Though it just won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron is not easy to find right now, only playing in select movie theaters and not available digitally. That is going to change in the near future, with The Boy and the Heron's streaming debut set to land on Max.
Max announced on March 12 that it would premiere The Boy and the Heron on Max at an as yet unspecified date in 2024. This is part of a larger deal for the streamer and GKIDS, the US film distributor for Japan's Studio Ghibli animation house, that will continue to see Max be the streaming home for other classic Studio Ghibli movies, as it has been since 2020.
So if you want to watch classics like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Tales from Earthsea, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle and, eventually, The Boy and the Heron, a subscription to Max is going to be one of the easiest ways to do so.
The Boy and the Heron was the first feature-length animated movie from Miyazaki since 2013's The Wind Rises, ending his previously announced retirement. The new movie is said to be a semi-autobiographical fantasy of Miyazaki's life. In it, a young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. The English-language voice cast featured Christian Bale, Gemma Chan, Robert Pattison, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Dave Bautista, Mamoudou Athie, Tony Reveolori and Dan Stevens.
The movie earned Miyazaki his second career Oscar for Best Animated Feature, with his first coming for Spirited Away. It was also among the best-reviewed movies of 2023, being "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes with a 97% positive score.
For those interested in signing up for Max to watch any of the Studio Ghibli movies available on the streamer, the lineup of Max original series, the ability to watch HBO shows on-demand, live sports or anything else that is new to Max this month, then you have some options. An ad-supported monthly subscription for Max runs you $9.99 per month, or you can go ad-free for a starting price of $15.99 per month. A $19.99 per month plan, giving subscribers 4K quality images and up to 100 downloads, is also available.
If you’re curious exactly what Studio Ghibli movies are available to stream right now on Max, here’s the full list:
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
- Castle in the Sky (1986)
- My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
- Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
- Only Yesterday (1991)
- Porco Rosso (1992)
- Ocean Waves (1993)
- Pom Poko (1994)
- Whisper of the Heart (1995)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
- Spirited Away (2001)
- The Cat Returns (2002)
- Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
- Tales from Earthsea (2006)
- Ponyo (2008)
- The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
- From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
- The Wind Rises (2013)
- The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
- When Marnie Was There (2014)
- Earwig and the Witch (2020)
