The Boy and the Heron beats Suzume as the Best Animated Film in New York Film Critics Circle

On Thursday, November 30, The New York Film Critics Circle announced Hayao Miyazaki's latest feature film The Boy and the Heron as the Best Animated Film. The film managed to beat the likes of Makoto Shinkai's Suzume and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka) is a Japanese animated film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. While there is a novel with the same Japanese name, the film has an original story as it follows a boy named Mahito Maki and a talking grey heron.

---

The Boy and the Heron becomes the best-animated movie of 2023

On Thursday, November 30, 2023, The New York Film Critics Circle announced the winners of their 89th annual awards. This saw Hayao Miyazaki's latest feature film The Boy and the Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka) being named the Best Animated Film of the year.

The film was competing with the likes of Makoto Shinkai's Suzume no Tojimari, Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Pablo Berger's Robot Dreams, and Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios' Elemental.

Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales as seen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Image via Sony Pictures)

Fans should note that both Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Elemental managed to earn more money than the Hayao Miyazaki film, managing to become part of the highest-grossing films of the year.

Nevertheless, the anime movie managed to win despite tough competition from films worldwide.

---

The Boy and the Heron set to release in English in December

Mahito Maki as seen The Boy and the Heron (Image via Studio Ghibli)

Following its release in Japan, the film's distribution right for North America was acquired by GKIDS. The film is set to be released on December 8, 2023, with an early preview having taken place on November 22.

The company managed the casting for the English version in collaboration with Studio Ghibli. They did this during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, all while adhering to the SAG-AFTRA Foreign Dubbing Agreement.

The Gray Heron as seen in the anime movie (Image via Studio Ghibli)

The English dub version was directed by Michael Sinterniklaas at NYAV Post, while Stephanie Sheh wrote the English script.

The English cast for the same is as follows:

• Luca Padovan as Mahito Maki
• Karen Fukuhara as Lady Himi
• Gemma Chan as Natsuko
• Willem Dafoe as Noble Pelican
• Mark Hamill as Great Uncle
• Robert Pattinson as The Gray Heron
• Florence Pugh as Kiriko
• Christian Bale as Shoichi Maki
• Dave Bautista as The Parakeet King

Following that, fans can expect the film to be released in other countries as well.