The Boy and the Heron revealed the long-anticipated first trailer earlier today, along with a December 8 theatrical premiere date for the United States. The movie premiered on July 14 in Japan without any promotional materials except a teaser visual. GKIDS, the North American distributor for the movie, revealed a teaser video on September 1, without any actual scenes from the movie. It is worth noting some preview images were published last month.
The international premiere is slated for September 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023. The European premiere is happening on September 22 at the 71st San Sebastian Festival in Spain, while the US one will take place at the 61st New York Film Festival, which will run from September 29 to October 15.
Miyazaki wrote the script for The Boy and the Heron, often hailed as his final movie. His long-time associate, composer Joe Hisaishi composed the music. Kenshi Yonezu performed the film’s theme song titled “Spinning Globe.” The voice cast includes:
- Soma Santoki as Mahito
- Masaki Suda as the Blue Heron/Heron Man
- Ko Shibasaki as Kiriko
- Aimyon as Himi
- Yoshino Kimura as Natusko
- Takuya Kimura as Shoichi
- Shinobu Otake as Aiko
- Keiko Takeshita as Izumi
- Jun Fubuki as Utako
- Sawako Agawa as Eriko
- Karen Takizawa as Warawara
- Jun Kunimura as the Great King of the Parrots
- Kaoru Kobayashi as the Old Pelican
The film was inspired by Yoshino Genzaburo’s How Do You Live? novel from 1937, but it is not a direct adaptation. Miyazaki is a fan of the novel, for which Barnes and Noble describes the story:
How Do You Live? is narrated in two voices. The first belongs to Copper, fifteen, who after the death of his father must confront inevitable and enormous change, including his own betrayal of his best friend. In between episodes of Copper’s emerging story, his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge and offering advice on life’s big questions as Copper begins to encounter them. Over the course of the story, Copper, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars, and uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, and human nature to answer the question of how he will live.
Source: GKids YouTube Channel
©2023 Studio Ghibli
