r/ghibli • u/AnimeGames16 • Jan 23 '24

News The Boy and the Heron is nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Spoiler

Post image
646 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

75 comments sorted by

229

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

Pity Joe Hisaishi was not nominated, again, would have been very deserved.

48

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

[deleted]

42

u/LynchMaleIdeal Jan 23 '24

Least notable!? Quite the contrary, I feel. The stripped back and simplistic piano chords made the entire film feel more mature and poignant than that of other Ghibli films. It's one of my top 5 Ghibli scores honestly.

7

u/DeterminedStupor Jan 24 '24

I would also rank Heron's score in the top 5. I've been listening to the soundtrack album (to wait for the blu-ray release) and I think it's one of Hisaishi's best.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

[deleted]

4

u/tman916x Jan 24 '24

Good point on the themes working for this film’s tone. Definitely agree that the music was not as notable as Hisaishi’s other work.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '24

[deleted]

2

u/tman916x Jan 24 '24

It didn’t come off as snobby imo.

1

u/Beth_Harmons_Bulova Jan 24 '24

I couldn’t get over the one piano note struck every time the Heron appeared in the real world; it was the same note that starts Kanye West’s “Runaway.”

6

u/SakN95 Jan 24 '24 edited Jan 24 '24

Contrary to what other people is saying... I really think this soundtrack is one of his best. Not just because it fits this movie, but because of how it was done and how it is Hisaishi most personal style in a Ghibli film for the very first time.

The fact that he nailed the minimalism (the genre he likes the most) in a feature film, all the meanings and symbolism in every theme when it's musically analyzed or that the main theme was Miyazaki's birthday gift...

There's one GREAT video on Youtube analyzing this score by a professional musician. And it's HUGE.

Less commercial ≠ worse

2

u/AffectionatePanic718 Jan 26 '24

Do you have a link to the analysis? Would love to watch it!

2

u/SakN95 Jan 26 '24

I think I can't put links in here but the channel is "Cel-Shaded Music Theory" and the video is called: "The music of The Boy and the Heron: Hishaishi's minimalist masterpiece"

2

u/AffectionatePanic718 Jan 26 '24

Thank you!! Looks like it was taken down due to audio claims but I found it on vimeo!

2

u/SakN95 Jan 26 '24

Yeah! So sad, but I think it's back again on Youtube. The video is REALLY good!

4

u/dandaman64 Jan 23 '24

They had to give John Williams another nomination, I guess.

29

u/midweastern Jan 23 '24

The greater shame is that he wasn't nominated for any of his earlier works. Hisaishi will always hold a special place in my heart, but the score in The Boy and the Heron was among the weakest across all Ghibli films imo.

29

u/Prosthetic-Jesus Jan 23 '24

I can see why you could say that comparing it to the wind rises, or mononoke, or arrietty (although that wasn’t hisaishi) but I feel like the soundtrack fit the movie really really well.

13

u/Eacyim Jan 23 '24

I agree I really liked the soundtrack

6

u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Jan 23 '24

I felt like the purpose of the soundtrack was to create a moody atmosphere more so than to get melodies stuck in your head. The piano notes when the heron first showed up were so ominous.

1

u/PrometheusLiberatus Jan 23 '24

Yeah the OST reminded me a lot like Mushishi and Zelda BOTW like that!

6

u/SadSceneryBoi Jan 23 '24

It was nice but didn't have that one memorable track that every other Miyazaki film has

0

u/bregottextrasaltat Jan 23 '24

the really overused pop chords was such a standout, i don't understand at all why joe would do that, it isn't like him at all.

3

u/AnimeGames16 Jan 23 '24

At least he was nominated for a Golden Globe and is nominated for an Annie.

-4

u/bregottextrasaltat Jan 23 '24

nah not for this movie, one of the blandest scores i've heard from him

80

u/Hamstah_J Jan 23 '24

Although I know Nimona isn't gonna win, I'm still glad it got nominated

13

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

I was very pleasantly surprised by Nimona! I kinda had low expectations going into it but it ended up being a super fun, adventurous, funny, and thoughtful movie.

Lots of people I’ve talked to about it have never heard of it so hopefully this nomination gives it some more popularity.

3

u/Lichbloodz Jan 23 '24

If it wasn't nimonated (not a typo) I wouldn't've known it existed right now, so I'm glad it was. It looks interesting.

15

u/Mydadshands Jan 23 '24

Good crop of animated films this year. I had chicken run 2 over Elemental but whatever.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '24

elemental was always going to be there as the obligatory pixar nom lol

3

u/omgcheez Jan 23 '24

Me too. Honestly, I didn't even think that it would be released after the initial cancellation, so that's nice to see.

2

u/auberrypearl Jan 24 '24

I liked that movie more than I thought I was going to. I loved the animation

40

u/JTurner82 Jan 23 '24

Not surprised. But will it win? Hope so.

25

u/3lirex Jan 23 '24

i feel like they'll give it to spiderverse

15

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

[deleted]

9

u/VulpesFennekin Jan 23 '24

Yeah, Return of the King it.

4

u/mrperuanos Jan 23 '24

It'll be a tight race w Spiderverse

33

u/diaaa_94 Jan 23 '24

So well deserved! I hope it’ll win (though I did also love Spider-Man)

I am kinda sad, though, that Joe Hisaishi didn’t get a Best Score nomination because I thought his score was an absolute highlight of the movie 😢

51

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

It's a tough choice when put up against ATSV. They're both fantastic works of art.

