The nominees for the 51st Annie Awards, which aims to put animation in the spotlight, have been announced, and Hayao Miyazaki’s stunning The Boy and The Heron claimed seven incredibly well deserved nominations across a variety of categories, including Best Feature and Best Director. Studio Ghibli’s most recent film came in second for most nominations. Nick Bruno and Troy Quane’s vibrant Nimona, which adapts the best-selling graphic novel by ND Stevenson, received nine nominations.
In addition to that, the film tied with two additional heavy hitters. Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse both received 7 nominations.
Let’s take a look at the nominations:
- Best Feature
- Best Character Animation – Feature | Takeshi Honda
- Best Direction – Feature | Hayao Miyazaki
- Best Music – Feature | Joe Hisaishi
- Best Production Design – Feature | Yoji Takeshige
- Best Storyboarding – Feature | Hayao Miyazaki
- Best Writing – Feature | Hayao Miyazaki
Synopsis:
A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death and creation, in tribute to friendship from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Christian Bale – Shoichi Maki
Dave Bautista – The Parakeet King
Gemma Chan – Natsuko
Willem Dafoe – Noble Pelican
Karen Fukuhara – Lady Himi
Mark Hamill – Granduncle
Robert Pattinson – The Gray Heron
Florence Pugh – Kiriko
Luca Padovan – Mahito Maki
Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens – Parakeets
THE BOY AND THE HERON is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro). Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film “Spinning Globe” was written and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
Check out the English dub trailer below:
Have you watched Miyazaki’s The Boy and The Heron? Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to catch up on all of the latest anime news right here.
