Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron deservedly walked away with an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature last weekend at the Oscars. In light of its success, GKIDS—the company that brought the English-dubbed version to North America (including some surprising names voicing certain roles)—is bringing the movie back to theaters nationwide later this month.
The return of The Boy and the Heron to the big screen will also include some bonus content, including an introduction from the film’s composer Joe Hisaishi, who received a Golden Globe nod for his work on the film. There will also be a recorded drawing session with supervising animator Takeshi Honda, who earned an Annie Award for Best Character Animation for his work on the feature.
If you missed seeing the film the first time around, here’s its official synopsis:
After losing his mother during the war, young Mahito moves to his family’s estate in the countryside. There, a series of mysterious events lead him to a secluded and ancient tower, home to a mischievous gray heron. When Mahito’s new stepmother disappears, he follows the gray heron into the tower, and enters a fantastic world shared by the living and the dead. As he embarks on an epic journey with the heron as his guide, Mahito must uncover the secrets of this world, and the truth about himself.
The Boy and the Heron starts its second run in theaters on March 22, 2024, and will be offered in both the original Japanese language and the English language version, the latter of which features the voice talents of Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh.
GKIDS also released a new trailer to celebrate the movie’s return to theaters. Check it out below.
