General Trivia:
- This marks Mark Hamill's (Granduncle) third dub role in a Miyazaki film having previously voiced the Mayor of Pejite in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Col. Muska in Castle in the Sky.
- It's also the second dub role for Christian Bale (Shoichi), who famously played the titular Howl in Howl's Moving Castle.
- It's also the second dub role for Willem Dafoe (Grand Pelican) after voicing Cob in Tales from Earthsea.
- It's also Dan Stevens' (one of the Parakeets) second Ghibli dub in a row after voicing Thomas in Earwig and the Witch.
Specific Tropes
- Awesome, Dear Boy: Robert Pattinson had no prior experience in voice acting when he was approached, but was "giddy with excitement
" over playing the Heron, spending weeks rehearsing and recording rough versions of the character's voice. - Celebrity Voice Actor:
- The English dub consists of well-known live-action actors such as Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Gemma Chan, and Florence Pugh.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub, movie actor Alfonso Herrera voice the Heron.
- Completely Different Title: The film's original Japanese title is How Do You Live? but the studio insisted it would be changed for international audiences, possibly due to the film being based on the book In Name Only.
- Dueling Movies:
- With Godzilla Minus One, another Japanese film about coping with the trauma brought upon by the grief, loss, and Survivor Guilt during World War II.
- It's also this with Suzume, another fantastical anime film that dealt with the protagonist's loss of their mother and their aunt acting as a replacement.
- Extremely Lengthy Creation: Miyazaki began working on the film in July 2016 and the film wasn't released until July 2023, seven years later. Producer Toshio Suzuki has confirmed that no deadlines were set for release much like with The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
- Invisible Advertising: The film was uniquely released without any sort of marketing campaign or promotional material outside of a single poster. This was the idea of Toshio Suzuki. As a result, there was no single picture on the internet about how the characters look like in-film nor any images showing any scene of the film itself, outside the poster. However, Studio Ghibli themselves published some images from the movie on August 14, 2023, and this policy was eventually dropped for the film's English release a month later, with GKIDS posting a teaser trailer for the film on September 5, 2023.
- Lost in Translation: The change in title causes a variant: as a nod to the book that inspired the movie, one scene features Mahito reading a copy of How Do You Live?. The connection is readily apparent for the domestic Japanese audience, where the film's name is derived from the book. With the English dub's retitle of The Boy and the Heron, however, the scene loses a layer of significance for viewers unaware of the movie's origins.
- Playing Against Type: Robert Pattinson frequently plays handsome brooding young men, from Edward Cullen to Bruce Wayne. In this film, he voices a mischievous heron with the head of a short middle-aged man and the cranky voice to match.
- Promoted Fanboy: A lot of the English dub cast signed on because they were Ghibli fans. Karen Fukuhara got the call as she was getting ready for a Joe Hisaishi concert, while Dan Stevens, who had previously been in Earwig and the Witch, signed on for a minor role purely to be in Miyazaki's (at the time) last film.
- Release Date Change: A Filipino release for the movie was originally set for November 29, 2023 but was later moved to January 8, 2024.
- Stunt Casting: Mahito's father is voiced by Takuya Kimura due to previously playing the title character in Howl's Moving Castle. Studio Ghibli asked GKIDS and NYAV Post to consider doing their own version, so they cast Christian Bale, Howl's English actor. The same happens in the Latin American Spanish dub, as Gerardo Garcia did the same as well.
- Those Two Actors: Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe previously appeared together in The Lighthouse.
- What Could Have Been:
- The film was originally going to be a straightforward adaptation of the book the film was named after in Japan, but Miyazaki made so many changes throughout production that the film became an In Name Only adaptation.
- This was originally meant to be Hayao Miyazaki's Swan Song, but not long after its Japanese release, it's confirmed by Ghibli during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival that this won't be the case anymore and that he's already thinking of new films.
- GKIDS considered Danny DeVito to voice the Heron, but Ghibli vetoed it, requesting they find an actor closer in age to Masaki Suda..
- Other international titles considered for the film were The Grand Uncle and The Tower Master, before producer Toshio Suzuki suggested The Boy and the Heron to show how their relationship centers the film.
- Mahito's granduncle was supposed to have a much larger role in the film, but Isao Takahata's death made Miyazaki rewrite the role after much contemplation, as the character was based around Takahata and his friendship with Miyazaki.
- Write What You Know: Mahito's background with a father making air munitions and having to evacuate to the countryside during WWII are shared with Miyazaki's own childhood experiences.
- Write Who You Know: While Mahito is an Author Avatar for Hayao Miyazaki, the Gray Heron was based on Toshio Suzuki and Mahito's granduncle was based on Isao Takahata. Miyazaki's father also ran an airplane manufacturing business during WWII, much like Mahito's father Shoichi does.
- Written for My Kids: According to Toshio Suzuki in an IndieWire interview, Hayao Miyazaki made this film for his grandson, revealing that the reason why he came out of retirement to make this film at all was so he can leave behind his grandson something to remember him by before he passes away.Toshio Suzuki: "It’s his way of saying ‘Grandpa is moving on to the next world, but he’s leaving behind this film."
