Studio Ghibli’s The Boy And The Heron Voiced by Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh
With The Boy and the Heron, the legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki will return to the big screen for the first time in ten years. Both the original Japanese version and the dub will be available for this much anticipated movie. The movie has already made history by being the first animated picture to open the 2023 Toronto International picture Festival, ahead of its scheduled release later this year. Studio Ghibli just released the English voice cast, which includes Hollywood A-listers like Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh, to heighten the anticipation.
The film’s distributor, GKIDS, revealed the complete cast list, and it features Luca Padovan as the little kid Mahito Maki and Christian Bale as Mahito’s father, Shoichi Maki. Natsuko, Mahito’s aunt, is voiced by Gemma Chan, while Dave Bautista plays the Parakeet King. Taking on the role of Granduncle, Mark Hamill is portrayed by Karen Fukuhara as Lady Himi. Along with Pugh and Pattinson, the movie also stars Willem Dafoe as the Noble Pelican and Pattinson as the Gray Heron. As the Parakeets, Dan Stevens, Tony Revolori, and Mamoudou Athie join the cast.
According to EW, the company opted to dub the movie because of the Foreign Dubbing Agreement between SAG-AFTRA. The Hollywood actors’ union is not presently on strike, hence it has no impact on this deal.
At first, The Boy and the Heron was thought to be Hayao Miyazaki’s last movie. However, rumors claim that the director is already engaged in another endeavor. The main character of this forthcoming movie is a little child who is mourning the death of his mother. How Do You Live, one of Miyazaki’s favorite novels, served as inspiration. Although not a straight adaptation, the movie is inspired by the novel.
The forthcoming Studio Ghibli picture, according to the GKIDS website, was totally hand-drawn by the Academy Award–winning director. He not only wrote the script but also directed the movie. Intriguingly, Joe Hisaishi, a longtime collaborator of Miyazaki’s, expertly created the soundtrack, and for the title song, Spinning Globe, the director collaborated with J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
The movie was also shown at festivals including the Vancouver International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the Sitges Film Festival, and the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Both festival goers and reviewers have expressed good sentiments so far.
On November 22, spectators may anticipate the special previews of The Boy and the Heron. Then, on December 8, both the Japanese and English versions will be released in theaters.
