(Yicai) April 1 -- The Boy and the Heron, an anime movie that won the Oscar for best animated feature film at the 96th Academy Awards and is expected to be the last from Hayao Miyazaki, has sold over CNY35 million (USD4.8 million) of presale tickets in China's mainland cinemas as of 11 a.m.

Toshio Suzuki, producer and former president of Studio Ghibli, came to meet Chinese anime fans at the premiere of The Boy and the Heron in Shanghai on March 28. The movie will enter cinemas on April 3.

The Chinese poster of the Boy and the Heron shows slogans such as 'life movie' and 'farewell work'. Producer Suzuki said that he wants to live his own life and that this movie is expected to be the last one directed by anime legend Miyazaki.

The film supposedly has autobiographical features relating to Miyazaki's life. Suzuki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, said that one of the hidden themes of the film is the nearly half-century-long friendship between Miyazaki, Suzuki, and Isao Takahata, another co-founder of the Tokyo-based animation studio.

Alibaba Pictures Group and Studio Ghibli joined hands in January on animated films and exhibitions so the world’s first authorized immersive art exhibition with Studio Ghibli's work will kick off in Shanghai on April 12.

Editor: Emmi Laine