Ghibli Studionew movie of The boy and the heron has revealed its British cast and the presence of Dave Bautista, Mark Hamill and Florence Pugh is certainly impressive. Although The Boy and the Heron’s original marketing strategy relied solely on brand recognition, that is no longer the case. In addition to plenty of images, GKIDS also released a trailer advertising the release date, so it’s clear the West is adopting a different marketing strategy than Japan.
Along with that, The Boy and the Heron recently revealed its English voice cast. There are many talented actors involved, but the ones that stand out, either because of their reputation or because of their previous history with Studio Ghibli, are Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Christian Bale, and Mark Hamill. Studio Ghibli films often boast some of the best English dubs in all of anime, and with a cast like this, The Boy and the Heron is sure to follow that example.
The Boy And The Heron’s British cast has real power
As for the main cast of The Boy and the Heron, Luca Padovan will voice Mahito, Robert Pattinson the Gray Heron, Karen Fukuhara Lady Himi, Gemma Chan Tsuko, Shoichi, Christian Bale Mahito’s father, Mark Hamill Mahito’s uncle, Florence Pugh Kiriko, Willem Dafoe the Noble Pelican, Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori and Dan Stevens the macaws, and Macaw King Dave Bautista. At the time of writing, the voice actors for Izumi, Utako, Eriko, Aiko, and Warawara have not yet been revealed, but their voice actors will most likely be revealed in the coming weeks. Additionally, Michael Sinterniklaas will direct the voice acting at NYAV Post and Stephanie Sheh will compose the English script.
The English dub of The Boy And The Heron attracts Studio Ghibli alumni
One of the most notable aspects of the English dub of The Boy and the Heron is that it brings back a number of Studio Ghibli alumni. For example, Willem Dafoe, previously voiced Cob in Tales from Earthsea, and Dan Stevens is the most recent Studio Ghibli alumnus to voice Thomas in Earwig and the Witch. Most famously, of course, Christian Bale voiced Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle, and Mark Hamill had two different roles in Studio Ghibli films: the mayor of Pejite in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Colonel Muska in Castle in the Sky.
The reason behind the casting of Studio Ghibli alumni may be twofold. First, with The Boy and the Heron being a major film for both Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, GKIDS may want to get in on that by inviting some of Studio Ghibli’s most famous and most recent alumni join. Additionally, those four alumni are all talented actors and as they work with the rest of the outstanding actors and staff involved, The boy and the heronThe dub will certainly be interesting when the film is finally released on December 8.
Source: Anime News Network.
