This February, “The Boy and The Heron” won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature for the 2023 votes. Beating even “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse.” To read this cycle’s publication for the Oscar event, read this article.
On Dec. 8, 2023, Studio Ghibli released their latest movie, “The Boy and the Heron.” The studio is well-known for its award-winning animation quality, soundtrack, and heartwarming stories. Despite the simple title, the movie is actually very confusing, in a good way.
Miyazaki stated that he wanted to tell his “life story” through this film, explaining why the film is so different from the rest.
“I’ve seen a couple of movies by Ghibli, they’re all kind of the same, but they’re good. Like [it’s] really pretty looking,” said OH sophomore Bryan Ferrer.
The movie takes place in wartime Japan, so there are a lot of themes about responsibility, grief, and destruction, and it goes deep into them. Mahito is 11 years old, and his appearance reflects his introspective and quiet personality.
The movie takes place in 1940’s Tokyo, about a young boy named Mahito who moves to the countryside with his father and his new step-mom after a bombing kills his mother. He is left to his own devices on sprawling grounds, where he meets a talking blue heron that leads him to a different world with spirits, where he finds acceptance and appreciation for his life. The movie ends with the dream world collapsing, hinting that it was long overdue and that things must move on.
Online, it was praised for its art style and soundtrack, being compared to movies like “Spider-verse.” Notably, some people thought the movie didn’t make any sense, and I would agree but for a good reason. Most of his films are pretty simple to grasp, but having made so many films over the years, Miyazaki may have wanted to do something different.
“Yeah, low-key by the end, I didn’t really get it,” said OH senior Alan Menzy. “Like a bunch of stuff happened, and then it’s like the end.”
The film is darker in tone, notably the artistic opening sequence that depicts what Mahito saw at the hospital where his mother died. I think “The Boy and the Heron” was purposely not easy to watch, both to amplify the interpretation of the film’s theme of loss, confusion, acceptance, and responsibility.
So much of the plot is about the discovery of the world that every few minutes something new is introduced. It’s melancholic, but it never takes away from what’s happening on-screen. This is what makes the movie so good. It was always entertaining and charming.
I can’t talk about this movie without mentioning Miyazaki’s other works, renowned films like “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,” and “Whisper of the Heart.” The former won the 2003 Best Animated Film. His films have always expressed some sort of grief and loss, which I think he was purposely trying to get into deeper here.
OH senior Elijah Duran said, “I think I watched the one with the cats, I know it was by Ghibli. I really liked it. It was entertaining,” referring to Whisper of the Heart.
That movie also had similar traits to “Boy and the Heron,” but the message was clearer and more of what you’d normally expect out of a Miyazaki movie. The film dropped unannounced, and maybe people thought it would be more like his other films.
I recommend this movie to anyone interested in animated films. The orchestral soundtrack, paired with the beautiful and surreal visuals, makes it really pretty to watch.
Hi i'm a senior at OHS and this is my first year w 42/fifty. I hope to get along and have fun with everybody.
