Studio Ghibli has been such a grand master of 2D animation for more than 30 years that watching it make the jump into 3D almost seems blasphemous. It also doesn’t help that, as a computer-generated film, Earwig and the Witch feels like a work in progress. That’s not to say the movie doesn’t have its moments, containing a number of laughs and classic themes that have made stories by the likes of Hayao Miyazaki so endearing. But given just how high a bar the studio previously set, Earwig disappoints by being just alright.

The third animated movie directed by Hayao’s son Goro Miyazaki, Earwig begins with a Harry Potter–like setup as baby Earwig is dropped off at a local foster home by her mother, an unnamed beautiful redheaded witch (voiced originally in Japanese by Sherina Munaf/Kacey Musgraves in the English-language version). Taken in by the home’s matron and renamed Erica Wigg, she grows up into a rather precocious child (Kokoro Hirasawa/ Taylor Paige Henderson) who cares for her foster siblings and the staff but also really loves having the power to order them around.

In Erica’s eyes, anyone willing to consider adopting her would be “highly unusual.” Yet those are exactly the type of people who end up claiming her: a stout blue-haired witch named Bella Yaga (Shinobu Terajima/Vanessa Marshall) and a tall lanky individual with semi-demonic powers, Mandrake (Etsushi Toyokawa/Richard E. Grant).

Of course, they don’t bring her into their cottage for sentimental reasons: Bella needs extra hands to help her brew spells, and Erica fits the assistant role well enough. Forced to do excruciatingly dirty and patronizing chores, Erica thinks she can get Bella to teach her magic in exchange for enduring the work and insults. Bella might retain the casual demeanor of a Roald Dahl adult character, but she also lives in fear of Mandrake’s wrath, a mix of nightmarish powers and childlike temperament when disturbed. They’re not what you’d call the kindest pair, but Erica sees this antagonism as a challenge, hoping to get Bella and Mandrake under her thumb and make their place feel just like home.

Unfortunately, this story feels like a book that ends abruptly just when you think it’s about to explain its big twist. In some ways that makes sense. The movie is an adaptation of one of author Diana Wynne Jones’s final stories before her passing in 2011. (Miyazaki fans will recognize her as the writer behind Howl’s Moving Castle’s source material.)

However, Earwig’s extended focus on Erica’s antics doesn’t give the story much room to draw awareness about her own witch lineage and connection to the supernatural characters. There are blunt references to her past, but they are not given much context until the film is nearly over. We’re mostly watching Erica, later aided by Bella’s house cat and familiar, Thomas (Gaku Hamada/Dan Stevens), do what she can to get even with the witch while learning about their house. This setup has its moments of fun but also goes on longer than necessary.

As for the animation, it works most of the time. The computer-generated characters and environments feel like a logical extension of the Ghibli design: surrealist yet naturalistic and capable of shifting in tone between lighthearted and disturbing. It’s when characters have to frantically emote that things feel wrong. Depictions of anger, shock, disgust, and even bottled-up laughter resemble uncanny plaster or Claymation molds rather than actual faces, despite making perfect sense when you picture them in 2D form. Even compared to non-Disney CGI like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it still comes across like a rough draft.

Would the idea of seeing more Earwig adventures intrigue me? Possibly, but mainly out of curiosity for how a sequel would properly address the characters’ backstories, which, taken on their own, don’t quite stand out compared to previous Studio Ghibli figures of witchcraft and fantasy. Time will certainly tell if Goro can improve upon this art style and maybe even overcome his father’s notable disdain for CGI animation. However, there’s certainly an irony about Earwig and the Witch debuting on HBO Max: it’ll join other Ghibli movies on the streaming service that better embody the company’s legendary animation reputation.