The 2023 Golden Globes have come and gone, but many of the nominees and winners are still worth talking about, considering most are continuing on with Oscar nominations. Among these noteworthy movies are two specific international movies from the Best Animated Film category: “Suzume” (2022) and “The Boy and the Heron” (2023).

“The Boy and the Heron” (2023)

In the history of the Golden Globes, there have been a total of 11 non-American studios nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. It is a category that has existed only since 2007 (the Golden Globes has existed since 1944), and Disney has been nominated at least once every year. 

To have two nominations from non-American studios, specifically non-conglomerate companies like Disney, this year is outstanding. That’s even before we count in the fact that “The Boy and the Heron” won against the likes of “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Elemental,” and “Wish,” all from powerhouses in the animation scene.

For anime lovers, Makoto Shinkai and Hayao Miyazaki (along with Miyazaki’s studio, Studio Ghibli) are well-known and well-loved directors. They both have outstanding careers; a quick Google search will show both multiple times on the list of highest-grossing Japanese films. It just goes to show how much their reach is growing with their subsequent nominations in the animation category of the Golden Globes, a first for both, and Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” even winning the category.  

“Suzume” (2022)

“Suzume” by Makoto Shinkai is a departure from Shinkai’s usual  romance films such as  “Your Name” (2016) and “Weathering With You” (2019) Yes, it still features romance but “Suzume” is character-driven rather than being pushed forward by the romance. 

It’s a coming-of-age story about the main character Suzume who goes on a journey across Japan chasing a cat in order to turn the man she met, Souta, back into a human and to close magical doors to prevent natural disasters. It’s about love and grief. 

“Suzume” is the third of Shinkai’s disaster movies, the aforementioned movies being the other two, and it focuses on the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, a disaster that caused the Fukushima Nuclear disaster, killed thousands, and displaced many more. This movie serves as a tribute to that day, and it is well deserving of its Golden Globes nomination due to its very human and moving story paired with gorgeous animation and wonderful soundtrack.

“The Boy and the Heron” was a long-awaited movie as it was supposedly Miyazaki’s last (which he has said seven times before) and is a very personal film for him. 

“Miyazaki’s never done a film where he himself is the protagonist, so he felt that he needed to do that while he’s alive,” said co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki, when speaking to Deadline. 

“The Boy and the Heron” follows a boy named Mahito and tells the journey of finding meaning in the midst of grief. After he loses his mom during World War II to a fire at the hospital she works at, Mahito’s father moves them to the countryside where his new step-mom, his late mother’s sister, lives, and there Mahito meets a heron. All of that is the setup for Studio Ghibli’s typical fantastical storytelling as Mahito experiences strange phenomena and ends up entering another world as he searches for his missing stepmother. It’s truly a heartwarming story about family, the trauma of war, and how to move on from loss.  

“Suzume” and “The Boy and the Heron” bring something fresh to the American animation scene. The art styles of both movies, while reminiscent of previous movies from Shinkai and Miyazaki, are wholly different from American animation, and the stories are brand new, bringing in a mix of personal and non-American perspectives. Audiences are looking elsewhere for animation than the likes of Disney, Pixar, and Illumination, and they are enjoying what they find. 

This trend can be seen in the growing popularity of anime, as well. While anime has always been around, it’s become a massive market for American audiences,  and its growing prominence might mean something good for animation at large and across international borders. 

 Shinkai and Miyazaki are far from small, but with their nominations, it’s clear that the world of animation is finally beginning to reflect a larger scope of the talent that is out there. That’s not to say award shows like the Golden Globes are the end all be all, but it is nice to be recognized for your hard work. 

Film, and especially animation, is an art form and should be highlighting a variety of voices, not just those from the same big (American) names. As award shows start looking at a wider range of animated movies, hopefully, this means that smaller and indie animation studios get recognition and then nominations as well as more international nominations. As the years go on, animation will only continue to grow; we can only hope that award shows do the same. And we’ll have to wait and see if “The Boy and the Heron” can take home the trophy from its Oscar nomination.