Oscars 2024: Studio Ghibli Makes History With The Boy and the Heron Win

The Boy and the Heron took home the win for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars this past weekend, and it’s a win that makes history for Studio Ghibli and GKIDS! The Boy and the Heron was originally touted as famed creator Hayao Miyazaki’s final movie before it’s release, and even refused to showcase any footage or promotional images in the stretch ahead of its initial launch in Japan. This ended up paying off as making it not only the most successful Studio Ghibli film yet, but that success continued through its release in other countries throughout the world. 

The Boy and the Heron‘s success continued outside of the box office as well as the film started nabbing all sorts of prestigious nominations and awards over the last few months, and now that’s been capped off with a Best Animated Feature Film win at the 96th Academy Awards over films such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Elemental, Nimona, and Robot Dreams. But it’s a history making win as it’s only the second completely hand drawn film to win the award since Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away back in 2003. 

The Boy and The Heron Makes History With Oscars Win

The Boy and the Heron winning for Best Animated Feature makes it the second of completely hand drawn films to win in the category since it was first conceived back 2002. It’s a huge win for Studio Ghibli as they previously held the honor with Spirited Away, and it’s Hayao Miyazaki’s second film to win the award following many nominations in the past. It’s the first win for Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, and now marks two wins and seven nominations for the Academy Awards in Studio Ghibli’s history overall. 

It was also a huge win for distributor GKIDS as The Boy and the Heron is the highest grossing film release in GKIDS’ history, and the highest grossing Studio Ghibli film in North America (making it the highest grossing Japanese animated film domestically). GKIDS will even be celebrating this win by bringing The Boy and the Heron back to theaters in North America in a special celebratory re-release. 

How are you feeling about The Boy and the Heron‘s win at the Oscars? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!