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NEWS: Ghibli's 1st CG Feature Earwig and the Witch Previewed in 1st Promo Video




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Never_Know_Best



Joined: 17 Dec 2011
Posts: 172
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:08 pm Reply with quote
Idk man. The early stills and clips looked fine.But the combination of Ghibli style and okayish CG here is.. more awkward than ever. Which I think we all expected.. I’m curious enough to check this out ASAP, but my hopes for it still aren’t high.[/url]
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 1987
Location: australia
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:13 pm Reply with quote
Looks great to me. The crazy expressions are so fun, and there's lots of fluidity and playfulness in the animation.

But then, I'm not really looking at this as a Ghibli movie, just a fun looking movie with great character designs.
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Sailor Sedna





PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 7:25 pm Reply with quote
Looks better than I expected, I'm interested, they actually were still able to nail funny expressions with the animation style, but I'm also impressed with how they did the food in some shots that were shown.
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1654
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 8:43 pm Reply with quote
Looks kinda off, but looks like an entertaining movie.
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Huffdaddy



Joined: 04 Aug 2017
Posts: 23
Location: Philadelphia, PA
PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:35 pm Reply with quote
We’re really spoiled by the phenomenal looking Pixar/Disney films when it comes to theatrical CG animation. There’s no avoiding that this just looks cheap by comparison (because it is) Anime studios just can’t compete with Hollywood budgets. I feel like it’s easier to mask the cheapness in 2D but 3D is much less forgiving. I’ll give it a chance and maybe the trailer isn’t doing it justice but it doesn’t feel like Ghibli to me.
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grooven



Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 1424
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:26 am Reply with quote
The animation looks alright, but it does have some floaty feel to the movements. Not sure if that's the style they have gone for. But I feel like it's the transitions between poses aren't quick enough. It's hard to describe without having a closer look. Also, I couldn't tell if it was the lag or something but the movements during the dialogue scenes seem a bit off. Not sure if it's in the timing or it's the actual lip shape that isn't forming the syllables.

But it's better than what I was expecting and I do love the expressions I'm seeing. I think they could've gone for better textures on the characters since they look pretty flat.

Huffdaddy wrote:
We’re really spoiled by the phenomenal looking Pixar/Disney films when it comes to theatrical CG animation. There’s no avoiding that this just looks cheap by comparison (because it is) Anime studios just can’t compete with Hollywood budgets. I feel like it’s easier to mask the cheapness in 2D but 3D is much less forgiving. I’ll give it a chance and maybe the trailer isn’t doing it justice but it doesn’t feel like Ghibli to me.


The new Lupin move that came out in CG had a really polished look. The animation, rendering and textures were also pretty high tier.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5521
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:50 am Reply with quote
tbh looks awful. I'm sure the story is good but the CG looks a decade+ old. I like the designs but this is not using CG to any real advantage other than being faster/cheaper than drawing by hand
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7357
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:16 am Reply with quote
I think they just move is WAY too stiff. In stills, they can get the expressions down ok, but when it comes to the characters moving, they feel like they're afraid to be full CGI characters or something. At least the framerate seems normal for CGI, I just wish they didn't move so awkwardly. Like, compare it to the Lupin The First or Stand By Me Doraemon where the characters move far more normally for being CGI. I feel like this CGI would've been considered really good in like, mid 00s or something, but it's just "meh" now.
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Punpun's ghost



Joined: 27 Apr 2016
Posts: 73
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 5:27 am Reply with quote
It looks like they're working hard on this movie, but I can't help feel it would be so much better suited to a more traditional frame by frame approach. It's the same with flash 2D animation: when you model an object, and then manipulate and move it, the end result is just different. Not better or worse, but different. And sometimes you have to recognise that these different approaches suit different types of project. I firmly believe that anime just suits - at least for the characters - a frame by frame approach, regardless of whether it is digitally achieved or via actual painted cells and sheets of paper on a peg bar. Looking at this trailer, it just feels like they're trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. It was similar for Cartoon Saloon's new film Wolfwalkers. The approach, which worked so well for their film The Breadwinner (flash style animation) fell short for the more fantastical mood of their latest and would have been better suited to the more fluid effects of frame by frame. Obviously, it is all down to personal tastes (I admit I'm not really that into Pixar, as good as their films can be, and I have always been utterly in love with 2D frame by frame), but at the end of the day, it's only a small part: if the story and characters are really good, then it will compensate. Ish.
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kwchou1



Joined: 19 Feb 2005
Posts: 26
Location: Missouri
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:15 am Reply with quote
Leaving money out of the discussion, I fail to see why anyone would ever go 3-D over top tier "2-D" style. If I can have a movie look like KyoAni or Ghibli (usual) or any Disney/Pixar, it's an easy choice for me (not 3-D).
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:24 am Reply with quote
While the animation itself is just kind of okay-ish (it looks like a weird cross between wanting full fluidity and the more intentionally choppy approach of Spiderverse), I think what really kills this movie is the flat textures and the weird as heck lighting choices. Considering that Ghibli is known for a soft, pastel, watercolor-esque look, this looks very garish to me.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3426
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:50 am Reply with quote
They better have a top notch story to back it up, because the animation isn't really that different from your run-of-the-mill blender works...
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Swissman



Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 766
Location: Switzerland
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:55 pm Reply with quote
zawa113 wrote:
I think they just move is WAY too stiff. In stills, they can get the expressions down ok, but when it comes to the characters moving, they feel like they're afraid to be full CGI characters or something. At least the framerate seems normal for CGI, I just wish they didn't move so awkwardly. Like, compare it to the Lupin The First or Stand By Me Doraemon where the characters move far more normally for being CGI. I feel like this CGI would've been considered really good in like, mid 00s or something, but it's just "meh" now.

I don't think it's fair to compare this movie with those movies because it is a TV-special after all. Not unlike Ocean Waves, which was also a TV special and technically not quite up to par with other Ghibli movies from that time. Furthermore, I think the animation looks okayish, and I think they try to focus more on little, somewhat realistic details in the movement of the characters instead of full & energetic bouncy movements you get from expensive western 3D animated movies. The voice acting sounds quite convincing; it looks like they chose real children for the underage characters.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 10946
PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:39 pm Reply with quote
The female leads expressions are quite fun.
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Joe Carpenter



Joined: 29 Oct 2011
Posts: 503
PostPosted: Fri Dec 04, 2020 11:56 pm Reply with quote
Man, that little girl's just rocking out! I love it. Surprised
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