Watching the Boy and the Heron

From a crazy-bird lady's perspective

*This post will try to avoid spoilers, but no guarantee! Read at your own risk.

I finally watched Hayao Miyazaki’s second academy award-winning movie, the Boy and the Heron.

My first impression from the trailer was, “Oh my millets! Miyazaki finally made a Ghibli movie themed about birds!” My outlook was very positive and I couldn’t wait to watch the dub and sub version of this movie.

Which poster do you like?

I saw it.

And boy, I did not expect the movie to be so… intriguing, and let’s admit, confusing.

I was so fascinated and absorbed by the storyline that after it ended, I couldn’t resist reading all the interpretations and discussions online. I’m sure this is a movie I’ll need to watch a couple more times to really dig into its meaning. Even Hayao Miyazaki said in an interview, he doesn’t completely understand it himself. (laughs)

The movie felt like a huge showcase of animators displaying their talent. Each animation scene was remarkable, and my eyes were glued to the screen because there were so many details I didn’t want to miss.

Like many, it reminded me once again that 2D animation movie is not dead. This is a Ghibli movie that will remain in my top favorites for years.

As a bird mama of six birds — two parrotlets and four budgies— aand the author of A Budgie’s Life, my first Webtoon series that ran for 5 years. I couldn’t help but see if they portrayed the “parakeets” accurately.

Although the parakeets appeared a bit eerie at first, I was laughing every time they appeared on screen. They’re shown as cannibalistic, human-eating creatures, which is funny because, honestly, I’ve had similar thoughts before about my birds.

Those eyes, though. Hats off to the animators who expressed them thus.

My green parrotlet, Darling, has a liking for chewing off human flesh. So many times she would bite my toes, fingers, and nibble off dry skin — almost as if it were her favorite snack.

Don’t worry, it’s their way of grooming or showing affection.

But it made me wonder, if wild parrots were to be “human-sized” would they go carnivorous on us? I know for sure if my other pastel blue parrotlet, Soba, were bigger, he’d chase me around for fun — just like the parakeets in the movie.

Don’t let their cuteness deceive you. They’re like moody three-year-olds stuck in a smol floofy body.

I heard Miyazaki rarely uses realistic references when drawing animal characters, so I’d assume he wouldn’t delve too much into the personalities of parakeets. Based on all his movies, he definitely likes to use animals as representations of someone, almost like the book Animal Farm.

So in a way, I was somewhat disappointed that the movie shared the same view as most people, that birds are dumb and incapable of clever behavior.

Wild birds are intelligent creatures, just that books and media made them appear stupid thanks to words like bird-brained, bird-witted, featherbrained… etc, because we only view these creatures as they are— small (brained), wild, and incomprehensible. But recent studies show otherwise.

To nitpeck another thing about the movie (remember, this is a bird-lady speaking).

Let’s talk about the accuracy of the bird droppings, because there were a lot.

The “earthly” parakeets in the movie basically pooped every second like pigeons on a lactose spree. Especially towards the end of the movie, their droppings were everywhere on the character’s clothes! It sort of killed the mood (laughs).

I mean, it’s understandable, birds were technically flying all over the place. But the amount shown there still baffled me. Even one interview I read pointed that out:

This is a very weird question, but every time birds come out on screen, you can also see their droppings everywhere… 

Toshiyuki Inoue: Yes, I drew some of that. (laughs)

Is it even indicated in the storyboard?

Toshiyuki Inoue: It is, it is!

Do you have any idea of the reason? Does Miyazaki hate birds or something?

Toshiyuki Inoue: Why is that. (laughs) That’s just what birds do, I guess. That’s probably how Miyazaki sees birds: if you don’t see their droppings, it’s not really birds or something… 

Interview by Matteo Watzky and Dimitri Seraki.

Yes, we can’t associate birds without their droppings. It’s how they’ve always been depicted, be it cartoons, comics, and real life. A person gets hit by a dropping at least once in their lifetime, right? I did, twice, and according to superstitions, it means something good is going to happen.

But let me elaborate and speak for the parakeets.

Yes, they do poop a lot (not always on you), every 10-15 mins or so. And their droppings are not “white and watery” (like pigeons) they’re actually round and solid, easy to flick off.

If the droppings in the movie were to be true in real life, it would mean these parakeets were either seriously sick or drank too much, like too much water or watery food. Yes, it’s normal to look at a bird’s poo to determine their health condition.

Fun fact: Most parrot/parakeet species have zygodactyl feet. But the ones in the movie showed the most common type of wild bird feet, anisodactyl.

But like I said, Miyazaki rarely uses realistic references for animals, he sees only what he sees in general, and exaggerate similar characteristics and designs. So the parakeets he portrayed in his movie felt quirky and original, but it definitely wasn’t accurate personality and anatomy-wise.

In fact, what I like about Ghibli movies is how the characters or animals aren’t birdfect, even when it comes down to drawing the animation.

In that sense, my work isn’t about drawing things correctly; it’s rather to find good ways to transform them. It might sound like I’m exaggerating, but I’m not: you can’t just draw by reproducing things as they are. If you do that, you’re not expressing anything anymore.

-Akihiko Yamashita, one of the animators for the Boy and the Heron

I still adore the movie and the way birds represented something or someone in society. If I were to appreciate one thing, I’d say I’m glad the parakeets played the role of an antagonistic flock. They did not appear so friendly and cuddly like, Totoro, Jiji, and Muta (the chonky cat!). This means that the audiences won’t be interested in getting pet birds. The movie in no way endorses that!

And I like that.

The amount of irresponsible pet bird owners is too high! (insert meme)

Also, another eggcellent thing I applauded for was— YAY for birds not being depicted in cages! A huge pet peeve of mine as a bird mama is seeing media, movies, dramas, and even drawings normalizing birds in tiny cages, it’s just sad.

So it was refreshing to see all the parakeets run wild and free in the movie.

My budgie fam has been cage free since the beginning, and my parrotlets roam around the house as if they own it. I believe they’re healthier and happier that way.

So if you want to have birds as companions, then you gotta give up your house for them…

Crazy bird lady talk aside.

My wish, like any other fans, is that Miyazaki-san never stops creating original stories. It doesn’t even need to be a full-blown animation. I hope he’ll keep on drawing storyboards, because that in itself is enlivening to see!

And last of all,

Beware of parakeets!