Hi! I’m Chibi Isis, and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well, after months of training and mentoring I have finally been given the greenlight to start doing reviews on my own. So what better way to celebrate than by reviewing something from my favorite animation studio, Studio Ghibli and their first official film Castle in the Sky. Released in 1986, Castle in the Sky was Studio Ghibli’s first official film. I say official because in truth the main crew responsible for this film worked on another film together prior before officially becoming a studio. As most films in Studio Ghibli this film was directed and written by Miyazaki himself and won a number of awards for its animation, story, and characters. Let’s go on an adventure in the sky and check out Castle in the Sky. We’ll also be looking at the dub version.
So the film starts appropriately enough in the sky where air pirates led by an old lady named Dola voiced by Cloris Leachman are after this young girl named Sheeta voiced by Anna Paquin who is being held captive by the sinister Muska voiced by Mark Hamill (so he did go over to the Dark side after all). The pirates invade the ship (hand over your booty or we’ll have your booty) and in the confusion Sheeta knocks Muska out with a bottle of wine (boy when he wakes up he’s gonna have a serious hangover). She grabs her necklace from him and escapes out the window where she slips and falls (https://youtu.be/7tClSJgMDF8 no that be too quick even for a Miyazaki film). As she’s falling to her death (at least fall with style, //youtu.be/6iqgTwu78WU?t=3s) her necklace glows and she begins to fall slowly and gently to the ground where she’s caught by a young boy named Pazu voiced James Van Der Beek who while not bad doing the voice over for this character I feel that he might be a bit too old to be voicing Pazu (he makes Pazu sound like a teenage boy). After rescuing her he sets her down to rest where we see he works as an assistant in the mines which aren’t doing so well and if they don’t improve the whole town will be in trouble. After work Pazu takes Sheeta back to his place where the next morning he wakes her up as well as the town with his trumpet playing (stop that racket). After introducing themselves the two hit it off real quick where Sheeta discovers Pazu’s lab where he talks about Laputa (or Raputa if you’re from Japan) the castle in the sky that Pazu’s father discovered except nobody believed him and called him a liar (despite the fact that he took a picture of the island and everything?) and killed him. Now Pazu is determined to find the island and prove to everyone that his father wasn’t a liar (maybe a madman but not a liar). Dola and her crew arrive in town and begin looking for Sheeta. We get a quick but exciting chase scene on the rail tracks where they escape Dola and are quickly stopped by the military who also want Sheeta as well (she’s quite popular isn’t she?). They try to run away but Dola and her gang are right in front of them (pirates or military? Choices) and soon the bridge that they’re on collapses and they fall but are saved once again by Sheeta’s necklace (I’m starting to think the title of this film should have been the Girl who defied Gravity). They land in an old abandoned mine where they run into an old miner with a white beard (oh hi Miyazaki-san how are you doing?). Miyazaki-san identifies Sheeta’s necklace as a rare crystal that only the people of the sky could make meaning she actually came from Laputa.
After escaping the mines the military catches them, knocks Pazu out, and takes them to a military island where we find out that Sheeta is actually heir to the throne of Laputa (looks like Pazu hit the potjack with this one). Muska and the military know the castle exists and want to find the island themselves to get the treasure of Laputa as well as their technology and they believe Sheeta’s necklace holds the key to finding Laputa. In order to save Pazu she agrees to give herself up to them and Pazu is released as well as paid 3 gold coins for leaving and staying quiet about Laputa (3 gold coins!? Mario makes that within the first 5 seconds of 1-1). He returns home feeling bad where Dolo and her gang are there waiting for him (how did they find out where he lived?) and she explains how Sheeta gave up her life in order to save him (it was pretty obvious. But then again what do you expect from a boy?). After intercepting a military message the Dolo gang rolls out to go get Sheeta with Pazu joining them. Back at the military base Sheeta says a magic spell to calm her nerves and the spell activates the necklace which not only points to the location of Laputa but also activates the Laputa robot the military found years ago (it’s alive! Alive~ I say). The robot goes on a rampage throughout the base destroying everything with its laser eye (Imma a firing my laser~. Is that still a thing?) and keeping Sheeta safe from the military. Pazu and the Dolo gang finally manage to reach the base where they rescue Sheeta but lose her necklace and the robot as well (strategically a good victory