English cast for ‘The Boy and the Heron’ includes Mark Hamill, more

The English-language voice cast for Hayao Miyazaki’s highly anticipated new film, “The Boy and the Heron,” was unveiled Tuesday, to the excitement of Studio Ghibli fans. 

The film’s premise is similar to that of 2001’s “Spirited Away,” but Miyazaki takes the story of a child traveling to a magical world to save their family in an entirely new direction. “The Boy and the Heron” is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 8.

The star-studded cast includes Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh and Dave Bautista, according to Variety. Luca Padovan (“You”) portrays protagonist Mahito Maki, a homesick and stoic boy grappling with the death of his mother, and Gemma Chan (“Eternals,” “Crazy Rich Asians”) voices Natsuko, his aunt and new stepmother, with whom Mahito has a conflicted relationship. Bale (“The Dark Knight”) voices Shoichi Maki, Mahito’s father.

Pugh (“Oppenheimer,” “Midsommar”) plays Kiriko, a sailor living in a magical watery world filled with enormous, bloodthirsty birds, while Bautista (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Glass Onion”) voices “the Parakeet King,” who appears in the latter half of the film as the head of the world’s fascistic parakeets. Hamill, a prolific voice actor known for beloved roles like Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series” and Fire Lord Ozai in “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” plays Granduncle, a mysterious character who holds the key to how the magical world works. (You might also recognize Hamill as Luke from the cult classic “Star Wars.”)

Robert Pattinson (“Twilight,” “The Batman”) plays the titular Gray Heron. Karen Fukuhara (“The Boys”) and Willem Dafoe (“The Lighthouse,” “Spider-Man”) round out the cast as Lady Himi and the Noble Pelican. 

I had the chance to view the Japanese-language version of “The Boy and the Heron” at the Mill Valley Film Festival last week, and I was swept away by the story’s scope. (I also was particularly fascinated by the enormous carnivorous parakeets and their system of government.) It’s an emotional and at times subtle film that requires excellent voice actors to live up to the sweeping and gorgeous animation. It appears as though this voice cast is prepared to do just that, especially with Bautista in the role of the chaotic and power-hungry Parakeet King.