This Thursday the English-language trailer for Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and The Heron was released. The film is the latest animation movie from Academy Award winner Hayao Miyazaki, known for Spirited Away (2001), My Neighbor Totoro (1998), and Princess Mononoke (1997). The film was first released early this year at Toronto Film Festival and is set to preview in New York and Los Angeles on November 22. Before it’s nationwide theatrical release on December 8th.   

Now, the film has been made into an English dubbed version with a star-studded cast of Christian Bale, Gemma Chan, Mark Hamil, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh, and Willem Dafoe voice acting. 

The Boy and The Heron is Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years, and the story is deeply personal to him. According to an article for Variety the film is said to be semi-autobiographical. Based on Genzaburo Yoshino’s novel of the same name from 1937, the story follows Mahito, whose father marries his mother’s younger sister, after her death during firebombings at the hospital she works at. The family moves to the countryside, where Mahito meets a talking heron. The Heron tells Mahito that his mother is still alive and awaiting rescue. The novel was said to be deeply influential and important to Miyakzaki growing up. 

The film is being released by GKIDS, an award-winning production company and distributor of animated feature-length content.