The film had its international premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival as its opening film on September 7, becoming the first animated film in history to open the festival [67] [68] and the festival's "strongest opening night film in decades". This book supplies informed discussions of style and narrative for each of Miyazaki's major films, with all the data and detail fans want. Film and culture magazine Cinemas+ observed that the film draws on motifs and characters from throughout Miyazaki's career, embedding them in a narrative that is somewhat darker, more complex, and more personal than many of his works. The film delves into the juxtaposition of life and death, wherein childhood and the end of life can serve as reflective counterparts. In 1943, during the Pacific War, 12-year-old Mahito Maki's mother Hisako is killed in a hospital fire in Tokyo.

Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art by Susan J. Napier | Goodreads

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) received the Osella Award for technical achievement at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival. Hayao Miyazaki has gained worldwide recognition as a leading figure in the history of animation, alongside Walt Disney, Milt Kahl, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Yuri Norstein and John Lasseter. After the preview screening held in late February 2023, where strict confidentiality measures were in place, a message from Miyazaki was read out following the end credits, saying "Perhaps you didn't understand it.

I have lived in Japan for the last 30 years but my love for manga, anime, and games is much older and dates back to when UFO Robot Grendizer was first shown on Italian TV a fateful summer evening in 1978.

Hayao Miyazaki by Hayao Miyazaki, Jessica Niebel | Waterstones

Touching something deep within our souls, his films elicit a powerful longing for another world—a world that may not be perfect but is nevertheless beautiful. On June 29, 2023, during the opening day of Friday Road Show [ ja] and Ghibli Exhibition Tokyo 2023, [54] Suzuki publicly spoke on how Miyazaki is "worried" over the lack of publicity for the film, but said that he trusts the work behind it and believes it is best for the film. He began storyboarding for a new feature-length project in July 2016, and official production began in May 2017. Hayao Miyazaki worried about the lack of publicity for his latest work: "I wonder if it will be OK," reveals Toshio Suzuki].Explore, create, and be inspired as we embark on a journey filled with limitless artistic possibilities. Guillermo Del Toro Makes Surprise Appearance At Toronto Film Festival For 'The Boy And The Heron' ". Film journalist Hiroo Ōtaka noted the industry's astonishment at the rapid box office achievement for the film's unconventional "minimalist promotion" strategy.