Netflix has at last added The Boy and the Heron, which won the 2024 Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Hayao Miyazaki's first feature-length animated movie since 2013's The Wind Rises has been somewhat difficult to find, but Netflix users in the UK can at last enjoy it (US viewers can watch it on Max). Its quality is reflected in its very high Rotten Tomatoes scores, with a 97% critic mark and an 88% audience score.
The Boy and the Heron is said to be a semi-autobiographical fantasy of Miyazaki's life set during World War Two. In it, a young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.
The English-language voice cast featured Christian Bale, Gemma Chan, Robert Pattison, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Dave Bautista, Mamoudou Athie, Tony Reveolori and Dan Stevens.
Netflix UK viewers who enjoy The Boy and the Heron can also watch more of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies on the service. Spirited Away (2001), My Neighbor Totoro (1998), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) and Princess Mononoke (1997) are just some of his films available to watch now on the streamer.
The Boy and the Heron also won awards at the Baftas and the Golden Globes. Miyazaki, who previously won an Oscar for 2003's Spirited Away, said during his Oscars acceptance speech for The Boy and the Heron: "My wife tells me that I'm a very lucky man. And I think I’ve been lucky because I've been able to participate in the last era when we can make films with paper, pencil and film."
Fans of Hayao Miyazaki will be pleased to know that he's apparently working on a new movie. It appears to be at an early stage, but at least everyone will hopefully have another movie to enjoy.
You can watch The Boy and the Heron now on Netflix in the UK and on Max in the US.
