A GKIDS Films shared a message from the president of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzukiwhose film anime The Boy and the Crane (The Boy and the Heron) won the 96th Academy Awards.
As the producer of The Boy and the Crane, I am extremely honored to receive the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Academy. I would also like to thank everyone who was involved in the production of this film and everyone who worked to distribute the film around the world.
The film began with director Hayao Miyazaki withdrawing his reform statement. After that, we spent seven years producing this work. It has been ten years since Hayao Miyazaki’s previous film, The Wind Rises, during which dramatic changes have taken place in the environment around the films. This film was really difficult to complete. I am very grateful that the work that was created after overcoming these difficulties has been seen by so many people around the world and has received this recognition. Both Hayao Miyazaki and I have aged a lot. I am grateful to receive such an honor at my age and consider it a message to continue our work, I will dedicate myself to working more in the future.
The anime film The Boy and the Crane (The Boy and the Heron) is directed by the renowned director Hayao Miyazaki and known in Japan as How Do You Live? (Kimi-tachi wa Dou Ikiru ka). This is of course an anime film by the famous Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away; My Neighbor Totoro; The Walking Castle; Princess Mononoke).
The director Hayao Miyazaki is credited with the original work as well as directing the film and writing the story. Takeshi Honda (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Rebuild of Evangelion films) is the animation director. Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) composed the music. The co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzukiis the producer.
The cast includes: Soma Santoki, Aimyon, Ko Shibasaki, Masaki Suda, Takuya Kimura, Yoshino Kimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Sawako Agawa, Karen Takizawa, Shinobu Otake, Jun Kunimura, Kaoru Kobayashi and Shōhei Hino.
Miyazaki was inspired by this anime film in the novel How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino, from 1937. He added that this book is a story that has great meaning for the protagonist of his film.
