Documentary about the arduous process of creating the Oscar-winning anime The Boy and the Heron.
In September 2013, legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement. It was short-lived: he almost immediately got to work on sketches for the film that would later become The Boy and the Heron. The process took close to ten years, and didn’t exactly run smoothly.
Director Kaku Arakawa, Hayao Miyazaki’s regular documentarian, was once again given unique access to the daily life of the director and animator, who’s starting to realise that his body and mind are failing him. The documentary also focuses on filmmaker Isao Takahata, who passed away during production. Takahata, director of The Tale of Princess Kaguya, played a crucial role in Miyazaki’s life as a rival and a mentor – Miyazaki even based the character of the magical great uncle in The Boy and the Heron on him. A film about the painfully personal, but indomitable force behind the work of the artist of dreams. One for the fans!
