Christian Bale, Florence Pugh and Robert Pattinson are within English Voice Cast for ‘The Boy and the Heron’

Miyazaki’s first animated feature in 10 years, “The Boy and the Heron” has come out with its official English voice cast.

GKIDS, which serves as animation group Studio Ghibli’s North American distributor, announced that the full cast will consist of Christian Bale as Shoichi Maki; Dave Bautista as The Parakeet King; Gemma Chan as Natsuko; Willem Dafoe as Noble Pelican; Karen Fukuhara as Lady Himi; Mark Hamill as Granduncle; Robert Pattinson as The Gray Heron and Florence Pugh as Kiriko.

They’re joined by Luca Padovan as protagonist Mahito Maki and Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolri and Dan Stevens as the Parakeets. The English-language dub was made in alignment with the SAG-AFTRA Foreign Dubbing Agreement.

Bale is the film's lead, playing protagonist Shoichi Maki, who is the father of young Mahito Maki.

Most of the actors involved in the production have some kind of voice acting experience. Christian Bale previously appeared in Howl's Moving Castle as Howl, while Florence Pugh starred in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Mark Hamill, of course, needs no introduction, having gained fame as the iconic voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series in addition to countless other projects.

The dub of The Boy and the Heron was made in accordance with the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)'s Foreign Dubbing Agreement, which is not currently under strike by the Hollywood actors' union. GKIDS is also an independent company not associated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Mahito Maki, the young boy at the center of the movie, is voiced by You’s Luca Padovan. Christian Bale (who voiced Howl in the English dub of Howl’s Moving Castle) voices Shoichi Maki, Mahito’s father; Gemma Chan (Eternals) voices Mahito’s aunt Natsuko; Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) plays the Parakeet King; Karen Fukuhara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) is Lady Himi; Mark Hamill (Star Wars) is Granduncle; Willem Dafoe (Finding Nemo) is Noble Pelican; Robert Pattinson (Twilight) is the Gray Heron; and Florence Pugh is Kiriko. Dan Stevens, Tony Revolori, and Mamoudou Athie also join as the Parakeets.

The Boy and the Heron originally debuted in Japan this summer under the title How Do You Live? and was initially shrouded in secrecy. Since then, however, images and trailers have been released, giving theatergoers a better sense of what’s going on in director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest fantasy world. It hits theaters in North America on December 8th. And while it was widely believed to be the last film from the famed animator, Miyazaki appears to have other ideas.

Read  more

Sarah H

Also on site :

• The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes breaks silence on his grief over Rob Reiner’s death: ‘Life is pain without you’
• Eric Dane now in 24-hour care amid ALS diagnosis as estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart shares health update
• My Christmas week in the most miserable place in Britain