Movie Review

Anime master Hayao Miyazaki makes return with The Boy and the Heron

Fans of anime have long revered the work of director Hayao Miyazaki, who has made Oscar-winning and -nominated films like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and 2013's The Wind Rises. Miyazaki retired after that last film, and for a long time it seemed as if it would truly be his final film. He found inspiration for another, though, making his comeback with the semi-autobiographical The Boy and the Heron.

The film centers on a young boy named Mahito (Soma Santoki), who when the film opens experiences the tragic loss of his mother in a factory fire. A few years later, his father Shoichi (Takuya Kimura) finds a new wife, Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), with whom they move to a house in the country. Still grieving his mom, Mahito acts out at school and imagines that a gray heron that hangs out near the house is talking to him.

That fantasy becomes reality one day when the heron (Masaki Suda) leads him into the ruins of a house that belonged to his granduncle (Shohei Hino), where he discovers a magical world filled with strange creatures, like small white blobs called Warawara and human-sized parakeets that talk, as well as a woman named Kiriko (Ko Shibasaki), who shows him the secrets of the world.

(Note: This review is based on a screening of a subtitled version of the film. An English-dubbed version features dialog from actors like Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Mark Hamill, and Gemma Chan. Both versions are being screened at theaters.)

Most of Miyazaki’s anime contain fantastical stories that serve as allegories for deeper stories. In this film, it’s clear that the death of his mother weighs heavily on Mahito, and the trip into another world is a way of him searching for answers. The parallels between the real and magical worlds are evident, and the pull the magical one exerts, giving him a possible chance to see his mother again, is understandable.

What doesn’t make as much sense is the story told within that magical world. While the imagery is eye-popping and often whimsical – the parakeets alone never fail to amuse – it’s hard to follow the storytelling logic surrounding it. Those who don’t consider themselves anime-philes may find themselves either scratching their heads or completely baffled by what’s presented in the film.

Seasoned viewers will find delight in some of the off-putting characters in the film. Chief among them is the heron, which is revealed to be a man with a bulbous nose inside the bird. The sight of him gradually emerging from the bird’s beak is grotesque and indelible. Similarly, a group of eight elderly women, each of whom are hunched over and have various moles and other odd features, make the film visually interesting at the least.

All of which is to say that one’s enjoyment of the film may depend on how deeply invested you are in Miyasaki and Studio Ghibli films in general. The rhythm is completely different from most American animated films, and so even though it reaches for the emotions that you might find in a Pixar film, getting the requisite release may require viewers to make connections they’re not used to making.

The Boy and the Heron has many of the same hallmarks found in other Miyasaki films, if not as enchanting of a story. There’s no one quite like the iconic Japanese filmmaker, so getting one last (?) film from him is still great even if it doesn’t match his finest work.

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The Boy and the Heron opens in theaters on December 8.

Photo courtesy of Studio Ghibli

Mahito in The Boy and the Heron.

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In the spotlight

Most famous Christmas-light house in DFW stars on new Hallmark TV show

Facebook/BurkmanHolidayHome

The famous Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco is making its Hallmark TV debut.

A family Christmas light display that's so extravagant, it looks like a Hallmark movie set is getting its close-up on the famed holiday-entertainment network: The Burkman Holiday Home of Friscostars on the first episode of a new series called Ready, Set, Glow!, which premiered on the Hallmark+ streaming service Thursday, December 12.

On the show, host Wes Brown meets four families "whose Christmas decorations have been making spirits bright for generations," says the series' website. "The only thing better than these displays are the heartwarming stories behind them."

The Burkman family - husband-and-wife Corey and Jen, adult sons Alex and Jack, and Jen's dad, Eugene Skalskyj (known as "Sanpa") - have been lighting up their Frisco home at 3809 Hazelhurst Dr. for nearly a decade. Their "extreme" display - 115,000 lights and counting - attracts thousands of visitors from North Texas and beyond each year. It also raises money for a scholarship fund, supports families in need, and donates to the nonprofit The LiyanaStrong Foundation.

The Burkmans are no strangers to the TV spotlight. In 2021, they competed on ABC's holiday decorating show The Great Christmas Light Fight and appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan. (Two more DFW families just competed on the new season of Light Fight, and a Keller family won last year.)

Ready, Set, Glow! isn't a competition, but an unscripted series that goes "behind the lights," Brown says. The show is now available on Hallmark's new membership-based streaming platform, Hallmark+ (access a free trial here).

Wes Brown, Ready Set Glow, Hallmark+ Wes Brown, host of the new Hallmark+ show Ready, Set, Glow!Photo courtesy of Hallmark+

We chatted with Jen Burkman recently about the family's experience on Ready, Set, Glow!, how filming compared to The Great Christmas Light Fight, and what's new with their lights display this year.

