At the 96th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, The Boy and the Heron, reportedly the last movie from famed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, was awarded the Oscar for best animated feature film.
Based on the 1937 novel “How Do You Live?” written by Genzaburō Yoshino, The Boy and the Heron is a semi-autobiographical tale about a boy during World War II who embarks on a fantastical journey in search of his mother. The film was released in the UK and was praised by the Guardian’s chief film critic Peter Bradshaw as a charming and mysterious fantasy that touches upon the themes of childhood suffering and sorrow seen in Miyazaki’s works.
After visiting Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli office in December, the Guardian reported that the 83-year-old director may not be currently preparing for any new movies. However, Ghibli’s vice-president Junichi Nishioka denied this, stating in September that Miyazaki is still generating fresh concepts and attending the office.
Miyazaki continues to be the most well-known Japanese animation director in the western world, earning numerous awards such as the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2003 for Spirited Away, and receiving two additional Oscar nominations for Howl’s Moving Castle in 2006 and The Wind Rises in 2014.
Learn more about the Academy Awards of 2024.
Source: theguardian.com
