The Boy and the Heron facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Boy and the Heron
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by	Toshio Suzuki
Written by	Hayao Miyazaki
Starring	Soma Santoki Masaki Suda Aimyon Yoshino Kimura Shōhei Hino Ko Shibasaki Takuya Kimura
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography	Atsushi Okui
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Studio	Studio Ghibli
Distributed by	Toho
Release date(s)	July 14, 2023 (2023-07-14)
Running time	124 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Money made	US$167.8 million

The Boy and the Heron (Japanese: 君たちはどう生きるか, Hepburn: Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, lit. How Do You Live?) is a 2023 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Studio Ghibli, the Japanese title references Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel of the same name, which briefly appears in the film, but the film has an original story that is not connected to the novel. The Japanese voice cast includes Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Kaoru Kobayashi, and Shinobu Otake. Described as a "big fantastical film", it follows a boy named Mahito Maki during the Pacific War who moves to the countryside after his mother's death, discovers an abandoned tower near his new home, and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron.

Miyazaki announced his retirement in September 2013 but later reversed this decision after working on the short film Boro the Caterpillar, which was released in 2018. He began storyboarding for a new feature-length project in July 2016, and official production began in May 2017. The film's title was announced in October 2017, targeting a release around the 2020 Summer Olympics. By May 2020, 36 minutes of the film had been hand-drawn by 60 animators, with no set deadline. Production spanned approximately seven years, facing delays as it navigated challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and Miyazaki's slowed animation pace, before nearing completion in October 2022. Financing for the project involved streaming deals for previous Ghibli films. According to producer Toshio Suzuki, The Boy and the Heron is the most expensive film ever produced in Japan. The screenplay draws heavily from Miyazaki's childhood, and explores themes of coming of age and coping with a world marked by conflict and loss. Joe Hisaishi composed the film's score, while Kenshi Yonezu wrote and sang the film's theme song "Spinning Globe".

The Boy and the Heron was theatrically released in Japan on July 14, 2023, by Toho, and was screened in both traditional theaters and other premium formats such as IMAX. The release of the film was noted for its intentional absence of any promotion, with Ghibli choosing not to release any trailers, images, synopsis or casting details of the film in advance of its Japanese premiere with the exception of a single poster. The film received critical acclaim and has grossed US$167 million worldwide. Among its numerous accolades, it won the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Plot

During the Pacific War in Tokyo, Mahito Maki loses his mother Hisako in a hospital fire. Mahito's father Shoichi, an air munitions factory owner, marries his late wife's sister, Natsuko, and they evacuate to her rural estate. Mahito, distant to the pregnant Natsuko, encounters a peculiar grey heron leading him to a sealed tower, the last known location of Natsuko's architect granduncle.

After a school fight, Mahito deliberately injures himself. The heron, now speaking, entices Mahito with promises of finding his mother. Mahito is nearly taken by a supernatural swarm of toads but Natsuko saves him with a whistling arrow, inspiring him to craft his own bow and arrow. The arrow is magically imbued with true aim after it is fletched with the heron's feather. Mahito's reading of a book left by Hisako is interrupted when an ill Natsuko disappears into the forest. Leading one of the estate's elderly maids, Kiriko, into the tower, Mahito is deceived by a watery imitation of his mother made by the heron, which dissolves at his touch. Affronted, he pierces the heron's beak with his arrow, revealing a flightless creature, the Birdman, living inside it. A wizard appears, ordering Birdman to guide Mahito and Kiriko as all three sink into the floor.

Mahito descends into an oceanic world. He is rescued from attacking pelicans and a forbidding, megalithic dolmen by a younger Kiriko, an adept fisherwoman who uses fire through a magic wand. They catch and sell a giant fish to bubble-like spirits called Warawara, which fly to the world above to be reborn. A pyrokinetic young woman, Himi, protects Warawara from predation by the pelicans. A dying pelican explains that their species is desperate to survive after being introduced to this world with no other food. Kiriko mediates peace between Mahito and the Birdman, and Mahito plugs Birdman's beak, restoring his flight. The two are separated by anthropomorphic, man-eating parakeets. Himi saves Mahito and shows him a counterpart of the tower which contains doors to many worlds. They enter a door leading back to Natsuko's estate and are spotted by Shoichi, but Mahito returns through the door to continue his search for Natsuko.

