Kate Winslet Leads Voice Cast for Anime 'Mary and the Witch's Flower'

30 August 2017

The feature is the first from Studio Ponoc, founded by Studio Ghibli alumni Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura.

Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Ruby Barnhill, Louis Ashbourne Serkis and Ewen Bremner will voice the English-language version of Mary and the Witch's Flower, the first feature from Studio Ponoc, the anime house founded by former Studio Ghibli director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura.

Directed by Yonebayashi, who helmed Oscar-nominated When Marnie Was There and worked on Hayao Miyazaki's biggest hits, Mary and the Witch's Flower has taken more than $27 million at the Japanese box office since it opened on July 8.

Based on The Little Broomstick by British children's author Mary Stewart, the anime follows the adventures of a girl in a school of magic. The English screenplay adaptation was written by David Freedman and Lynda Freedman.

Altitude Film is handling U.K. and worldwide sales, with GKIDS distributing in North America and Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.