Started out with a great premise, then lost sight of it in the tangles it wove. The CGI characters had the look of those on cheap TV kids' shows, but the backgrounds in which they moved were Ghibli quality (of the past) in detail. As one of the other reviews mentioned, this was 2/3rds of a movie. That might be fortunate - character development was getting really annoying, especially that of Earwig herself.

Earwig and the Witch (2020) is a movie I recently watched with my daughter on HBOMAX. The storyline for this picture follows a unique orphan who is adopted by a witch and a menacing warlock who is mean and intense. The orphan tries to adapt to her surroundings and finds it especially challenging and borderline abusive. She decides to use her own powers to try and better her life and improve the situation...but what happens if the warlock finds out?

This movie is directed by Gorô Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea) and contains the voices of Jazmín Abuín (Liar),JB Blanc (Breaking Bad),Richard E. Grant (Hudson Hawk),Kacey Musgraves (Wild Rose) and Dan Stevens (The Guest).

This was the most disappointing Studio Ghibli movie I have ever seen. The new animation style was pretty cool as was the depiction of magic. There were some good action scenes and concert sequences that had potential, but the storyline wasn't compelling enough to really care about the characters. The main characters was a bit annoying. The best part of the movie was how menacing the warlock was.

Overall this was a very average addition to the animated genre and maybe the worst ever Studio Ghibli picture. I would score this a 4.5-5/10 and recommend seeing something else.

As far as Studio Gibhli films go, this experiment with CGI was a misstep that ended up with plastic mannequin models and animation that looks like it's from 2002. However, it does have redeeming points that give it some merit in its own right, like an expressive protagonist with a uniquely proactive personality. Sure, she's a brat, but the adults were far worse. The plot was quite thin and repetitive unfortunately, the characters change their minds for little reason and the backstory wasn't used to its full potential.