Studio Ghibli to release first full-length CG feature 'Aya and the Witch'

Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio behind hits like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, has announced that it is set to release its first full-length 3D computer graphic animated feature.

The studio, which is well-known for its hand-drawn animations, has adapted the 2011 novel "Earwig and the Witch" by Diana Wynne Jones to full-length anime feature called Aya and the Witch.

The novel tells the story of an orphan named Earwig who is suddenly taken away from the orphanage and is sent to live with a mysterious witch.

Studio Ghibli previously adapted one of Jones' novels, Howl's Moving Castle, into an anime in 2004.

The legendary Hayao Miyazaki will be in charge of the Aya and the Witch's planning and development while his son Goro Miyazaki will direct the feature.

Hayao Miyazaki's first CG-animated work was Boro the Caterpillar, a short film shown at the Ghibli Museum in 2018. Meanwhile, Goro Miyazaki previously directed CG-animated series Ronja the Robber's Daughter for a different animation studio.

Aya and the Witch is expected to premiere on NHK this coming winter. The animated film is also part of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection for 2020.

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