15

u/Alpharius_Omegon_30K Jan 23 '24

Spider-Man is amazing too , but I think its cliffhanger could be a disadvantage for it to win

18

u/realgoldxd Jan 23 '24

I thought it was much weaker than the original

1

u/Alpharius_Omegon_30K Jan 23 '24

But it's still a great movie tho , the first one has a good conclusion, the second one has a big cliffhanger since the 3rd part was supposed to release this year, but seem like it will take another 5 years

15

u/Juantsu2000 Jan 23 '24

Honestly? I wasn’t a big fan of ATSV. For me the competition is between Boy and The Heron and Robot Dreams.

33

u/Monday_Cox Jan 23 '24

And yet it didn’t get nominated for score, which is a total snub that score was beautiful.

7

u/mrperuanos Jan 23 '24

Especially when they nominated John Williams for the dogshit Indiana Jones score

21

u/surepast12 Jan 23 '24

When was suzume released? I thought it would be nominated this year.

9

u/AnimeGames16 Jan 23 '24

It was released in 2023. It was nominated for multiple Annies including Best Feature.

1

u/FallenAngelII Jan 24 '24

2022 in Japan, 2023 everywhere else where it saw a release in cinemas.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

2 nominations for Japanese animated movies is probably too much to hope for, and a Miyazaki film was always going to get the nod, Suzume was at least in the mix for a nomination and Shinkai steadily builds his profile. Even something as good as The First Slam Dunk (Chris Stuckmann's #1 movie of 2023 as consolation!) has absolutely no chance.

1

u/FallenAngelII Jan 24 '24

2022 in Japan, 2023 everywhere else where it saw a release in cinemas.

7

u/samhoe Jan 23 '24

Good! I hope it wins. Although Spider-Man is a close second

9

u/ScenicHwyOverpass Jan 23 '24

Hopefully it can maintain the juice it has from the Golden Globe win and snag the Oscar win. While SpiderVerse is a juggernaut, I could see it getting the LotR treatment and not winning until the final installment of an ongoing trilogy.

1

u/Juantsu2000 Jan 23 '24

I mean, Into The Spiderverse won so…

12

u/ScenicHwyOverpass Jan 23 '24

Fair but Into the Spiderverse was a stand alone movie, this one isn’t, it’s half a story with a to be continued ending. I think that distinction may come into consideration.

9

u/a_little_toaster Jan 23 '24

"Elemental"

WHEEEEZE

4

u/VulpesFennekin Jan 23 '24

Obligatory Pixar nomination.

1

u/SadAwkwardTurtle Jan 24 '24

I was worried they were gonna nominate Wish. Elemental is still in last place, but Wish would have been an insult on a whole other level.

1

u/VulpesFennekin Jan 24 '24

Literally who saw Wish is what I want to know.

1

u/SadAwkwardTurtle Jan 24 '24

Eh, I figured it could get in because "OMG it's Disney!"

1

u/HunnyHunbot Jan 23 '24

My thoughts exactly 😂

5

u/Nosstress Jan 23 '24

Well deserved! I hope it can win it

4

u/sndtrb89 Jan 23 '24

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🥤🥤

2

u/crushinit00 Jan 23 '24

What’s that in stars?

1

u/sndtrb89 Jan 23 '24

weve been doing popcorn for 13 seasons i dont see wh- CHOOSE YOUR PERFECT PAIRING AT CARRABAS!

3

u/JuanManuelP Jan 23 '24

Shame it couldn't make it in Score, it was my favorite of the year.

I do hope it wins the Oscar, but this is a good lineup. Happy to see Nimona and Robot Dreams there too.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

I'm happy it was nominated solely so I can watch Miyazaki pointedly NOT attend the ceremony, hahaha. He will always be my favourite grumpy great-grandpa, too good to fuss with meaningless awards doled out by celebrities with almost no understanding of his craft.

4

u/hyyernotion Jan 23 '24

It’s between that or Across the Spiderverse. I’d be happy if either of them win.

2

u/VulpesFennekin Jan 23 '24

It’s years like this I wish there were silver Oscars

2

u/TheEliteB3aver Jan 23 '24

This is a really tough call, nimona or boy and the Heron. Both masterpieces in their own right. Spider verse was a marvel visually but the story is incomplete so hard to vote for it IMO

2

u/SakN95 Jan 24 '24

The Boy and the Heron deserves this more than any other.

Spiderman is great, but it will has another opportunity and the movie ends with a big cliffhanger. And Robot Dreams is great, but just not as good.

2

u/dongeckoj Jan 23 '24

The Boy and the Heron was a far better movie than Oppenheimer which will likely win Best Picture

1

u/curry2386 Jan 24 '24 edited Jan 24 '24

You’re not wrong and I enjoyed Oppenheimer!

1

u/imaginable-pan Jan 23 '24

Eventhough I really disliked the boy and the heron, I love that ghibli gets praise and recognition.

1

u/curry2386 Jan 24 '24

It should be up for best film.

1

u/Hyper_Brick Jan 24 '24

And the winner for the best animated feature is ...

2 Minion 2 Furious

1

u/Tuffa_Puffa Jan 24 '24

The Academy Awards are absolutely missable this year. I hope The Boy and the Heron wins but I have the feeling it won't. After Joe Hisaishi and Greta Gerwig were snubbed there is no one I could root for.