Infiltrating the parakeets' kingdom, Mahito finds Natsuko in a delivery room. When Natsuko rebuffs him, he acknowledges her as his mother. Himi incinerates the paper attacking them but all three are rendered unconscious by the encounter. In a dream, Mahito meets the wizard, Natsuko's granduncle. The wizard, preoccupied by a stack of stone toy blocks representing their dimension, requests Mahito, possessing the power of his bloodline, to succeed to custodianship of this world. Mahito notices that the blocks are infused with malice. Waking up, he is freed from captivity by Birdman. They climb the tower to pursue the Parakeet King, who is delivering Himi to the wizard as a political bargaining chip. The wizard has collected replacement blocks free of malice for Mahito, and implores him to build a better world with them, but Mahito states that he himself possesses malice, embodied by his self-inflicted scar. He refuses, saying that he must first embrace those who love him.

The Parakeet King takes the blocks and tries to build a better world himself, but the stack is too unstable and falls. The world begins to collapse and flood, and Mahito, Himi, and Birdman escape, reuniting with Natsuko and young Kiriko. Learning that Himi is his birth mother, Mahito warns her of her fate, but Himi returns to her own time without regrets. Mahito returns with Natsuko, amidst an exodus of animals that revert to non-anthropomorphic forms. Birdman notices Mahito keeping a stone of power, and advises him to forget his experiences. A charm doll carried by Mahito transforms back into the old Kiriko. Two years later, Mahito moves back to Tokyo with Shoichi, Natsuko, and his new half-sibling.

Voice cast

Masaki Suda, who voiced the Grey Heron in the Japanese version, in 2018

Robert Pattinson, who voiced the Grey Heron in the English version, in 2018

Release

On December 13, 2022, Toho declared that The Boy and the Heron has a scheduled theatrical release date of July 14, 2023 in Japan.

The film was released in Japan without any traditional marketing campaign, with no trailers nor promotional stills of the film released before its premiere with the exception of a single poster. The decision to do so came from Suzuki, who opted to eschew traditional marketing methods due to concerns about over-revealing film content, in response to what he believed to be a fundamental preference among moviegoers for a more enigmatic cinematic experience. The cast and crew were kept largely undisclosed until the release date. After the preview screening held in late February 2023, where strict confidentiality measures were in place, a message from Miyazaki was read out following the end credits, saying "Perhaps you didn't understand it. I myself don't understand it." On June 29, 2023, during the opening day of Friday Road Show [ja] and Ghibli Exhibition Tokyo 2023, Suzuki publicly spoke on how Miyazaki is "worried" over the lack of publicity for the film, but said that he trusts the work behind it and believes it is best for the film. It is the first Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki film to have a simultaneous release on IMAX, as well as other high-end formats like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Cinema, and DTS:X.

The film was pre-sold overseas with no concrete release date. Goodfellas, formerly known as Wild Bunch International, served as the sales agent for the film's distribution. Upon the film's release in Japan, the North American rights were acquired by distributor GKIDS, making it the widest film release in the company's 15-year history. Internationally titled The Boy and the Heron, it was screened in special previews on November 22 ahead of its theatrical United States release on December 8, 2023. The first photos from the film were published in the theater pamphlets distributed by Ghibli on August 11. The film had its international premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival as its opening film on September 7, becoming the first animated film in history to open the festival and the festival's "strongest opening night film in decades". The film was also shown at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival, the 2023 New York Film Festival, the 56th Sitges Film Festival and the 42nd Vancouver International Film Festival.

Studio Ghibli granted promotional control to GKIDS for the American release, leading GKIDS to adapt a new marketing strategy, including the release of a teaser trailer in advance of the film's international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, to reach a wider audience while preserving Ghibli's branding and integrity. At the international premiere, where the director Guillermo del Toro introduced the film at its gala presentation, Studio Ghibli's Vice President Junichi Nishioka said that, contrary to rumors of retirement, Ghibli did not consider The Boy and the Heron to be Miyazaki's final film, and that Miyazaki is developing ideas for a new film and maintains a daily presence at his office, dispelling any notions of retirement. He said that Studio Ghibli did not envisage this film as a contender in award competitions and rejects the notion of associating films with wins or losses, and that Miyazaki's primary aim is for the audience to watch and enjoy the film. Suzuki reiterated Nishioka's statement about Miyazaki's next project in October 2023, saying that Miyazaki has already moved on from The Boy and the Heron and is thinking about his new film every day. Later in the same month, the official guidebook for the film was released, showing behind-the-scenes featurettes such as interviews, roundtable discussions and storyboards.

Impact

After the film's release, the novel How Do You Live? became temporarily in short supply due to having the same title as the film. The publisher decided to reprint the book, while the volumes were in large quantities on Mercari marketplace app. On July 20, Iwanami Shoten announced on its official Twitter account that the total circulation of the book had reached 1.8 million copies, making it the number one book published by Iwanami Bunko in its history.

See also

In Spanish: Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (película de 2023) para niños