Hayao Miyazaki‘s “The Boy and the Heron” is getting an A-list cast for the English release.
After premiering at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, the Studio Ghibli animated film opens in the U.S. December 8. The English-language dubbed version of the film will feature the voices of Willem Dafoe, Christian Bale, Florence Pugh, and Robert Pattinson, among other stars.
The film follows a young boy (Luca Padovan) who struggles with the loss of his mother while his father (Bale) remarries. A mystical Gray Heron (Pattinson) gives the boy spiritual guidance with his grief.
The official cast list has Bale voicing Shoichi Maki; Gemma Chan as stepmother Natsuko; Willem Dafoe as the Noble Pelican; Mark Hamill as Granduncle; Florence Pugh as Kiriko; Karen Fukuara as Lady Himi; and Dave Bautista as The Parakeet King.
Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens are also featured as the Parakeets.
“The Boy and the Heron” is distributed in North America by GKIDS, which handled the casting and produced the English version while in close consultation with Studio Ghibli. ADR direction was led by Michael Sinterniklaas at NYAV Post, and the English script adaptation came from Stephanie Sheh. The English language dub was produced in accordance with the SAG-AFTRA Foreign Dubbing Agreement.
“The Boy and the Heron” will have special preview engagements on November 22 before expanding to cinemas nationwide and in Canada on December 8. The hand-drawn, animated feature marks director Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years.
The film features an original story written and directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Miyazaki and produced by Academy Award nominee and co-founder Toshio Suzuki. “The Boy and the Heron” has a musical score from Miyazaki’s longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi, including the theme song “Spinning Globe,” which was written and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
Distributor GKIDS president Dave Jesteadt told IndieWire that it’s a “tremendous honor” to handle the U.S. rights for the Japanese feature. “This is not someone who creates a new film every year. So it really does need to be handled in the most special way,” Jesteadt said. “We’re going to continue to find ways to both make sure that the film can reach its widest possible audience while staying true to a lot the marketing and the integrity that Studio Ghibli has.”
