The movie is insanely beautifully animated through its' entirety. But it lacks a little in story and its' characters.
The first half of the movie works really well in setting up the story - I especially enjoyed the first third of it immensely. But the last half feels rushed and a little chaotic. We don't really know much about Mary, but we certainly know more about her than Peter, who barely gets any personality at all.
It's hard not to compare it to Studio Ghibli, especially since a lot of the animators from Ghibli created Studio Ponoc after Miyazaki's "retirement". And in that regard it feels very much like it's trying to capture the spirit of a Ghibli movie, which honestly feels a little forced. I mean it is almost entirely made up of elements from Kiki's delivery Service, Laputa and Totoro.
The artwork however is truly magnificent, and on par with Ghibli's greatest.
It's hard not to compare it to Studio Ghibli, especially since a lot of the animators from Ghibli created Studio Ponoc after Miyazaki's "retirement". And in that regard it feels very much like it's trying to capture the spirit of a Ghibli movie, which honestly feels a little forced. I mean it is almost entirely made up of elements from Kiki's delivery Service, Laputa and Totoro.
The artwork however is truly magnificent, and on par with Ghibli's greatest.