Legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards in March 2024 for "The Boy and the Heron" (Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka). The win marked Miyazaki's second Oscar — following his 2003 win for "Spirited Away" — and represented the first time a hand-drawn anime film won the category in 21 years.
"The Boy and the Heron" is a deeply personal, semi-autobiographical fantasy film that follows 12-year-old Mahito Maki, who moves to the countryside during World War II after losing his mother in a hospital fire. There, he encounters a mysterious talking grey heron that leads him into a fantastical world existing between life and death, where he must navigate challenges that mirror his grief and search for meaning.
“The win marked Miyazaki's second Oscar — following his 2003 win for "Spirited Away" — and represented the first time a hand-drawn anime film won the category in 21 years.”
The film was produced by Studio Ghibli, the animation powerhouse Miyazaki co-founded in 1985. In a remarkable decision, the studio released the film in Japan in July 2023 with virtually no marketing or advance promotion — no trailers, no interviews, just a single poster. Despite this unorthodox approach, the film became a massive commercial success, earning over $170 million at the Japanese box office and over $170 million internationally.
Miyazaki, 83, did not attend the ceremony in Los Angeles. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki accepted the award on his behalf. The win was especially poignant because Miyazaki had repeatedly announced his retirement — most recently in 2013 after "The Wind Rises" — only to return each time to filmmaking, driven by what he has described as an inability to stop creating.
The Academy Award cemented Miyazaki's legacy as one of the greatest filmmakers in cinema history, alongside his influence on generations of animators and storytellers worldwide. His films, known for their hand-drawn artistry, ecological themes, strong female characters, and moral complexity, have collectively earned over $2 billion at the global box office.
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