Ghibli Founders Miyazaki and Suzuki Discuss The Boy and the Heron Ahead of the Oscars

08.03.2024 - 16:59 / gamerant.com / Jack Jaegar

This Sunday will be the 96th Oscars, or Academy Awards, presentation. While many people are, of course, interested in seeing what movie will win the coveted Best Picture, there is a lot of excitement regarding the Animated Film category this year. Studio Ghibli's film The Boy and the Heron has been nominated alongside Western-produced English-language films, which has anime and Ghibli fans around the world excited about the possibility of an anime movie winning an Oscar (and not even in the foreign film category).

A special interview was conducted with the co-founders of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki. In the lighthearted interview, the two discuss a little about the production of the movie and how long it took, bringing a lot of delight to their fans and showing people who may not know Studio Ghibli a little glimpse at the two men who brought it to life.

Title

The Boy and the Heron

Release Date

Jul. 14th, 2023

Run Time

2 hours, 3 minutes

Rating

7.6 (IMDB)

The Boy and the Heron began as something unexpected, even though everyone thought that Hayao Miyazaki was done releasing movies. After a long gap after The Wind Rises in 2013, The Boy and the Heron was finally released a decade later when most people had given up hope of any more Miyazaki films. Before releasing, Miyazaki revealed nothing about the movie, and it did not have a trailer, cast list, plot summary, or anything more than a poster.

But that did not stop people from going to see it, just as Miyazaki predicted. The Studio Ghibli name, and his name, were enough to draw curious crowds out in droves to check out the latest film. And when the good reviews started to pour in, it only gained momentum. Since its release seven months ago, The Boy and the Heron has gone on to already win several awards, including a Golden Globe. It is running against other big-name animated films at the Oscars this weekend, including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Elemental, but we will soon see if it can win again.

Skip ahead to 24:10 if you would like to watch the interview in full.

In the run-up to the Academy Awards this weekend, the official YouTube channel for the awards ceremony has been posting features and interviews of the nominees. The Boy and the Heron has been nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film, and the interview was conducted with none other than the founders of the famous production company, Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki themselves. Conveniently for international audiences, since the Academy Awards are an English-language award show, the YouTube feature has English subtitles.

I'm glad that I made it all the way to the end.

In the short interview, Miyazaki and Toshio answer several questions about the movie. One in particular