The Boy and the Heron Merchandise – Ascent of the Warawara
When Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement in 2013, the film world believed it was a farewell. Ten years later, "The Boy and the Heron" hit cinemas – and proved that the Studio Ghibli master still had one great story left to tell: the boy Mahito, who lost his mother in the war, follows a talking gray heron into a mysterious tower and the world beyond it. In 2024, the film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. At Elbenwald you'll find a deliberately small, officially licensed selection for it – with the Warawara in the leading role.
What the Warawara are all about
Among all the creatures in the film, the Warawara won the audience's hearts fastest: small, white, almost translucent beings that gather in the other world and rise into the sky at night like balloons – on their way to being born as humans. In doing so, they stand in the best Ghibli tradition: like the soot sprites or the Kodama, they're wordless side characters that condense an entire film world into just a few centimeters. As a plush figure, a Warawara brings exactly that mix of calm and mystery to your sofa or desk – a piece of Miyazaki you can hold in your hand.
Frequently asked questions
What products for The Boy and the Heron does Elbenwald carry?
A compact, officially licensed selection – currently focused on plush figures of the Warawara in two variants, smiling and silent. Stock may change; it's worth checking back from time to time.
Did The Boy and the Heron win an Oscar?
Yes. Hayao Miyazaki's film won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature – following "Spirited Away," Studio Ghibli's second Academy Award in this category.
What are Warawara?
Small white spirit beings from the film: they live in the other world and rise in swarms into the sky at night to be born into the human world. In the merchandise, they're the film's most popular motif.
Small selection, big rise
Anyone wanting to adopt the Warawara will find them among the plush figures, where the rest of the Ghibli universe's soft residents wait too. For display-case candidates of every kind, it's worth browsing the full figures overview, and as a gift for Ghibli fans, the detour via gift ideas is recommended – a Warawara fits into any nest.
The studio's other worlds
If you want more once the credits roll, you have options: Studio Ghibli bundles the whole body of work, Spirited Away stands for the studio's first Oscar, Totoro for its best-known face. Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky round out the collection, and the full panorama lives in the anime world.
