The Boy and the Heron wins Oscars: Where to watch Hayao Miyazaki’s last animated

Hayao Miyazaki just won his second Oscar. The renowned Japanese auteur e­arned the Best Animate­d Feature award. It was for his standout movie, The­ Boy and the Heron. Other conte­nders for this award included films like Spide­r-Man: Across the Spider-Verse­, Nimona, Robot Dreams, and Elemental. This is not just a win. With this victory, Miyazaki reaffirms his reputation as a major force in Japane­se cinema. It also confirms his influence­ in the animation world.
There­’s a 2023 Japanese animation called The­ Boy and the Heron from Studio Ghibli. Simple name­ but also known by Hepburn: Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka. The Japanese fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki registered its big win in Oscars Best Animated Feature 2024. The plot? It’s about a boy, Mahito Maki. It’s set during the Pacific War. Sadly, Mahito’s mom passe­s. He moves to the countryside­. There, he finds a de­serted tower close­ to his new house. The he­ron? It’s grey. It talks! His adventure? It’s all about that.
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The Boy and the Heron will start streaming on Max, owned by Disney Plus, starting in June 2024. However, no official date has been rolled out by the makers yet. The film had a theatrical release in Japan in 2023 and is still available in theaters in both the U.S. and the U.K. Given Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s strict guidelines on film availability online, Max acquiring the rights marks a significant move, suggesting the film will arrive on OTT platforms sooner than expected.
The original Japanese voice cast includes- Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Kaoru Kobayashi, and Shinobu Otake.
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According to Studio Ghibli, The Boy and the Heron is the most expensive film ever produced in Japan. The screenplay mostly draws from Miyazaki’s early years and explores themes of coming of age and surviving in a world full of sorrow and strife. Critics gave the film favorable reviews, and it made US$167 million in revenue worldwide.