Earwig and the Witch / YMMV

Broken Base: The movie being an All-CGI Cartoon and Studio Ghibli embracing CGI at all has been a divisive move amongst fans since Studio Ghibli is seen as one of the last true bastions of traditional animation. Some are okay with the switch to CGI and saw it as inevitable and necessary for Ghibli, given that CGI animation has become more mainstream and successful, all while traditional animation has become a niche medium (outside of Japan) since the early 2000s (not to mention Ghibli has been experimenting with CGI since the late 1990s), while others saw it as a betrayal of everything that made them unique and beloved. Again, it doesn't help that Ghibli was one of the last major animation studios to use traditional animation for their films, making the switch to CGI feel like a gut punch to those who prefer traditional animation to CGI and lament the former having been phased out in favor of the latter (especially in the West).^note The only thing both sides can agree on is that both the movie and CGI animation itself leaves a lot to be desired.
Designated Hero: Erica is at best a manipulative, selfish child. Bella Yaga's the only character we see who's worse, but at least she gets some sort of comeuppance. Erica ends the film having all but enslaved Bella Yaga and the Mandrake.
Designated Villain: Conversely, Bella Yaga can come off as this. While she's far from a loving mother, all she really wants is for Erica to assist her with chores. Aside from having to work outside during the rain, most of it is shown to be tedious rather than back-breakingly difficult. And while she did use the worms, Erica was explicitly told that it would happen if she didn't do as she was told. Ultimately, Bella Yaga feels less like a Wicked Stepmother and more like a strict but understandable person who just wants a bratty girl to behave.
Friendly Fandoms: With The Super Mario Bros. Movie; Earwig had the involvement of Nintendo Pictures before it was renamed that, and both are technically CGI adaptations of Studio Ghibli's art style (the codifier for Super Mario Bros.' art style was Yoichi Kotabe, an ex-Ghibli animator).
Mis-blamed: For all the complaints about the story, the film is actually a very accurate adaptation of the book (somewhat remarkably, given Studio Ghibli's track record). The problem is that the story is based on a manuscript found after Diana Wynne Jones' death; its short length and thin plot indicate that it probably wasn't finished. Ironically, the stuff with Erica's mother, which fans wanted more of, was almost entirely Adaptation Expansion; in the book, all that we know about her was in the note that she left.
Older Than They Think: The shift to CGI animation came as a massive shock for many and caused many to be turned off simply based on that alone, seeing as Ghibli is widely known and beloved for their traditionally animated films. While it is their first computer animated feature film, Earwig and the Witch isn't the first production from the studio to be computer animated. Both Boro the Caterpillar (which was one of the shorts made for the Ghibli Museum) and their TV adaptation of Ronja the Robber's Daughter prior are entirely computer animated (the former even being done by Hayao Miyazaki himself). And most of Ghibli's traditionally animated films have also incorporated partial use of CGI into them since Pom Poko.
Retroactive Recognition: One of the animation studios that were involved with the film was Dynamo Pictures, known for the Pikmin short films and would later be known by the name Nintendo Pictures after being purchased by the video game company.
Tainted by the Preview: Even those who aren’t outright against the concept of the film being in CGI were turned off by the film as soon as the first images were shown, citing the film’s cheap and plastic looking appearance compared to other CGI films. The film’s first trailer quickly garnered more dislikes than likes when it arrived.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: For American audiences who lament how CGI animation killed the hand-drawn animation industry, they viewed Studio Ghibli as the last savior to the dying animation medium. The decision to produce CGI animation was sure a betrayal for them.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- How Erica deals with meeting her real mother again has potential. Unfortunately, that’s where the credits roll.
- Another criticism related to this is that the film has so many ideas and plot threads that hint at something more, but never does anything with them, Erica's mother being one of them. The end result is a narrative that seems to lack direction, and any sense of resolution.
Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The film's attempt to emulate the Ghibli style in a more traditional CGI style ends up resulting in this, as many characters that would've look fine in 2D end up looking off and creepy in 3D. The film's flat and plastic looking appearance doesn’t help either, mostly obvious with the facial expressions and Thomas being completely smooth.
Visual Effects of Awesome: While the CGI is divisive, to say the least. The Mandrake's fiery rampage near the end of the film looks spectacular, especially considering this was Studio Ghibli's first All-CGI Cartoon film and was a Made-for-TV Movie with a much lower budget.

YMMV / Earwig and the Witch

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