The Autobiographical Nature of The Boy and the Heron
A brief deep dive into the film's characters, references and Granduncle's thirteen blocks and their autobiographical nature.
The Boy and the Heron is said to be the swan song from award winning legendary animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, director of beloved animated films such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle. It tells the story of a child named Mahito who finds his way into a magical world, where he undergoes a physiological transformation that helps him deal with the struggles he faces in the real world.
The film is not clear cut, it is subjective and seems to reward personal interpretation in which each viewer finds their own meaning and purpose from Mahito’s journey. Therefore it might seem fruitless to explain such a film, especially if you, the reader, already have preconceived notions of it in your minds. Regardless, I want to briefly delve deeper into one specific aspect of the film, Granduncle’s blocks, and the meaning behind them and their contribution to some of the overall themes of the film, but before I do that, let me lay down some groundwork.
Before the release of the film in Japan, we knew little of its story and content, with Studio Ghibli opting to use limited marketing for the promotion of its Japanese release. Japanese audiences’ limited knowledge of the film consisted of knowing the film’s one sole poster sporting the titular heron, that it was titled How Do You Live?, that it was inspired by a book of the same name loved by Miyazaki and that it seemed to be the most autobiographical film he had ever made. After watching the film, I was unable to shake its clear autobiographical nature, and the references to Miyazaki’s own life as well as his films.
The film has several aspects that seem to resemble and be inspired by his other works, most clearly in the case of his other academy award winning film Spirited Away, such as the idea of a child finding his way into a magical world, in fact the line in the English dub, “Strange disappearances are not uncommon here”, in the Japanese dub is actually, “To be spirited away is not uncommon here”, which seemingly directly refers to Spirited Away. Other references to his films include the Warawara being of similar appearance to the Kodamas in Princess Mononoke, Granduncle’s gazebo bearing a likeness to the one in Porco Rosso, amongst countless others.
The autobiographical nature of the film also refers to Miyazaki’s own life beyond his filmography. This can be seen in the many characters of the film, Mahito’s father was involved with producing airplane parts for Japan’s WW2 efforts just like Miyazaki’s father. Furthermore, Mahito was dealing with the death of his mother, just like Miyazaki was negatively impacted by his mother’s struggles with spinal tuberculosis, furthermore, both boys, Mahito and Hayao Miyazaki moved houses and fled Tokyo during WW2. The film is also seemingly inspired by Miyazaki’s professional relationships with the relationship between Mahito and the Heron, inspired by Miyazaki’s relationship with long time Studio Ghibli producer and co-founder Toshio Suzuki and Mahito’s relationship to Granduncle, which was seemingly inspired by Miyazaki’s relationship with fellow animation director and studio co-founder Isao Takahata.
This is where I finally come to the meaning I drew from the Granduncle’s blocks and their autobiographical aspect. In the film, Granduncle keeps this parallel world in balance, by periodically rearranging a set of 13 magical blocks. In my mind the blocks are a metaphor for Miyazaki’s filmography, his legacy so to speak. There are thirteen of them, coincidentally outside of short films there are thirteen animation projects that Miyazaki has had completely creative control over, 12 films and one television series called Future Boy Conan. This theory is strengthened by a line spoken in the film by Granduncle, “I’ve traveled across time and space to deliver you, these thirteen blocks”. In this sense despite being inspired by Isao Takahata, in many ways Granduncle represents Hayao Miyazaki himself and perhaps this is why this other world seems to be so inspired by his other films, and includes direct and indirect references to most if not all of his work.
Studio Ghibli famously have had longstanding concerns in regard to the issue of succession, in terms of allowing the next generation to take up the reins of the studio. First there was Yoshifumi Kondō, most famously known as the director of the 1995 Studio Ghibli film, Whisper of the Heart, he was touted as a potential successor to Hayao Miyazaki, amidst his potential retirement after the release of Princess Mononoke in 1997. Unfortunately Yoshifumi Kondō died in 1998, of an aneurysm. Then, there was Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki’s son. Hayao Miyazaki has openly had reservations about his sons directorial career which is only one aspect of their let just say complicated relationship. Since his first film, Tales from Earthsea in 2006, Goro has taken a different path, one which embraces CGI animation. It seems that he is carving out his own path and does not himself wish to head the Studio. There was also Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who has directed Studio Ghibli films, Arrietty in 2010 and When Marnie Was There in 2014. After Miyazaki’s retirement, following the release of the Wind Rises, when the studio had a seemingly uncertain future with no films in production, Yonebayashi along with other members of the Studio Ghibli staff left the company and founded Studio Ponoc, which in 2017 released their first feature film, Mary and the Witch’s Flower. One final individual, who did not have a long lasting presence at the Studio was Mamoru Hosoda, who was set to direct Howl’s Moving Castle but left the film due to creative differences, since then he has directed anime films such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children and co-founded his own animation studio, Studio Chizu in 2011.
In the film granduncle wants Mahito to succeed him, however, Mahito refuses his request which then causes the destruction of this magical world. Perhaps Miyazaki like Granduncle is grappling with his legacy and the successor failures of the Studio, wondering if his departure would destroy the Studio. Perhaps, he is also coming to terms with what he has created and the outcome of his works. Furthermore, perhaps Miyazaki in choosing to make Granduncle a man who abandoned his earthly ties and someone who retreated into his fantastical world, is also Miyazaki coming to terms with that aspect of himself and what the accomplishments he has achieved with Studio Ghibli have cost him in the real world.
It is unclear whether The Boy and the Heron will be Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, in my mind it is a perfect swansong to a remarkable career, a film of his unlike any other, somehow unique and original but all encompassing in its relation to his other films, their themes and the man himself. If it is his final film, then I could not think of a more fitting creative end, but if it is not then I am sure that his next film will surprise me just as The Boy and the Heron did.