Now Viewing: mononoke_himeTag type: Copyright もののけ姫 A historical fantasy adventure film animated by Studio_Ghibli. It was released on July 12, 1997 and written and directed by Miyazaki_Hayao who came up with the concept during the 1970s, but didn't get around to making the film until the 1990s. The soundtrack was composed by frequent Miyazaki collaborator Hisashi Joe. The film is set in the Muromachi period of Japanese history. Ashitaka, the prince of Emishi village, is scouting the area when he spots a demonically possessed boar set to attack his village. Ashitaka stops the boar, but is wounded and affected by the same curse that plagued the boar. Ashitaka is physically fit and is now capable of superhuman feats. However, he does not have long before the curse takes his life. Ashitaka heads west to find a cure to his curse and investigate the circumstances behind the boar's attack. His journey takes him to an industrialized town called Tataraba led by an iconoclastic woman named Lady Eboshi. Ashitaka is thrust into a morally gray conflict between multiple factions. Tataraba's industrialization puts them into direct conflict with the natural environment and its inhabitants, including San a human girl who has lived among wolves her whole life and is considered to be the daughter of the wolf goddess Moro, and the local daimyo, Lord Asano. Ashitaka, desiring no bloodshed, must figure out a way to resolve the conflict as peacefully as possible while racing against time to stop the curse. Despite the film's period setting, Miyazaki was less concerned with strict historical accuracy but rather wanted to use the setting to explore the start of the conflict between nature and human industrialization. The film contains many of the common themes in Miyazaki's work, environmentalism, pacifism, and an emphasis on powerful female figures who play major roles in the plot. However, the film is notably much more violent than most of Miyazaki and Ghibli's other work. The film's animation was 90% hand drawn, with the remaining 10% being CG. This film was notably the first Ghibli film to be dubbed in English by Disney, which hired many American actors known for their live action work to dub the voices. Ghibli, which was disappointed by previous attempts to dub their films, insisted that there will be no cuts to the film, so the English version is the same as the Japanese version barring some dialogue changes. Popular writer Neil Gaiman was hired to localize the film for English-speaking audiences. This film also established two recurring trends in the latter years of Miyazaki's career. One was Miyazaki's tendency to temporarily retire only to unretire and come back with a new film. In the case of this film, Miyazaki worked himself to exhaustion overseeing storyboards, music, and vocal recordings that he prior to the film's release, he admitted that he didn't think he could go on making movies, so he temporarily resigned in 1998. Starting with this film, Miyazaki would cast actors more known for live action roles or theater work in major roles in contrast to his previous films where he cast established voice actors in the anime industry. The film was a massive success in Japan, earning ¥11.3 billion in distribution rentals and ¥20.18 billion at the box office. It also received generally positive reviews from critics, winning the awards for Best Film and Best Animation Film at the 52nd Mainichi Film Awards, Picture of the Year at the 21st Japan Academy Awards, the Special Award at the 40th Blue Ribbon Awards, and the Best Home Video Release Award at the 27th Saturn Awards. Cast: Main Characters: Ashitaka San Tataraba: Eboshi Gonza Koroku Toki_(Mononoke_Hime) Shinto Gods: Nago Moro-no-Kimi Kodama shishigami_(Mononoke_Hime) Okkotonushi Other Supporting: Yakul Jiko-bou Kaya_(Mononoke_Hime) Other Wiki Information Last updated: 11/19/25 8:25 AM by jojosstand This entry is not locked and you can edit it as you see fit. |
     
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