Which Studio Ghibli film was the first to be fully computer-animated?

Earwig and the Witch was the first Studio Ghibli film to be fully computer-animated. Directed by Gorō Miyazaki, it was produced as the studio’s first full 3D computer-generated feature, marking a striking departure from Ghibli’s hand-drawn tradition.

The film is based on Diana Wynne Jones’s 2011 children’s novel of the same name, which also inspired Howl’s Moving Castle. It premiered at the Lumière Film Festival in October 2020 before its Japanese television debut on NHK in December of that year and theatrical release in 2021.

Earlier Ghibli films used digital tools for compositing, coloring, and selected effects, but their character animation remained primarily hand-drawn. That distinction is why The Boy and the Heron, When Marnie Was There, and The Red Turtle are not the answer: they may use digital production methods, but they are not Ghibli’s first fully 3D CG feature. Earwig’s unusual visual style reflects the studio’s experiment with a younger production team and a different animation pipeline.