Netflix continues to grow its Studio Ghibli collection with the arrival of a Hayao Miyazaki documentary on December 6.
Titled Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron, the documentary – released earlier this year – follows the legendary director on his years-long journey to make The Boy and the Heron, an animated feature that would eventually net him his second Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
The brief synopsis on Netflix reads, “Animation legend Hayao Miyazaki grapples with matters of mortality and creativity during his seven-year journey making The Boy and the Heron.” Expect the US to miss out, though, given that the documentary is currently available on the Max streaming service.
Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki’s legacy are intertwined, with the director helming and writing multiple iconic projects at the studio, including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. Miyazaki even penned the scripts for Arietty and From Up on Poppy Hill, which was directed by his son Goro Miyazaki.
According to Goro during a talk at the Ghibli museum earlier this year, his father isn’t done yet – and may even be working on another movie.
“I don’t know if it’ll actually be for his next film, but it’s looking like an action-adventure-type movie, nostalgic and reminiscent of the old days,” Goro Miyazaki said (via Oricon and translated by CBR), leading some to believe it could be a sequel to 1984’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
Whether The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki’s final film or not, fans can rest assured that the vast majority of Studio Ghibli’s library is available to subscribers outside of the US and Japan. Its most infamously upsetting feature, Grave of the Fireflies, was made available earlier this year.
For more, check out our picks for the best anime you should be watching right now and the new anime to look forward to at the end of 2024 and beyond.