Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning masterpiece “The Boy and the Heron” is finally coming home.
The autobiographical fantasy arrives July 9 on 4K UHD, Blu-ray plus DVD, as well as in a limited edition steelbook that includes 4K UHD and Blu-ray, all from GKIDS with home entertainment distribution from Shout! Studios. This is the first title from Studio Ghibli to be released on 4K UHD.
“The Boy and the Heron” will also be released in HD on all major on-demand digital platforms, as well as in 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos where available, on June 25.
All versions will contain the film in its original Japanese language with English subtitles, as well as in the new English-language version which features the voices of Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson and Florence Pugh.
The special features on the home release include feature-length storyboards, an interview with legendary composer Joe Hisaishi, an interview with “Boy and the Heron” producer and Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, an interview and drawing featurette with supervising animator Takeshi Honda, the music video for the film’s theme song “Spinning Globe” from Kenshi Yonezu, plus marketing materials including teasers and trailers.
“The Boy and the Heron” follows Mahito, a young boy who, after losing his mother, goes to live with his father and his father’s new wife, where he follows a mysterious heron into a fantastical realm where young souls take flight, a parakeet king rules over the land and an old wizard with a god complex can’t let go. (Like we said: autobiographical.)
It is both deeply moving and gorgeously ephemeral, entertaining and entrancing. Its triumph at the Academy Awards speaks not only to the power of the film but to the legacy of Miyazaki, whose earlier films like “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke” are certifiable classics.
