Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Soars, Winning Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film (Update 1)

By Kayo Goto / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

11:45 JST, January 8, 2024 (updated at 17:45 JST)

LOS ANGELES — “The Boy and the Heron,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki, won the award for Best Motion Picture – Animated at the 81st Golden Globe Awards ceremony held at a hotel in Beverly Hills on Sunday.

This is the first time that an animated Japanese film has won a Golden Globe award.

“The Boy and the Heron,” which was released in Japan as “Kimitachi wa do ikiruka” (How do you live?), is the first feature-length animated film Miyazaki has created in 10 years. Parts of the movie are inspired by Miyazaki’s own life, such as needing to evacuate from Tokyo during World War II and the main character’s father being involved in the construction of fighter planes.

Other animated award nominees included “Suzume no tojimari” (“Suzume”) directed by Makoto Shinkai and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was coproduced by Nintendo Co. and the U.S. film company Illumination.