The film, widely considered to be Miyazaki's last, bested top rival Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Disney's Elemental, Netflix's Nimona and the dialogue-free Robot Dreams. The production company of Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki has said 'The Boy and the Heron' would be his 'final film, considering his age' (Photo: AFP/File/Damien MEYER)It bested top rival Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Disney's Elemental, Netflix's Nimona and the dialogue-free Robot Dreams.
Miyazaki was not present in Los Angeles to accept the award. The film, about a boy who moves to the countryside during World War II, won best animated feature, the same award scooped in 2003 by Miyazaki's Spirited Away. Like other Ghibli titles, The Boy And The Heron is a visual feast in which mysterious creatures and strange characters cavort through a fantastical world. After his mother dies in the haunting fire-bombing of Tokyo during World War II, the boy, Mahito, struggles to accept his new life with his father and pregnant stepmother, who goes missin