CultureMap: How did you get picked to be on this new Hallmark show?
Jen Burkman: I received an email from the production company at Hallmark. They found us through our Facebook page, and by Googling large light displays. We come up as one of the top displays in the country. It’s exciting because it’s a brand new show and we are on the very first episode. We’re very honored to be selected for that.

CM: What is the story will they tell on the show?
JB: They will have three different things that they do in each episode. They will showcase homes with large displays that have a cause behind it, neighborhoods that go extremely far out for decorating, in towns that resemble a Hallmark Christmas town. So it is not a competition. This was something that really drew us towards it. They wanted to know more about our backstory, why we do what we do, and what it means to the community. That encompassed everything that we are about. (The Burkmans started their holiday displays when son Alex, who was autistic, developed a love of lights.)

CM: When was filming ... did you have to keep it a secret?
JB: The filming was in the middle of December 2023. We did have to keep it secret on social media. However, they did allow us to reach out to our neighborhood. So it’s even more special to us that we got to personally invite our neighbors to be a part of the TV show with us. The majority of the filming was just our family, but there are going to be elements of our neighborhood and our neighbors cheering us on.

Burkman Holiday Home Frisco Jen Burkman's father is known as "San-pa." Photo courtesy of Burkman family

CM: What was the actual filming like?
JB: We had a great time! We had the production company from Glass Entertainment with producer Matt Carter, who was amazing. He brought along about 10 people from his production company - light and sound guys, drone operators, boom operators, sound eliminators. There was so much equipment.

We did some interviews inside our home, so you’ll get to see some of our overly decorated inside of our house, and obviously a ton of footage outside, as well. It took us about 15 hours to film, for probably 15 to 20 minutes of airtime. We had our immediate family and probably 50 people from our neighborhood. We have the most incredible neighbors who are so supportive of our display so it honestly meant the world to us that they were involved.

CM: How did filming this show compare to your experience on The Great Christmas Light Fight?
JB: It was totally a different experience. The Great Christmas Light Fight was an honor to be selected; over 200 people auditioned and only 24 of us were selected. So even though we didn’t win our episode, it was a dream come true to even compete on that scale. But it was a competition, so I think we felt more stressed out because we really wanted to win. We also filmed Light Fight in 2020. So all the Covid protocols were in place, we had to get tested every single day, and we couldn’t have a crowd.

Hallmark was an absolutely different experience. We felt relaxed, and we had so much fun knowing that we weren’t competing against other families. We just got to share our story and our love for the holidays. And to be able to celebrate our neighbors and our nonprofit foundation was pretty outstanding.

CM: Any fun behind-the-scenes stories to tell?
JB: Within a half a day, we felt like we had known the crew our entire lives. By 11 o’clock at night, we were still doing interviews in our living room, and our family and the film crew were just slap happy. We were snort-laughing at ourselves for saying things incorrectly and practically falling asleep in our chairs. One thing that totally made us laugh, because it never happens, in the middle of filming with a huge crowd in our front yard, this rabbit came across the driveway and just sat in the display, looking at everybody, as if it was a lawn figurine. That rabbit may have its own spotlight on the show. We will see.

Burkman Holiday Home, Christmas lights The display features some new arches for picture-taking this year.Facebook/Burkman Holiday Home

CM: What's new with your holiday display this year?
JB: We have 115,000 lights, 90% LED. So the light bill is cheaper than the August AC bill. We have a new area in the display called "Santa Land." It is all things Santa, including a Santa toy box that you can stand in for a selfie. We introduced Bluey at the display this year, and it was a total hit. We have some new arches to take pictures in and walk-through and you’ll see some old familiar friends doing some guest appearances. 2025 will be our 10th anniversary of doing displays in this house so we’re expecting great things for next year.

CM: What's it like to be Christmas-light famous?
JB: We are so honored to be a part of this community and to continue to have so many people come year after year. On Sunday, I had a beautiful lady show me a picture of her daughter as an infant in front of the display, and her daughter is now 5 years old. To see them take the same picture, year after year, of their little girl just truly touches my heart. We love being part of families' Christmas traditions. We love being able to support our sponsored families every year. And being able to hand scholarships out to these amazing individuals in our community is pretty heartwarming. We couldn’t do it without our neighbors, the communities of Frisco and Little Elm, and everybody who drives from all over Texas, just to come see our lights.

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The Burkmans' episode of Ready, Set, Glow! is now streaming on Hallmark+. The Burkman Holiday Home is at 3809 Hazelhurst Dr., Frisco, 75036. Follow them on their Facebook page for updates, such as special themes for photo sessions. For a list of other spectacular Dallas-area Christmas lights, go here, and for best neighborhoods, visit this list. Fort Worth's best Christmas lights can be found here and here.

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