What is the name of the witch who raises Earwig in Earwig and the Witch?

The witch who raises Earwig in Earwig and the Witch is Bella Yaga. She adopts Earwig from St. Morwald’s Home for Children and brings her to a strange house shared with the powerful Mandrake.

Bella Yaga explains that she adopted Earwig because she wanted an extra pair of hands to help with household work and magical preparations. Earwig agrees to cooperate only if Bella Yaga teaches her magic, but the witch keeps her busy cleaning the workroom and preparing ingredients instead of offering proper lessons.

The relationship is tense, yet Bella Yaga is important to the film’s hidden backstory. Earwig eventually learns that Bella Yaga and Mandrake were members of the band Earwig, whose singer was Earwig’s mother. This discovery connects the witch’s household to Earwig’s mysterious origins.

Mrs. Bat is not a character in the film, and the Mandrake is Bella Yaga’s intimidating housemate rather than the witch herself. Earwig is the child being raised, not the person raising her. The film is based on Diana Wynne Jones’s novel and was released in 2020.