And the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature goes to… The Boy and the Heron from Studio Ghibli!
And a Golden Globe for Best Animated Motion Picture… And the BAFTA for Best Animated Film… the list keeps going.
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki is back at it again with another hit movie.
The Boy and the Heron is a hand-drawn fantasy adventure following Mahito.
After a tragic chain of events, Mahito finds himself in a world that is shared by the living and the dead. With the help of a mischievous grey heron, Mahito has to uncover the secrets of the other world he found whilst discovering the truth about himself in the journey.
The movie has been inspired by Miyazaki’s childhood. He grew up during the Second World War and struggled with PTSD as a consequence. This is heightened in the movie as Mahito loses his mother during the war and struggles with PTSD afterward.
Studio Ghibli has recently renewed its contract with the streaming service Max. Sometime in the future, The Boy and the Heron will be found streaming there.
The movie was a great success at the box office, grossing over $167 million worldwide. According to The Economic Times, it made $46 million in the United States alone!
Award After Award
Released on December 8th, 2023, The Boy and the Heron has won 13 awards so far and has been nominated for countless others. Most notably, it has won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
The movie is rated PG-13, making it the first animated film rated so to win this award.
Hayao Miyazaki is now the first person born outside of the US to win this category twice since it was introduced in 2001. In 2003, Spirited Away was the first Studio Ghibli movie to get this award.
Big Dub Cast
Being a Japanese studio, most of the movie’s original language is Japanese, however, Studio Ghibli films are usually Subbed (Subtitled) and Dubbed (Translated).
A dubbed movie can have voice-overs in any language. For example, an English dubbed cast typically consists of English-speaking actors.
Dubbed Studio Ghibli movies are typically cast with well-known actors. The Boy and the Heron is no exception.
| Mahito Maki | Luca Padovan |
| Grey Heron | Robert Pattinson |
| Kiriko | Florence Pugh |
| Lady Himi | Karen Fukuhara |
| Natsuko | Gemma Chan |
| Shoichi Maki | Christian Bale |
| Granduncle | Mark Hamill |
| The Parakeet King | Dave Bautista |
| The Parakeets | Mamoudou Athie Tony Revolori Dan Stevens |
| Noble Pelican | Willem Dafoe |
Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese Animation Studio founded by Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata, and Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron‘s director), in 1985.
The company has released 22 feature films including: Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
Studio Ghibli movies are the perfect introduction to the anime genre. The movies are beautifully drawn, have gorgeous soundtracks, and tell amazing stories.
Plenty of the movies are inspired by books. For instance, The Secret World of Arietty is based on the book “The Borrower” by Mary Norton. Other examples include, Tales from EarthSea, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Grave of the Fireflies.
I particularly enjoyed the book adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I had read the book before watching the movie and looking out for the similarities and difference between Miyazaki’s version and the original, felt like a going an egg hunt!
Hayao Miyazaki and Joe Hisaishi
Most of these movies wouldn’t have been possible without Hayao Miyazaki.
At 83 years old, Miyazaki has made a legacy. In 1963, he became an entry-level animator for TĹei animation. While working there, he met Isao Takahata, his future cofounder, and Akimi Ota, his future wife.
In 2013, Miyazaki worked on The Wind Rises, declaring it his last work before retiring. Soon after, he came out of retirement to work on The Boy and the Heron.
Joe Hisaishi is a composer, pianist, and conductor. In 1985 he founded his own recording studio, Wonder Station. With it, he has composed countless pieces of music for TV and movies.
Hisaishi has also been working with Studio Ghibli since it opened to make music for the movies. Currently, Hisaishi is on tour playing his music from different Ghibli movies.
Ghibli Collection
Studio Ghibli is so popular that it even has a museum in Mitaka (Tokyo, Japan) and a theme park called “Ghibli Park” which opened in 2022, in Nagakute, Japan.
The company’s accomplishments are celebrated every year during the Studio Ghibli Fest. This festival puts 14 of the 22 movies back in theaters for either a few days or a week at a time throughout the year.
This year it will celebrate The Boy and the Heron‘s Oscar win, Howl’s Moving Castle‘s 20th anniversary, Kiki’s Delivery Service‘s 25th anniversary, and Pom Poko‘s 30th anniversary.
Studio Ghibli films are screened in theatres frequently, but this year be sure to be on the lookout for The Boy and the Heron!
