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Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron captured the Golden Globe tonight for Best Motion Picture – Animated, adding to its momentum in recent weeks.
The producers of the film did not travel to LA, so the trophy was accepted on their behalf during the ceremony. But even without the emotional punctuation mark of an acceptance speech, the win cemented The Boy as the Oscar front-runner. It was also nominated at the Globes for composer Joe Hisaishi’s score, so multiple Oscar nominations seem a distinct possibility for the GKIDs and Studio Ghibli release.
The film has been a box office hit in many territories and set a record for Miyazaki in North America (as well as GKIDS and Studio Ghibli) when it opened to a better-than-expected $12.8 million in December. It has grossed more than $136 million worldwide. The breakout domestic success came with nearly universal critical acclaim, setting it up as a heavyweight in awards season, particularly in an unusually soft year for some perennial animation powers. Disney’s Wish and Pixar’s Elemental both received Golden Globe noms, but the former was a misfire with critics and at the box office and the latter had admirers but was far less of a cultural force than past Pixar award winners.
Miyazaki’s fable-like films have featured a wide range of fantastical characters, but The Boy and the Heron hewed closely to his own life story. It has been billed as his most personal work to date and likely the final outing for the 83-year-old filmmaker. The film follows the story of a young boy named Mahito, who has recently lost his mother. Along with a cunning and deceptive gray heron, he journeys to a mysterious world outside of time where the dead and the living coexist. The film’s producers have said the core of the story had to change after the death of Miyazaki’s mentor and friend, Isao Takahata. The reworking led to a focus on the strange friendship between Mahito and the heron.
Along with The Boy and the Heron, Golden Globe nominees in the category included another anime title, Suzume, along with Elemental, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Wish.
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