have taken the usual Ghibli direction of having a female lead. Young Mary is intuitive, curious, determined and capable but is by no means perfect – her mistreatment of cheeky but friendly Peter due to her insecurities give her depth and a character trait for her to work on.

Although the story itself is quite simple, a lot is thrown at the screen to make very interesting. The colourful and inventive magic spells at the school are wonderfully realised and the animation is richly drawn to make it a genuine treat for the eyes. It would be nice for a little more time be spent with Mary at home. We never really get to grips with her living situation other than the minimal information that’s given and additional detail on her feelings of isolation would have made her desperation for adventure more palpable. That said, any story that also involves grumpy cats is a hit with us!

‘Mary and the Witch’s Flower’ takes a good story and gives it a lovely amount of flair to truly flesh it out. There is a minimal cast so it could easily become too sparse but the inventive magical elements and exciting embellishments ensure that this is a movie that kids will love and a great debut movie to showcase the newly born Studio Ponoc.

CONTENT: IS ‘MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens with a girl who has stolen some seeds and is running away. She is chased and shot at but manages to flee on a broomstick. Numerous magical blob-like creatures fly after her and almost capture her but she manages to escape.

Mary finds two cats and follows them into some nearby woods alone. She walks a long way, doesn’t know the area and no-one knows where she has gone. She has no issues while in there and leaves without any problems but parents may be unhappy with the message that it’s fine for children to go alone into an unknown wooded area.

She goes into the woods another time despite being warned not to several times because of mist. She ignores a final warning and goes in deep. A gloopy blue substance attaches itself to Mary’s hands and she is unable to get it off; it sinks into her hands and she is left with a mark on them, This mark is later explained to mean the person with them has magical powers.

Mary goes everywhere with a cat called Tib as it seems to have a better knowledge of where its going. To make sure it doesn’t wander off, Mary ties a collar around its neck. The cat initially fights against this but soon accepts it however we mention it in case children imitate this with their own pets or neighbourhood animals.

In the magical realm, Mary finds herself walking through a door which opens by itself into a eerily quiet courtyard. As she walks further in, the door closes behind her. This is a bit creepy but Mary is unfazed.

Mary is taken to a room which has circular bench seats. These completely surround her as she stands in the middle. A magic spell is uttered and dozens of hooded figures wearing patterned masks appear. This is initially unnerving as the faces of the people are hidden and they all look uniform, but the moment doesn’t get scary.

Animals are kept in cages and are used for experiments. A monkey lunges towards its captor but it stopped by the bars of the cage it’s in. The animals are taken away and not seen again until later in the film where they have been subjected to experiments and partially transformed into other creatures.

Mary has been annoyed with a boy called Peter for calling her a ‘red haired monkey’ and seeing her trip and fall over which embarrassed her. He clearly means no ill will towards her and has been friendly to her despite her irritation toward him. When Mary by is questioned about the magical flowers, she lies and tells the school’s main witch, Madam, that they belong to Peter, inadvertently putting him in danger.

When Mary returns home, she is told that Peter has gone missing and his bike was found at the edge of the woods – where Mary last saw him. A message flies through Mary’s window and shows Peter tied up in the magical realm.

When Mary returns to the magical realm, she is caught and large black creatures surround her and take her to an underground storeroom. This is the same room that the animals were taken to be experimented on and she sees them all in cages but they have suffered through failed transformations. They do not appear to be in pain but it is obvious they are unhappy and do not want to be there.

Mad scientist, Dr Dee tells Peter that he’s ‘going to be part of my most important experiment’.

Mary discovers an empty house and enters without hesitation. Parents may not be happy with kids seeing this and thinking going into strangers houses is ok.

Mary is told about an experiment to transform a person which ‘ended in tragedy’. There is a short scene showing someone entering the transformation machine, they are engulfed by a large blue explosion but the actual death isn’t seen.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER’ FOR KIDS?

Colourful and exciting, ‘Mary and the Witch’s Flower’ takes a simple story and surrounds it with layer upon layer of eye-catching animation so that the end package is a feast for the eyes. We recommend this movie as suitable for kids aged 5 and over.

• Violence: 1/5 (some threats)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (Mary and Peter are worried about their predicaments. The animals bang against their cages in distress)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (a few mild jumpy moments and scenes of magical attack)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of magic and witchcraft, loneliness, curiosity, selfishness, helping the vulnerable and putting yourself in danger to help others.

Words by Laura Record