On December 8th, the United States and Canada will be able to watch The Boy and the Heron, the newest animated film from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. The first movie trailer has finally arrived.
In Japan, The Boy and the Heron was released in July without much fanfare beyond a single billboard. Instead, it rode on the laurels of Ghibli and Miyazaki to find an audience. In addition, the strategy was successful as the film opened to the largest audience in the history of the studio.
As a result, the following teaser is the first opportunity for audiences outside of Japan to view Miyazaki’s recent directorial efforts. However, this is only a preview, so don’t look for any major plot details. Instead, you can count on a lot of the usual abstract pictures depicting the conflict between humans and the natural world that are characteristic of Miyazaki’s work.
The canonical account of the events is just as hazy. In this world, the living and the dead coexist, and a small child named Makito, who has been grieving for his mother, discovers this strange new world. Where death is conquered, new life begins. An homage to friendship and a fantastical exploration of life and death from the genius of Hayao Miyazaki.
On December 8th, cinemas across the United States and Canada will play dubbed and subtitled versions of the film The Boy and the Heron. GKIDS is handling the movie’s distribution. The film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, so English-language buzz will build in the months leading up to its release.