| Credited cast: | |||
| Hana Sugisaki | ... |
Mary
(voice)
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| Ryûnosuke Kamiki | ... |
Peter
(voice)
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Yûki Amami | ... |
Madam Mumblechook
(voice)
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Fumiyo Kohinata | ... |
Doctor Dee
(voice)
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| Hikari Mitsushima | ... |
The Red-Haired Witch
(voice)
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Jirô Satô | ... |
Flanagan
(voice)
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Ken'ichi Endô | ... |
Zebedee
(voice)
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Eri Watanabe | ... |
Miss Banks
(voice)
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Shinobu Ôtake | ... |
Great-Aunt Charlotte
(voice)
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Louis Ashbourne Serkis | ... |
Peter
(voice)
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| Morwenna Banks | ... |
Miss Banks
(voice)
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| Ruby Barnhill | ... |
Mary
(voice)
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Lynda Baron | ... |
Great-Aunt Charlotte
(voice)
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| Ewen Bremner | ... |
Flanagan
(voice)
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| Jim Broadbent | ... |
Doctor Dee
(voice)
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A young girl, lives with relatives. Following two cat she encounters a strange flower, a flower that grants magical powers and picks it to take it home. Then later, with the help of one of the cats, she finds a broom. The other cat is missing. Our heroine, not knowing what it is, has the flower squished between her hands. Upon touching the broom it begins to move, it takes her to a strange new place. Once she arrives a little creature chastises her for crashing into the broom stands. The creature guides her to the "university". On he tour she meets two foreboding characters. The Doctor, and the Matriarch. On the tour she sees animals in cages, screaming. She feels something bad is going on and when allowed in the Matriarch's home she steals a book. She is caught but gives up a note to hide it. The note says the location of a boy who is captured and will be used as an experiment. Who this kidnapping she's guided to her grandmothers home, which gives us information about why this is ... Written by Mr.Popo
A disappointing attempt to imulate the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. The film was hampered by a very bad story line and rather clumsy dialogue - it might have been a rathe indifferent English translation. I usually prefer Japanese animation in original language but this one seemed to work OK with British accents rather than the usual American which we always seem to end up with here.
The opening started out on a high with some beautiful visuals but as the film progresses the visuals tended to look like they had just stepped out of a comic book. Studio Ghibli it is not. Check out the use of shadows for example. Any frame of 'Spirited Away' looks like a painting. Most of the latter part of 'Mary' looks like a two dimensional comic book.
The music would have worked better if it had been toned down a notch. There was no need for a lush orchestral score when it would have worked better with just a chamber ensemble, or (gasp!) silence!
I was expecting more. I was disappointed.