This is obviously a Miyazaki swan song. An ode to the world that he has created, and a discussion about his own legacy and his battle with Hollywood.

Some great symbolism in there:

1) The Heron is an obvious depiction of Hollywood, which is even funnier since the Heron has a huge Jewish looking nose. The frenemy nature of their relationship is the largest part of Miyazaki telling the story of his career through his characters.
2) The Parakeet army is symbolic to me of mass appeal. They are in contrast to the old women who are the adoring fans and purists. Neither is all that helpful. It is funny to me that Miyazaki chose parakeets to represent the masses. It has to be a nod to the NPC meme.
3) There is a lot of imagery that is a nod to old films. From a lamp from Spirited Away here to a wave from Ponyo there, a fish that looks like the flying ships in Naustica, Castle in the Sky reference, a lot of imagery that is purposefully but not blatantly there as a nod to fans.
4) Characters are also a nod to past characters, and have symbolic meaning, too. Kiki, Calcifer, Baba Yaga, Nausicaa, Lord Yupa, Noface, and a few others.
5) David Bautista's part looks like it was written just for him. It honestly looks like, when Miyazaki wrote the script, he said "man, Drax would be perfect for this".
6) It is uplifting and heartwarming and nostalgic and above all freaking beautiful. Gotta finish in the top 3.

My under caffeinated brain read "Heron" as "Heroin", and I thought this was gonna be a Sid Vicious documentary.

I thought this would be about a sword.

Quote:

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"Twice and twice shall he be marked,
twice to live, and twice to die.
Once the heron, to set his path.
Twice the heron, to name him true.
Once the Dragon, for remembrance lost.
Twice the Dragon, for the price he must pay."

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BusterAg said:

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This is obviously a Miyazaki swan song. An ode to the world that he has created, and a discussion about his own legacy and his battle with Hollywood.

Some great symbolism in there:

1) The Heron is an obvious depiction of Hollywood, which is even funnier since the Heron has a huge Jewish looking nose. The frenemy nature of their relationship is the largest part of Miyazaki telling the story of his career through his characters.
2) The Parakeet army is symbolic to me of mass appeal. They are in contrast to the old women who are the adoring fans and purists. Neither is all that helpful. It is funny to me that Miyazaki chose parakeets to represent the masses. It has to be a nod to the NPC meme.
3) There is a lot of imagery that is a nod to old films. From a lamp from Spirited Away here to a wave from Ponyo there, a fish that looks like the flying ships in Naustica, Castle in the Sky reference, a lot of imagery that is purposefully but not blatantly there as a nod to fans.
4) Characters are also a nod to past characters, and have symbolic meaning, too. Kiki, Calcifer, Baba Yaga, Nausicaa, Lord Yupa, Noface, and a few others.
5) David Bautista's part looks like it was written just for him. It honestly looks like, when Miyazaki wrote the script, he said "man, Drax would be perfect for this".
6) It is uplifting and heartwarming and nostalgic and above all freaking beautiful. Gotta finish in the top 3.

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I tend to be critical of movies but I do own several Miyazaki ones so that's my disclaimer both ways.

I wouldn't put this near the top three. I thought the similarities and echoes detracted from it and deprived it of a distinct place in his works. The twists and turns were unsurprising and the story easy to anticipate so I found myself somewhat bored.

Great movie but will hold final judgment until I get to watch it in Japanese. Finally caught it in theatres today for a matinee and dang - place was damn near full.

Not top 3, but good.

So …. Mahitos dad ended up getting with his dead wife's sister? I'm not sure if this is supposed to be some sort of nod to samurai culture or not, but otherwise that was very strange as well as the insistence that Mahito accept Natsuko as his mother.

So much so that I walked out of the theatre scratching my head about that one. Especially the exchange he has with his younger mom who bids him to go home with "his mom". This is one of the reasons I need to see this in Japanese. Natsuko was still his aunt and family (ignoring the creepiness that he's going to have a brother cousin)

The parakeets were terrifyingly good. Good setting and characters overall. An above average entry into the Ghibli canon id say.