The grey heron and the grannies are here to protect you with their magical charms.

Studio Ghibli’s latest movie, The Boy and the Heron, has picked up both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best animated feature film since its 14 July release in Japan, but more importantly, it’s won wide acclaim from fans around the world, who’ve fallen in love with the magical world and its characters.

At the centre of the story is 12-year-old Mahito, who goes on an enchanted journey after an encounter with a heron, who turns out to have an inner Birdman hidden inside. The Birdman is fully revealed during a pivotal point in the movie, when an arrow pierces the heron’s beak, and now that moment has been captured for eternity in a figurine released by Japan’s Ghibli Museum.

The figurine has been crafted with incredible attention to detail, reproducing the hand-painted, watercolour look of the character from the movie.

The fine details are all thanks to Ghibli animator Akihiko Yamashita, who originally created the figure in papier-mâché during production of the film. As one of the key staff members involved in animating the movements of the grey heron, Yamashita knows the character inside out, and that expertise is evident in the sense of movement captured in the figurine.

Every wrinkle on the face, and the nooks and crannies on the character’s bulbous nose, are perfectly depicted, making it feel as if the character might spring to life at any moment, wriggling in annoyance under the arrow when we’re not looking.

The attention to detail continues on the base of the figure, which has the film’s Japanese title “君たちはどう生きるか” (“Kimitachi wa dou ikiru ka?” [“How Do You Live”]) imprinted on it, with the character’s name “サギ男” (“Sagi Otoko” [literally “Heron Man”, or “Birdman” as it’s known overseas]).

Yamashita didn’t just make a papier-mâché model of Birdman — he used his skills to bring all sorts of characters to life in 3-D form, including the grannies.

These figures are extra special, as they look just like the grannies from the film, not only in their real-world-in-movie forms, but as the palm-sized figurines that watch over Mahito in the enchanted world.

The individual characteristics of each of the seven grannies are beautifully replicated in detail, based on the original prototypes created by Yamashita.

▼ Clockwise, from top left: Aiko, Izumi, Eriko and Utako.

▼ Completing the set are: Oyuki (top left), Kazuko (top right), and Kiriko-san (bottom left).

The base contains the name of the character that stands upon it — the one below, for example, reads “あ婆” or “Aiko”.

The seven grannies look just as they did in the original storyboard, which is included in the book, “The Art of How Do You Live“.

Just as these characters help to protect Mahito on his travels in the movie, these figurines will look over you in your everyday adventures too.

The figures can be purchased at the Ghibli Museum shop and online, with the Birdman priced at 5,940 yen (US$36.95), and the grannies available as a seven-piece set for 25,850 yen. While the set might sound expensive, it actually works out to be cheaper than Birdman per piece, with each character valued at 3,700 yen.

The figurines are a beautiful way to add a dash of Ghibli magic to your home, and if you’d like to add more items based on Yamashita’s papier-mâché prototypes to your collection, these characters from A Sumo Wrestler’s Tail will put a smile on your face too!

Source: Ghibli Museum Shop
Featured image: Ghibli Museum Shop
Insert images: Ghibli Museum Shop (1, 2, 3)
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