Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, The Boy And The Heron, won the Oscar Award for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, held on March 10, 2024. This marks Miyazaki’s second win in the category, following Spirited Away in 2003.

The Boy And The Heron was competing against Elemental, Nimona, Robot Dreams, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in the category.

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, Animation of the Year in the 47th annual Japan Academy Film Prizes.

The Boy And The Heron (called How Do You Live), released in Japan on July 14, 2023. It became the first ever Studio Ghibli film to get simultaneous IMAX release. It also became the first-ever animated film as well as Japanese film to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival.

Joe Hisashi composed music for the anime film. The film features 37 soundtracks including the theme song. Kenshi Yonezu performed the film’s theme song, “Chikyuugi”.

The plot of the film is described as:

The plot of the film is set during World War II. Mahito Maki, the protagonist, is a young boy who tragically lost his mother in a hospital fire. When his father remarries, they move from Tokyo to a countryside mansion. This mansion happens to be his mother’s ancestral home, and his father’s new wife is his mother’s sister. With complex emotions, Masato is guided by a mysterious gray heron and finds himself stepping into a different world.

How Do You Live? is inspired by the 1937 novel of the same name by Yoshino Genzaburo. He added that this book is a story that has great meaning to the protagonist of his film.

Source: Twitter