Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron won Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards. The film was nominated alongside Elemental, Nimona, Robot Dreams and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The winner of Best Animated Feature was the first big reveal at this year’s Oscars, which span 23 categories. Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s first Oscar was in the Best Animated Feature category for Spirited Away in 2003. Since then, the studio has been nominated for an Oscar five times (including The Boy and the Heron).
The Boy and the Heron, dubbed Miyazaki’s last film, was released in July this year in Japan. The film is inspired by How Do You Live? by Yoshino Genzaburo. novel from 1937, but it is not a direct adaptation. Instead, it features elements from Miyazaki’s own life. The film had its international premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, while its US premiere took place as part of the 61st Annual New York Film Festival. The film was shown in North theaters. US, Australia and New Zealand from December.
Kenshi Yonezu performed the film’s theme song titled “Spinning Globe”. The voice cast includes:
- Soma Santoki/Luca Padovan trong vai Mahito
- Masaki Suda/Robert Pattison as Gray Heron
- Ko Shibasaki/Florence Pugh trong vai Kiriko
- Aimyon/Karen Fukuhara vai Himi
- Yoshino Kimura/Gemma Chan vai Natusko
- Takuya Kimura/Christian Bale vai Shoichi
- Shinobu Otake vào vai Aiko
- Keiko Takeshita vai Izumi
- Jun Fubuki vai Utako
- Sawako Agawa vào vai Eriko
- Karen Takizawa vào vai Warawara
- Jun Kunimura as the Great Parrot King
- Kaoru Kobayashi/William Dafoe as Old Pelican
- Jun Kunimura/Dave Bautista as the Macaw King
Earlier this year, The Boy and the Heron became the first Japanese film to win a Golden Globe. It also won a BAFTA, adding to its growing list of achievements.
Source: The Boy and the Heron at the Oscars ©2023 Studio Ghibli
