The Wind Rises may not have been the flashiest or most talked-about movie at last night's Academy Awards but could prove to be one of the most arresting animated movies of all time upon its widespread UK release in May. The new Studio Ghibli picture was completely overshadowed by Disney's Frozen at the Oscars, with the winter musical's months of box office success and performance from Idina Menzel at the ceremony proving too difficult to ignore.

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'The Wind Rises' Follows The Story Of Jiro Horikoshi, A Designer Of Fighter Planes.

Animated in the distinctive, delicate and detailed anime style, the Japanese film deals with challenging historical events and presents them in a creative yet respectful way. The Wind Rises is a look at the life of real-life Japanese engineer, Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II. The story follows the genius Jiro from his childhood to becoming an adult amidst the savagery of war.

Originally titled Kaze tachinu, the movie packs some serious Hollywood star power in its English dubbed version, including 500 Days of Summer's Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the voice of Jiro, Sunshine Cleaning's Emily Blunt, The Lovely Bones' Stanley Tucci, Jurassic Park's William H. Macy, Homeland's Mandy Patinkin and The Office US' John Krasinski.

Watch The 'Let The Wind Carry These Wings' Clip From 'The Wind Rises':

The swansong of director Hayao Miyazaki, the film was believed to be a favourite for both the Oscars and January's Golden Globes but lost out on both counts to Frozen, which enjoyed a much wider and sustained release. In September, the Studio Ghibli director and artist announced that he was retiring from filmmaking and that The Wind Rises would be his last official movie release.

The 73-year-old anime master spoke of how his age had become a barrier to efficient filmmaking and how it was taking him increasingly longer to turn out a movie. "I feel my days of feature films are done. If I say I want to [carry on], it would be like an old man saying something foolish," Miyazaki said to a solemn room at a press conference in Japan.

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Upon Its Screening At Last Year's Venice Film Festival, Critics Rushed To Praise The Poignant Film.

However, anime fans shouldn't fear for the future of the Studios, somewhat lightly dubbed the "Japanese Disney." Ghibli executive Toshio Suzuki has assured that the company is in safe hands and that films will continue to be made with the help of the team of talented and creative animators and storytellers.

The Wind Rises premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival where critics couldn't praise the moving picture highly enough. Miyazaki's movie is unafraid to address the horrors of war, the devastation of natural disasters and disease all whilst revealing the men behind the machines and the dreams behind the designs.

Watch The 'Earthquake' Clip From 'The Wind Rises':

At its heart, The Wind Rises is a tragic love story of Jiro (Gordon-Levitt) and Naoko (Blunt) played out against the backdrop of a country recovering from the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 and preparing for the most destructive of wars. Based on the 1930s short story, The Wind Has Risen by poet and writer Tatsuo Hori, The Wind Rises is said to have also been inspired by a quote from Jiro Horikoshi himself: "All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful."

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Mandy Patinkin & William H. Macy Bring The Tale To Life For An English Audience.

Despite having kicked up a fair amount of controversy in Japan for its difficult subject matter and questionable protagonist, The Wind Rises became the highest grossing Japanese film of 2013 when it grossed ¥11.6 billion ($113 million) at the Japanese box office. With millions of anime fans all across the world, The Wind Rises' success certainly won't be limited to its home turf and the movie's stellar cast, thoughtful message, heart-rending story and inspiring characters will be a big draw when it is finally released in May this year.

The Wind Rises will be released on the 9th May in the UK.

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Hardly A Film Just For Children, The Beautiful 'The Wind Rises' Has Widespread Appeal.

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'The Wind Rises' Will Be Released On The 9th May In The UK.