Highlights
- Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron exceeded box office expectations worldwide, becoming a massive hit outside of Japan.
- Miyazaki’s success in America changed when GKids took over distribution, nurturing his films and giving them wider exposure.
- The film’s success is attributed to years of nurturing from GKids and other markets, expanding Miyazaki’s worldwide appeal.
Though Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron was expected to be an acclaimed film (if not a little weird at the end of the day), the one question people had was “how much money is it going to make?” While Miyazaki films typically were financially successful in Japan, success has been more mixed in other countries.
America in particular has been a tough nut to crack, with his films being viewed as undiscovered gems in the States. However, The Boy and the Heron ended up becoming a huge hit outside his mainland country, which then begs the question: what was different this time around?
What Are Some of the Most Successful Anime Studios?
Although it goes without saying, Studio Ghibli is not the only anime studio to have major financial success. Several other anime studios also have posted numbers that would make the CEO of a major studio take notice. Toei Animation, for example, has had major financial success thanks to producing hit franchises like Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Sailor Moon. Madhouse is another studio that has produced critically acclaimed and financially successful anime such as Death Note, One Punch Man, and Hunter x Hunter, establishing itself as a versatile and reliable studio.
Other studios that are known for their reliable hits include Gainex, Sunrise, Kyoto Animation (despite the troubles they’ve faced), and MAPPA have all produced series and movies that have received huge financial rewards. Most, though, have not achieved the same consistent financial results as Studio Ghibli has (and they REALLY haven’t been as consistent as Hayao Miyazaki’s box office numbers).
Anime Films by the Numbers
Several non-Studio Ghibli anime films have achieved notable financial success worldwide. Here are some of the most successful:
- Your Name (2016): Directed by Makoto Shinkai, this film is a beautifully animated sci-fi love story that grossed approximately $380 million globally. It explores the lives of two high school students who mysteriously swap bodies, blending romance and fantasy elements.
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (2020): Directed by Haruo Sotozaki, this film is a direct continuation of the Demon Slayer anime series and has become the highest-grossing anime film worldwide, earning over $500 million. Hayao Moyazaki himself has claimed that Demon Slayer is “his rival.”
- Pokémon: The First Movie (1998): This film, based on the hugely popular Pokémon franchise, grossed over $163 million worldwide. It was a major hit during the peak of the Pokémon craze and remains the highest grossing anime at the American box office at $85.75 million dollars.
- Weathering With You (2019): Another film by Makoto Shinkai (the guy knows how to make critically acclaimed box office hits), this romantic fantasy about a boy who can manipulate the weather earned around $193 million worldwide.
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018): This installment of the Dragon Ball series grossed over $115 million worldwide, and was one of the first anime since Pokemon: The First Movie to premier in the top 3 box office in America on opening weekend.
How Successful is Miyazaki in Comparson?
In comparison to other studios, there is nothing that compares to a Hayao Miyazaki film. His movies tend to gross millions of dollars worldwide, and other films move off the schedule in Japan if they are opening the same week. So popular are his films that Spirited Away was one of the first movies in Japan to take a page from American cinemas and have midnight screenings. So anticipated are his films that his latest film – How Do You Live? (which was renamed The Boy and the Heron for the international release) – was able to open to roughly $13 million in Japan without having an advertising campaign of any kind (only a rough sketch was released as a poster).
In America and other countries, his films have not made the same kind of money. This is largely because his previous distributor – Walt Disney Pictures – bought the rights to the catalog and then continued to show a disappointing lack of interest in them. Most of the titles would go direct-to-DVD, where they would sell more than most anime in America (but far less than homebred Disney titles like Finding Nemo and Lilo & Stitch). However, Miyazaki’s success in America was soon about to change.
Miyazaki by the Numbers
Hayao Miyazaki’s films have achieved impressive worldwide box office grosses, contributing significantly to Studio Ghibli’s global success. Here are some of his most notable box office performances:
- Spirited Away (2001): By far his most successful film, Spirited Away earned approximately $395 million worldwide at the box office. It is also the second highest-grossing film in Japanese history.
- Howl’s Moving Castle (2004): This film grossed about $235 million globally.
- Ponyo (2008): $204 million worldwide gross.
- Princess Mononoke (1997): This earlier success for Miyazaki brought in approximately $169 million globally and was the highest grossing film in Japan until James Cameron’s Titanic toppled it (but just barely).
- The Wind Rises (2013): Miyazaki’s previous “final film” grossed $136 million worldwide.
The Boy and the Herons Calculated Worldwide Success
When The Boy and the Heron opened at number one at the US box office heads turned. Not only had Miyazaki finally topped the American box office, it did so with his most unconventional film. The movie also opened at number one in China, a country where his films were largely unavailable for decades. Canada was another country where the film opened at number one. So what happened? Why did a man whose films largely went under the box office radar suddenly start hitting number one worldwide? Well, its because something happened with Miyazaki’s films under current distributors that never happened under Disney: they were nurtured. While we don’t want to take anything away from what Disney did to bring Studio Ghibli to America (some of the best dubs of all time included), the reality is they were never invested in nurturing them as a company.
They likely wanted those films because they were competition to them, so as long as they controlled the competition they could keep them buried (and if the films WERE successful…well, then they would benefit from them). Once GKids came into the picture, that all changed. GKids saw the value of Miyazaki’s work. They knew the Studio Ghibli catalog would be valuable if it was given a chance to shine. So when they picked up the films, they started putting them in theaters (starting with From Up on Poppy Hill, son Goro Miyazaki’s second feature). While they weren’t doing wide releases out of the gate, they made it a point to move the limited release around the country. Then, when Studio Ghibli released their first TV series – Ronja, the Robbers Daughter – GKids made a deal to release the series on Amazon, who pushed the series onto their millions of subscribers.
Then Ghibli Fest was formed, and became a yearly tradition that is still running to this day, where all the old Ghibli films are rotated and shown in theaters. As the festival continued and the re-releases on BluRay ramped up, soon Studio Ghibli became a name. They did the same for Canada, and thus Miyazaki’s profile continued to rise in North America. Roughly five years ago, the Studio Ghibli catalog finally got approved for release in China. Chinese film goers embraced the Ghibli catalog and a new audience was discovered. Other countries that had already embraced Miyazaki continued to do so. When it was time for The Boy and the Heron to be released in American and Canada GKids pulled out all the stops: wide release, IMAX presentation, and big name stars for the dub (though that was more of a tradition at this point).
Thanks to the years of nurturing from GKids and other markets over the years, the world was invested in seeing Miyazaki’s (alleged) final film in theaters. While the movie may ultimately not have made the kind of money Spirited Away did, for once his movie was more than just an even that the Japanese enjoyed and the rest of the world shrugged at. He had made a film that the whole world wanted to see. A film that connected despite the personal nature of it. And if that is how Miyazaki’s career ends, then we can’t think of a better way for a filmmaker’s career to end.
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