This is an awful movie by every metric, but I am obliged to rate it at ten stars for the sake of consistency. Consistency is the critic's greatest strength after all.
Compared to Earwig, Animal Crossing: The Movie has a better understanding of children, at least a rudimentary understanding of basic filmmaking techniques, a plot with more integrity and completeness, relatively more humor, more established stakes and goals, sports a better script, understands the appropriate use and strengths of 3D CG in animation as well as a somehow more believable world which is built from animal-people and a super deformed kid.
Of course, the film still has some solid innovations that bring it to comparable levels to Earwig, like having many "flashback" sequences with scenes that have never happened in the movie. At the end of the day though, if you have enough free time to watch Earwig and the Witch, do yourself a favor and watch Animal Crossing the Movie instead.
Compared to Earwig, Animal Crossing: The Movie has a better understanding of children, at least a rudimentary understanding of basic filmmaking techniques, a plot with more integrity and completeness, relatively more humor, more established stakes and goals, sports a better script, understands the appropriate use and strengths of 3D CG in animation as well as a somehow more believable world which is built from animal-people and a super deformed kid.
Of course, the film still has some solid innovations that bring it to comparable levels to Earwig, like having many "flashback" sequences with scenes that have never happened in the movie. At the end of the day though, if you have enough free time to watch Earwig and the Witch, do yourself a favor and watch Animal Crossing the Movie instead.