The Boy and the Heron The Boy and the Heron

GKIDS has released the English-dubbed trailer for Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, coming to U.S. theaters on December 8.

The Boy and the Heron is an original story written and directed by Miyazaki, produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, and features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi.

The English-language voice cast features Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh. All production of the English-language dub was done in compliance with SAG-AFTRA.

Today’s trailer features the English-language dub, but purists will be glad to know that GKIDS will also screen the original Japanese-language version with English subtitles.

Ghibli’s description of the film, written in poetry form, reads:

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

about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship,

from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

GKIDS and Ghibli have enjoyed a long and fruitful working relationship, and the distributor currently holds the rights to the Studio Ghibli library of films across all theatrical, home video, digital, and streaming platforms. Since 2017, GKIDS has also produced the annual Studio Ghibli Fest, a monthly nationwide theatrical program of Ghibli film screenings in over 800 theaters across the country.

Jamie Lang

Jamie Lang is the former Editor-in-Chief of Cartoon Brew.