Hayao Miyazaki’s Boy and the Heron is the latest moviefrom animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli. The film, meticulously hand-drawn, deals with themes of grief, imagination, coming-of-age, and dealing with and overcoming strife both interpersonally and on a grand, political scale. It is not only a gorgeous film to watch, the fantastical elements visually stunning, but also home to an emotionally provocative story.
Finishing the movie might leave you feeling hungry to return to its lush world, to further explore the ideas it presents. And, while you can always re-watch it, you’re lucky to also live in a world where animation is flourishing. Here are ten other absolutely gorgeous movies to fill the hole that Miyazaki has just torn in you.
2004
Streaming
Max, YouTube, Google Play, Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu
The best recommendations for people who enjoy Studio Ghibli films are other Studio Ghibli films. Specifically, Howl’s Moving Castle takes place in a strange otherworld involving magic, curses, and spirits. When protagonist Sophie starts to form a relationship with the wizard Howl, she is cursed and must work with him to break it.
If you loved the fantastical elements of The Boy and the Heron, you’ll love this setting. Especially if you loved the pyrokinetic Himi. This movie is one of the most popular Ghibli movies of all time for a good reason, embodying the emotional impact and whimsy it’s known for.
2012
Crunchyroll, Funimation, Apple TV
This movie deals with themes of grief, growing up, and wrestling with how otherness impacts acceptance internally and externally. When young mother Hana’s werewolf husband dies, she moves out to the Japanese countryside to raise their two werewolf children.
Using a combination of hand-drawn animation and CGI, this movie captures the emotional process of raising children, trying to help them navigate a world that isn’t accepting of their animastic natures. A great movie if you want to see more of rural Japan, and if you felt your heartstrings tugged by the family dynamics in The Boy and the Heron.
2013
Kanopy, Google Play, YouTube, Prime Video, Vudu
Where to start with this movie? There’s no dialogue, all spoken lines are backwards in Portuguese, and only the main character is named. An experimental and abstract emotional journey, Boy and the World defies easy categorization. If you want to really dial into themes of growing up in a time of political strife alongside the despair and hope that journey brings, this is the movie for you.
It isn’t a movie for everyone, and it isn’t easy or casual viewing, but this Brazilian film is worth it. It’s highly stylized and animated with a combination of painting, drawing, and CGI. If you’re willing to lend this movie your attention, the ending will reward you.
2014
YouTube, Google Play, Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox
A movie by Cartoon Saloon, known for their hand-drawn animation and retelling of Irish folklore, Song of Sea is about selkies, creatures who can turn from seals to humans. As in Boy and the Heron, we meet a family living in a rural area grieving their missing mother.
As the movie unfolds, the truth about their mother’s nature leads the pair of siblings into a world of magic and danger, where they must overcome their differences and remember why they love each other. Like The Boy and The Heron, this film uses the inhuman to communicate what it means to be human.
2001
Max, YouTube, Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu
Another Miyazaki film, Spirited Away is the story of a young girl, Chihiro, who must save her parents from a curse that’s turned them into pigs by traveling into the dangerous and magical world of spirits. Mahito Maki and Chihiro are both characters forced to confront truths about themselves and the world around them via fantastical characters and settings.
On the border between fear and wonder, Spirited Away’s resort for supernatural beings is another world that you might not want to be free from. All the while brought to life by that fluid, hand-drawn Ghibli style.
2016
Tubi, Peacock, Sling TV, Prime Video, Freevee
For those who were left wanting to dive deeper into the historical setting presented in The Boy and the Heron. In This Corner of the World is a slice-of-life movie about the coming-of-age of a young woman named Suzu in Japan during the Pacific War. It’s a movie about human resilience, the importance of love in overcoming unspeakable tragedy, and the strength it takes to try and build a better world.
Another hand-drawn film, the team of animators was meticulous about getting the historical details and setting correct. Be warned, this movie is emotionally devastating.
2021
Hulu, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox
Inu-Oh is a film about the after-effects of war, yes. It’s also a film about friendship and the power of bringing people together to hear the truth, of course. But, most importantly, it is absolutely stunning to watch. In order to break a curse on his friend by ghosts seeking justice, a biwa player invents shredding and starts putting on these insane concerts to tell the ghosts' stories.
This is a movie for anyone who watched The Boy and the Heron and wants to see animation pushed further. Masaaki Yuasa’s style is known for how expressive it is, and Inu-Oh pushes that to its limits.
1997
When Studio Ghiblihas influenced art styles across the board, in video games and TV shows,it’s difficult not to keep recommending their movies, and this is one of the best. Princess Mononoke is an epic story, hand-drawn in detail, about the human struggle to co-exist with nature, overcome hatred, and face down selfishness and greed.
It’s the Ghibli film that pushes the age rating the furthest, as the movie shows violence. This darker tone gives it a feeling of realism that grounds the fantastical elements, but what really makes this a masterpiece is the balance it strikes between all elements involved.
2022
Crunchyroll, Prime Video
Makoto Shinkai is known for creating beautifully animated, grand, cinematic experiences,and Suzume is no exception. The story centers around Suzume, a teenager who has lost her parents, having an encounter with a young man that opens up a portal to another world. Left open, these portals are causing natural disasters across Japan.
Suzume, like The Boy and the Heron, is a coming-of-age story told through gorgeous animation about how to live side-by-side with disaster. Like Mahito Maki, Suzume also has a complex relationship with her mother, which comes to light through another world.
2011
Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, Redbox, Prime Video
A Letter to Momo begins with 11-year-old Momo, who has just lost her father, moving to a more rural area of Japan where she encounters magical creatures and is introduced to a world beyond her own. Sound familiar?
A Letter to Momo is more grounded in the real world than The Boy and the Heron, but it also deals with the personal and magical blending to teach the main character lessons about how to take what she’s been given and learn to make a better world from it.
