Studio Ghibli have released a series of stills from their upcoming film, Aya and the Witch. You can see them below.

• Read more: Every Studio Ghibli film ranked in order of greatness

Based on the children’s book Earwig And The Witch by the late Diana Wynne Jones — the writer behind Howl’s Moving Castle — the new film has been directed by Hayao Miyazaki’s son Gorō.

Aya and the Witch will be the studio’s first film in six years and their first CGI offering, in a rare departure from their hand-drawn style.

You can see stills from the new film below:

In a translated statement about Aya And The Witch earlier this month (June 9), Ghibli co-founder and producer Toshio Suzuki asked: “After corona[virus], how [does] the world change? That’s the biggest concern for many types of people now. Even the movie and television industry can’t avoid that.

“Can Aya and the Witch do well after corona? I thought about that many times when I was watching the early footage. Then I realised the big characteristic of the movie is Aya’s wisdom. If only we have wisdom, we can overcome anything in any era. When I thought about that, I was relieved.”

Suzuki continued: “If Pippi Longstocking is the story of the world’s strongest girl, then Aya is the story of the world’s smartest girl. Aya is cheeky but somehow cute. I hope she is loved by many types of people.

“By the way, I thought Aya reminded me of someone, then it turned out it was Gorō himself, who was the director of the movie. When I told that to him he looked bashful.”

Aya And The Witch was originally slated to premiere during the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, but the annual movie event was cancelled earlier this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The upcoming Ghibli film was, however, still announced as being among Cannes’ official selection for 2020 earlier this month.