#Studio Ponoc

[modmad]

Have you heard of the upcoming film The Imaginary by Studio Ponoc? It looks like something you’d enjoy the concept of !

YOOOOO WHATTTTT?!??!?

[balu8]

Mary And The Witch's Flower

[littlehollyleaf]

I NEED everyone to watch this on July 5th when it hits Netflix.

Just saw an advanced showing in my local cinema and, guys, I was SOBBING. LIKE, hand to my mouth, forcing back sounds and trying not to sniff too loud because Public Place.

I don't read many children's books these days because my time is so tragically limited, but I always make an exception for A.F.Harrold's because they are always so emotional and, honestly, just beautiful. But this one has always been my fav.

When I heard Studio Ponoc (off-shoot of Gibli) where adapting it I was super excited, cos if anyone were gonna GET the story and do it justice as an adaptation then they (or ofc actual Gibli) were the one I felt I could trust to pull it off (see Howl's Moving Castle for another A+ adaptation of a UK children's novel). And boy have they.

Much like with Howl there are differences, and things that look different to my (lol) Imagining (Zinzan the cat is WILDLY DIFFERENT to how I pictured them, both visually and their voice), and yet the differences and the whole still capture the essence of everyone and everything perfectly.

And it's gorgeous. Just stunning.

If you can, see it on the big screen. If not - 5th July. Netflix. Do.It. You'll thank me.

[ahhvernin]

NO!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN FINAL ADVENTURE?!?!?!

WHAT IS THIS ENDING?!?!

HAVE HER REOPEN THE BOOKSTORE AND MAKE A SAFE HAVEN FOR OTHER IMAGINARIES!!!! MAKE IT MORE SUCCESSFUL FULL OF KID INTERACTION AND PLAY!! YOU CANT MAKE ME CRY THE WHOLE MOVIE AND BE TERRIFIED OF MR. BUNTING FOR THAT ENDING!!!!

[tigris-types]

Why does The Imaginary on Netflix have me crying so much????? I normally don't cry eith movies! I know I hold it when I'm watching movies with other people and I'm alone right now, but I was not expecting it to hit so much in the feels!! Oh gosh, this ending song too!

[possessionisamyth]

Studio Ponoc, consisting of previous animators for Studio Ghibli, as well as creators of Mary and The Witch's Flower, and Modest Heroes dropped The Imaginary in Japan on 12/15/2023!

It's coming to Netflix this year. Trailer with subtitles below.

[samoililja]

just finished watching mary and the witch's flower for the first time and there's so much more i wanted to know about great aunt charlotte.

where did she get her powers, was she born a witch? if yes, how come other people in the family don't have magical powers? or maybe they just haven't discovered them yet? why did she say she's no longer a witch? how did she come to lose her powers? maybe the monster created from the flower is to blame...

and did she live in that island cottage all alone just with her broom and magical companions? did she have a family there? did she ever get to return there after stealing the magical seeds and losing the life she used to have?

[jmburiedart]

A collection of my past Ghibli-related works.

With the recent AI Ghibli art trend, I just wanted to say how much Studio Ghibli has inspired me in my past art and that I will keep making art inspired by them.

I've never used AI for art before (even though there was a lot of AI Ghibli art online years ago too. I KNOW since I always commented whenever I noticed it was AI) and I won't use it now nor any time in the future.

[jimforce]

Throwback Video

It’s been about ten years since When Marnie was there was released in American theaters. The last Studio Ghibli film for Hiromasa Yonebayashi before he would go and make his own company Studio Ponoc. A quiet slow ghost mystery that kinda tucks you in.

[canmom]

Animation Night 183: The Imaginary

Studio Ponoc! They're like Ghibli but not! We met them a while back on Animation Night 151, wherein I described them like so:

In the mid 2000s, the period that Ghibli could enjoy an exceptional state of employing lot of full-time salaried staff (instead of per project freelancers) was coming to an end. In 2014 it seemed they were on the verge of shutting down altogether. Yoshiaki Nishimura, lead producer of many of Ghibli’s films in the 2000s era (Howl - When Marnie Was There), left the studio in 2015, bringing in a bunch of ex-Ghibli animators under a new studio called Ponoc.

We watched their wonderful short film collection Modest Heroes - notable for the absolutely incredible animation tour de force Invisible in which Akihiko Yamashita shows us a salaryman who becomes so disconnected from society that he becomes invisible and insubstantial...

Ponoc has since become a kind of companion studio to Ghibli, maintaining close relationships with its parent. Their films definitely inherit a lot of both the style and the incredible animation skill accumulated there.

This latest film is directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, whose Ghibli career dates alllll the way back to Grave of the Fireflies - he was basically Isao Takahata's right hand man, the guy who did the drawings to translate Takahata's vision into film. As well as working on just about all of Takahata's films and many of Miyazaki's, he personally directed three uniquely styled music videos for Capsule, discussed in this article by Animation Obessive. (for some reason the embeds broke)

They are totally differen than anything you're used to seeing from Ghibli, and it will be fascinating to see if Momose can carry on that spirit! Momose is also known for directing the animated segments of the Ni no Kuni games.

So what's The Imaginary about? Adapting a book from 2014, it's about a world where the imaginations of children - their tulpas if you prefer! - come into a kind of independent existence, but face the existential dread of one day being forgotten. Rudger, the creation of a girl Amanda, runs from his fate and finds his way into a lost village of forgotten imaginations. After that... who knows?

Here's a trailer!

I don't have a ton of time so I gotta leave it at that for now, but I'll give a fuller context after the film.

This film made the main Annecy competition, but you don't gotta go all the way to France to see it with me (though if you do go to France in a couple weeks, say hi, I don't have anyone to meet this time lmao). No, you can see it right now on twitch.tv/canmom! Hope to see ya there! Get in quick, because this is a combo with the sakugabooru watch party and we'll be starting preettttty soon!!

[kyubeys-contract]

Mary Smith from Mary and the Witch's Flower

[xamm3]

⋆⭒˚.⋆𝜗𝜚Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017)⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

[balu8]

Mary and the Witches Flower

[4ce-of-2pades]

Mary and the Witch's Flower

I recently re-watched it and decided to fill two whole pages with low-quality doodles. Mostly Peter. Enjoy!

[birbokie]

sometimes the real magical girl was the friends we made along the way

[floral-alchemist]

Was anyone going to tell me Studio Ponoc has three total films out now, or was I just supposed to scroll half way down the Netflix home page and recognize their style myself?