The impressive English voice cast for the newest film from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron, has just been revealed.
The hand-drawn semi-autobiographical movie is, Miyazaki’s first in nearly a decade, is set during the Second World War and is loosely inspired by Irish author John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things. It was widely reported that this would be the 82-year-old Miyazaki’s farewell to cinema, but he’s indicated he may still have one more movie left in him.
So, if you intend to watch the English dubbed version of Miyazaki’s latest animated film, here’s what you can expect from the all-star cast.
The English voices of ‘The Boy and the Heron’
The film’s young 12-year-old protagonist Mahito Maki, is voiced by 20-year-old Luca Padovan, who has only a few acting credits to his name. His father, Shoichi Maki, is voiced by Christian Bale, who’s previously voiced another Studio Ghibli character, the widely adored Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle.
The list of the other known cast members goes as follows:
- Dave Bautista as The Parakeet King
- Gemma Chan as Natsuko
- Willem Dafoe as the Noble Pelican
- Karen Fukuhara as Lady Himi
- Mark Hamill as Granduncle
- Robert Pattinson as the Gray Heron
- Florence Pugh as Kiriko
- Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori, and Dan Stevens as the Parakeets
The Boy and the Heron premiered in Japanese theatres in July and in September screened at the Toronto Film Festival. It will be available for viewing in IMAX at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Oct. 18, and its official theatrical release, the one most fans will have to look out for, is slated for Dec. 8.
