Sometimes smaller really is better. Fresh off a festive season run that was nothing short of spectacular for its size, Studio Ghibli’s GKids studio title, The Boy and the Heron, continues to knock through records for the anime and animation market in Europe, North America, and Asia alike. Blake & Wang P.A’s Brandon Blake, our local entertainment attorney and industry expert, shares a few of the records this charming title has toppled.
Golden Globes Win and More
The Boy and the Heron took home the Best Animated Feature Film title from the Golden Globes, the first win for a non-English animated movie. That’s far from the only milestone this ‘little film that could’ has smashed through, however.
With a comfortable £3.9M in the kitty, it is Hayao Miyazaki’s top grosser for the UK and Irish markets, knocking Spirited Away off of its £1.1m title position with ease. This also makes it the second-highest gross for an anime in that box office market, behind Pokemon: The First Movie’s dazzling £11.7M. As that film was released in 2000, it’s also the biggest anime release there in over 2 decades.
A Global Pattern
This pattern has been repeated- well, almost everywhere! In Italy, it has surpassed other Japanese anime releases 5-fold. In Germany, it takes the third-highest opening weekend for an anime ever. That’s without considering how well the title performed in festivals throughout 2023, too.
As international content with local appeal becomes the name of the game in the industry, anime has had a massive boost across the board. Returning to the UK, the anime box office more than doubled vs. previous years. As it had the same record in 2022 as well, we can’t blame that on the pandemic, either. Alongside Godzilla Minus One, we’ve seen a very positive reception for Japanese titles domestically this year, too. Predicting trends is always a bit of a gamble, but for producers in the animated space, this is one to watch!
