At the Oscar awards this year, The Boy and The Heron won best animated feature film, beating popular contenders including Disney’s Elemental and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It is the second Oscar win for Japanese animé maestro Hayao Miyazaki, whose Spirited Away made cinematic history as the first non-English animation to win the same category in 2003.
The Boy and The Heron will release in South African cinemas nationwide on Friday 19 April 2024.
Epic journey
In the film, after losing his mother during the war, young Mahito moves to his family’s estate in the countryside. There, a series of mysterious events lead him to a secluded and ancient tower, home to a mischievous grey heron. When Mahito’s new stepmother disappears, he follows the grey heron into the tower, and enters a fantastic world shared by the living and the dead. As he embarks on an epic journey with the heron as his guide, Mahito must uncover the secrets of this world, and the truth about himself. Featuring the voices of Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson and Florence Pugh.
The Boy and The Heron hails from the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Totoro. Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film, Spinning Globe, was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
Legendary classic
Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro “Sen” Ogino, a ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood, inadvertently enters the world of kami (spirits of Japanese Shinto folklore). After her parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba’s bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world. The film has become a legendary animated classic.
What: The Boy and the Heron
Where and when: Ster-Kinekor cinemas from 19 April 2024
WS
