With just one week to go before Christmas, Kacey Musgraves has been granted her so-called “biggest heart dream”: a role in a Studio Ghibli film.
The Grammy-winning country star has just joined the cast of the English-language version of Earwig and the Witch, Studio Ghibli’s first fully-CGI film. Musgraves is set to voice the mother of protagonist Earwig. She will also perform her own version of the movie’s theme song “Don’t Disturb Me”.
According to a tweet Musgraves posted on Tuesday, she has wanted to work with the renowned Japanese animation studio since she was a child. “My dad brought a VHS tape of [My Neighbor] Totoro home when I was about 9, and I’ll never ever forget the comfort and the magic that movie (and many other Ghibli films) have given me,” Musgraves, now 32 years old, wrote. “To say this was a full-circle, bucketlist moment is an understatement.”
Earwig and the Witch is based on a 2011 book of the same name by the late British writer Diana Wynne Jones, and Goro Miyazaki, son of Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki, is serving as director. The movie will air on Japanese TV on December 30th, with the English version to follow sometime in 2021. Along with Musgraves, Richard E. Grant and Dan Stevens have parts in the English dub.
Editors’ Picks
Revisit the Japanese trailer for Earwig and the Witch below. While you wait for the full movie, check out our comprehensive ranking of every Studio Ghibli film. Most of them are available to stream over on HBO Max.
As for Musgraves, she recently collaborated with Troye Sivan and Mark Ronson (“Easy” remix) and The Flaming Lips (“Flowers of Neptune 6”). She also performed as part of a livestream tribute to John Prine earlier this year.
My all-time biggest heart dream came true 🙏🏼♥️
ありがとうございました
Thank you @StudioGhibli for having me sing & voice a part in your new movie. Can’t wait for everybody to see this one. Coming early 2021 #EarwigandtheWitch #StudioGhibli pic.twitter.com/MgX6Ur7Rqz— K A C E Y (@KaceyMusgraves) December 15, 2020
