A warning, this episode contains mention of self-harm.

In the lovely new animated film The Boy and The Heron,

a boy embarks on a quest into a world where the living and the dead commingle.

It's the first film in 10 years from visionary Japanese filmmaker Huyo Miyasaki, and it's inspired in part by his early life. I'm Stephen Thompson

and today we are talking about The Boy and The Heron on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. Joining me today is Weyland Wong.

She's the co-host of NPR's Daily Economics Podcast, The Indicator from Planet Money.

Hi, Waylon.

He Stephen.

And also with us is Sam Yellow Horse Kessler,

a producer for NPR's Planet Money.

Welcome back, Sam.

Thank you for requesting my presence.

It is a pleasure to have you both. So the plot of the boy

in the heron is both simple and hard to describe. A boy named Mahito loses his

mother during World War II, then settles down with his father

and his aunt who's now his stepmother.

When he arrives at his new home, Mahito is hounded by an anthropomorphic gray heron who calls him on a quest to search for his dead mother.

The heron in question is part heron, part man, and he's something of a trickster, but he also

serves as a guide for Mahito as they navigate a realm somewhere between life and death.

It's a mysterious place that's occupied by loved ones, ancestors, and cute little blobs who are not

yet people.

There's also a veritable army of giant parakeets.

...