Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a 2017 Japanese animated fantasy film, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, written by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Riko Sawaguchi, and produced by Yoshiaki Nishimura. This animated movie was based on a 1971 book, The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart. Originally in Japanese, I watched the English version on YouTube, which starred Ruby Barnhill, Louis Ashbourne, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Teresa Gallagher, Morwenna Banks, Rasmus Hardiker, and Ewen Bremner. Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi also directed When Marnie was There as well as he was the Key Animator of Spirited Away. Check out the official movie trailer for this animated film.
A redhead girl escapes a fire by flying on a broom. She takes with her magic seeds. But she later accidentally drops them at her English countryside, which germinates a magical plant in the forest. This redhead girl is a young version of Aunt Charlotte, who had attended Endor College, studying magic.
The story starts when a young redhead girl, Mary, is sent to live with her Aunt Charlotte before her parents join her later. Her aunt has a maid. Living in this English countryside, she becomes bored. She decides to hang out with the gardener. While she is cleaning up the area with a broom, she runs into a paperboy her age. A black cat joins her during her lunchtime. When the cat runs off, she notices it changed colors from black to grey and back to black, which intrigued her. As she follows the black cat though a forest, she notices two cats, a black one and a grey one. They take her to an unusual plant that they are scared of, and she cuts off a piece to show it to her aunt’s gardener. This Fly-By-Night flower only blooms once a year, and it is called Witch’s Flower because witches often seek it for magic spells.
One night, the black cat, Tib, comes to her bedroom window, shivering and scared, and Mary invites the poor cat to sleep inside her warm bedroom. But it disappears in the morning. She goes out to search for the two cats. She runs into Peter to give him a jar of jam from her aunt. He tells her that these cats belong to him. She sees Tib, and he has a magic flower in his mouth. She follows the black cat into the forest, and she sees a small broomstick, engraved with letters or symbols. Tib splashes sap from the magic flower on her and the broomstick begins to fly. They ride on it through the forest and over clouds until they fly into another world. She falls into an area with lots of brooms inside a broom stable. She meets Flanagan who used to teach broom riding.
He takes her to Endor College for witches and warlocks, and he places a leash on Tib. She enters the college campus, which looks like an enchanted park. She meets headmistress Madam Mumblechook. Everything in this enchanged magic college works on magic. Madam Mumblechook gives Mary a tour, showing her some classrooms, cafeteria, laboratory, and the Invisible class. Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee teach her how to become invisible. She concentrates as she repeats “disappear.” They accept her as a new witch student. Madam Mumblechook’s office looks like a museum of magic. Mary wanders inside, browsing at different items, mesmerized by these museum pieces. She notices a book of magic spells and takes it with her.
She confesses that she doesn’t have any talent. She can only do magic from a mysterious flower. At the end of the day, Flanagan brings her broomstick to her, and they hop on the broomstick, which flies them home.
Madam Mumblechook had noticed the symbols or letters on Mary’s broomstick. As Mary and Tib fly off, the broomstick suddenly falls downward and she is back home, normal and without any magic powers.
The gardener informs Aunt Charlotte that Peter is missing because he went into the forest. Tib, the black cat, enters her bedroom at night via the bedroom window, and a message from Madam Mumblechook flies into the room with him, telling her to bring the magic flower with her to save Peter.
That night, Mary is worried about Peter, and she wants to save him. She gets out of bed, changes her clothes and goes out to her broomstick with Tib. She holds the magic flower for its magic powers so she can rescue Peter. They fly off to the other world and Endor College. Aunt Charlotte wakes up, searching for Mary. She finds a piece of the magic flower. Meanwhile, Mary and Tib arrive, and Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee take the magic flower from Mary as well as capture her to study her inside the laboratory. She notices many caged animals have been transformed into mutant creatures. Tib notices his girlfriend Gib inside one of these cages, and she has been transformed into a grey creature. Tib wants to save Gib from this place.
She sees Peter inside the basement with caged animals. Dr. Dee wants to study Mary and Peter in his lab. Using the book of magic spells, Mary changes back all the animals into their original form. All the animals attack Dr. Dee for abusing them with his experiments. Madam Mumblechook notices all the sudden chaos outside. She goes to her office to get her book of magic spells, noticing it has disappeared. Mary, Peter, Tib, and Gib follow all the animals to escape. Flanagan suddenly appears with Mary’s broomstick to help them fly off and escape. Mary, Peter, Tib and Gib hop on the broomstick. But Peter and Gib fall off because they were captured. Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee capture him for their experiment. The broomstick drops off Mary and Tib elsewhere, on a remote island. This cottage belongs to the broomstick. Mary browses through a book, and realizes that Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee want to transform humans. She talks to her aunt on a magic mirror, which is similar to a telephone. And, her aunt suddenly remembers the magic she learned at Endor College. She gives Mary the last magic flower to return home. Mary tells her that she needs to save Peter. Madam Mumblechook goes after Mary, as Mary searches for Peter and Gib. Madam Mumblechook takes the book and magic flower away from Mary, which leads to Mary losing her magic powers and falling to the ground. She notices her broomstick is broken. When she cries over the broomstick, it is suddenly fixed. She becomes determined to find Peter. All the animals go with her to help. She leaves the broomstick behind, as she sees the lab. Gib comes to them, and she helps them find Peter. As Dr. Dee and Madam Mumblechook get ready to transform Peter with the magic flower, they notice that Peter is fighting the transformation process. Mary finds one magic flower, picks up her broomstick, and goes after Peter.
She uses the book with magic spells to undo Peter’s transformation. Everything falls apart. Madam Mumblechook loses all her powers, and the laboratory is in flames. They wake up and wonder how they will return home. Flanagan appears again with Mary’s magic broomstick. Mary, Peter, and the two cats fly off. Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee lost their magic powers because their magic flower is destroyed. Mary’s parents arrive, and Mary has an extended family with Peter and his two cats, living with Aunt Charlotte and her maid. After her one-day magical adventure, she realizes she doesn’t need magic in her life.
While watching this entertaining fantasy animated film, I noticed some scenes reminded me of scenes from the movies, Wicked as well as Wizard of Oz, but this animated movie was more entertaining. Endor College in this film was similar to the Sorcery College in Wicked. Madam Mumblechook’s mutant magical creatures reminded me of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz movie. But Mary undoes the transformations, rescues Peter, and they all return home, with the two cats, living happily ever after, as one big happy extended family in the English countryside. She realizes the evils of magic, created by greedy people, such as Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee, who actually remind me of the evil elites who want to control the world with their dark cult magick. Flanagan reminds me of Glinda in Wizard of Oz because she suddenly appears to help Dorothy when she is needed most, just like Flanagan always appearing to give Mary her broomstick that she left behind. Another scene reminded of Alice in Wonderland, in the beginning of the movie, when Mary chases after the black cat Tib into the forest, which is similar to Alice chasing after the white rabbit into the rabbit hole. Headmistress Madam Mumblechook reminded me of Headmistress Madame Morrible in the movie, Wicked, and Dr. Dee is similar to the Wizard in Oz.
You can watch this animated Japanese film for free with ads on YouTube.
