Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and The Heron to stream on Max in the US

On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, Max announced that it will exclusively stream Hayao Miyazaki's latest anime film, The Boy and The Heron, in the US. The premiere date has not been announced yet and the same will be revealed later this year. A multi-year US licensing agreement was also announced between Warner Bros. Discovery and the American film distributor, GKids, to further extend Max's rights to stream Studio Ghibli movies on its platform.

On March 10, 2024, The Boy and The Heron won Miyazaki his second award in the Best Animated Feature Film category at the 96th Academy Awards. Miyazaki received his first Oscar in the same category in 2003 for the anime film Spirited Away. The Boy and The Heron also won numerous national and international accolades earlier this year.

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The Boy and The Heron anime film to stream on Max

The American platform Max confirmed that it will be streaming Hayao Miyazaki's newest anime film, The Boy and The Heron. No specific release date has been revealed as of this writing and the same will be announced later this year, as per a press release by the company on its website.

The parent company of Max, Warner Bros. Discovery, also announced a multi-year contract with the film distributor, GKids, to extend the streaming service's rights to stream Studio Ghibli movies on its platform. The streamer has been the home of Studio Ghibli's catalog in the United States since 2020.

Elizabeth Bannan Atcheson, the Content Acquisition at Warner Bros. Discovery, shared her thoughts on the same and said in the press release:

"Our subscribers are always looking for unique stories, and we are happy to continue to offer these award-winning, critically acclaimed films and to add ‘The Boy and the Heron’ to our deep and rich Max content offering."

Studio Ghibli is one of the oldest animation studios in Japan, founded in June 1985. The studio is known for its unique, hand-drawn animation style and seamless CGI, which is showcased in every title they produce.

Since its inauguration, the animation studio has mostly focused on creating anime films and adapting a few TV anime series. Some of the studio's famous movie titles include Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Grave of Fireflies, and many others.

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The Boy and The Heron synopsis

Mahito as seen in the anime film (Image via Studio Ghibli)

The anime film is centered around Mahito, who lost his mother a few years ago and now lives in a rural area of Japan. Here, some supernatural activities persuade him to think about the meaning of life.

IMDB described the anime film as:

"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. A semi-autobiographical fantasy from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki."

In Japanese, The Boy and the Heron is titled 君たちはどう生きるか (Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka), which translates to How Do You Live? The title boasts Miyazaki's preferred hand-drawn art style, which has become Ghibli's signature.

The film has received several accolades, winning Miayazi his first Golden Globe Award and second Oscar in the Best Animated Feature Film category after Spirited Away.

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