Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke (1997)

The film Princess Mononoke is an animated movie based upon a historical fantasy realm, another in the long run of animated movies directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki. Music was composed by Joe Hisaishi. The Studio Ghibli company produced the movie and distributed by TOHO. It's a story of a world in which guardian spirits struggle against the industry of humanity that looks to exploit the resources of the forest. The setting of the film is in the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573). The project took Miyazaki sixteen years to fully realize. Storyboards were not even fully completed until months before the initial release of the film. It took the award for Best Picture at the 21st Japanese Academy Awards.

The original Japanese release of the film was on July 12, 1997. The movie had a ¥2 Billion (23.5 Million) budget and it would go on to a gross revenue of ¥14.5 Billion ($159 Million). At the time it was the most expensive anime movie ever produced. The Disney Miramax company purchased the distribution right for Princess Mononoke but wanted to edit the movie to reduce content for a PG rating. This would have been a violation of Miyazaki's strict "no edits" clause he and Studio Ghibli put in all their licensing contracts after Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind. The film was given an all-star cast for the English dub and released unedited with a PG-13 rating. The theatrical release in 2001 was limited and only for a short time. Though at the time it was the most successful anime movie in America, grossing $2.3 Million in the first eight weeks; it didn't fair well financially for Disney.

The Disney Miramax company was originally planning to release the DVD to the U.S. without the Japanese track on the disk in September of 2002, but backlash against this action was great enough for them to hire a translator to produce the subtitles. This pushed the release back for three months. Princess Mononoke would have positive DVD sales due to the lack of constrains on the availability.

The word "Mononoke" (物の怪) is often mistake as a name, but is actually a general term that mean a spirit or monster in Japanese. The movie was a mixture of hand drawn animation and computer effects, but the computer generated elements were designed to blend into the traditional art. The setting was based upon the ancient forests of Yakushima in Kyūshū, and the mountains of Shirakami-Sanchi in northern Honshū. All regions of Japan that Miyazaki often visited during the production.

Plot

Ashitaka on his red-elk Yakul

The prince Ashitaka had become the victim of a curse defending his people from a demon-boar that has invaded his home village. He abandons his village for the deep mystical forest to the west in search for a cure. On his journey he finds a small village being attacked by bandits. Getting mixed into the commotion, he is forced to defend himself and reveals a supernatural power that came with his cursed arm. He would meet a man named Jigo who would tell him about the mystical animals in the forest that is a forbidden zone to humans.

San, a human girl raised by the spirits.

Following the trail of the boar that attacked him he is led to a land called Iron Town that is in a state of conflict with the spirits as they continue to grown and move into their territory. Ashitaka's revenge would be withheld when Iron Town's leader is attacked by a human girl named San, who was raised in the forest by the spirits. He would save San and escape, but is shot through the chest. San takes her wounded savior to the spirits of the forest to be healed, but not remove his curse. Caught between a war of spirits against the encroaching industry. Ashitaka joins with San to end this battle before the corruption of hatred can destroy both realms and spread to even further lands.