but tactic wise you lost). As they’re heading back to Pazu’s village Pazu and Sheeta asks if they can join Dolo’s gang in finding Laputa which she agrees to do at the pleading of her gang (new fish on deck means less work for them). So they make it to Dola’s pirate ship where they use the wind to catch up to the military and she puts the kids to work. Pazu in the engine room helping out her husband (she’s married? Must be one heck of a man to handle her) and Sheeta in the kitchen (feminism marches on). For a few minutes we get some good flying scenes as the sky just looks amazing (I could honestly stare at Miyazaki’s sky all day and never get bored with it) and Pazu and Sheeta get a little closer as well. At night they catch up to the military in their airship the Goliath (//gargwiki.net/images/thumb/5/5c/Goliath.PNG/400px-Goliath.PNG, wouldn’t that be awesome, but sadly no it’s a ship). They manage to escape the ships fire but get caught in a storm and within that storm Pazu and Sheeta see a huge cloud believing that’s where Laputa is. The castle is protected by winds that are moving in the opposite direction of each other and the only way in is to charge straight in where they either survive or have their ship torn to shreds by the wind (it’s like a game of chicken except your chances of survival are pretty low). Pazu and Sheeta detach from the main ship and voyage into the cloud followed quickly by the Goliath and Dola’s gang. They survived the storm and manage to make it into the center of the cloud where they reach Laputa (I claim this island in the name of Chibi Isis).
After crash landing on Laputa (thank you for flying Air Pazu. We look forward to your lawsuit) where they’re greeted by a robot who is so old that he’s got moss and flowers growing on him and everything (//youtu.be/nbsWQqnWS_s). This robot is the last of many robots who were tasked with tending to the garden and flowers of Laputa (and they’ve done an amazing job). They hear an explosion in the distance and go to investigate where we see the military have successfully made it through the storm as well and have captured the Dola gang. While the military begins looting the place (and I thought Dola was the pirate) Pazu and Sheeta attempt to save the gang but Sheeta gets captured by Muska and taken into the Chamber of Science. Pazu helps the Dola gang escape and then goes to save Sheeta with a gun given to him by Dola (somehow I feel as if Dola had her morality walk the plank and tossed it into the ocean a longtime ago) he goes after Muska who reveals that he too is an heir of Laputa to everyone and that he plans to use Laputa to take over the world (//youtu.be/X8u7px_GzWQ). He takes out the military and the Goliath with robots (release the bots) while Pazu blasts his way into the Chamber of Science (all this technology yet they can’t build a bullet proof wall). Sheeta escapes with her necklace and reunites with Pazu where Muska gives them a moment before he decides to kill them both (couldn’t you just gas them like in the Batman series?) but the moment was all they needed to turn the tide against him. Sheeta uses the necklace to start the self-destruct sequence on Laputa where the whole place begins to crumble and Muska assuming either falls to his death or gets crushed by the rumble. In the end Pazu and Sheeta survive thanks to the tree roots protecting them (nature always wins), they escape and are reunited with the Dola gang who escaped with some of the treasure, and the only thing left of Laputa is the garden area. The film ends with Pazu and Sheeta and the Dola gang going their separate ways and a shot of Laputa as the land below slowly changes over time.
Final Thoughts
So that was Castle in the Sky and its hands down one of Studio Ghibli’s best films. Everything about this film hits all the right notes. The story, the characters, the music, the animation everything is a hit. The two main characters Pazu and Sheeta are so adorable together. Pazu longs for adventure. He’s brave for his age, intelligent, and quite resourceful. There are times when he can act like a kid but that’s alright because he is a kid and thus is allowed to have the wonderment of a child. Sheeta is a rather independent and trustworthy girl who can stand on her own. The Dola gang is funny and I like how Dola kind of acts like a mother to Pazu and Sheeta. She may not show it but she cares for them deeply. But the one character who winds up stealing the show is Muska. Mark Hamill proves once again how fun it is to be the bad guy. He delivers an amazing performance as Muska. Every move he makes is calculating and serves to further his goals for domination. He’s devilishly enjoyable villain. The military officers could have used a bit more focus though as it would have been nice to get a sense of why they wanted this technology so much and what they had plan to do with it.
The story is really good. It really does make you feel like a kid going off on an adventure and filling with that sense of wonderment. It remains consistently fun and entertaining from beginning to end while also adding in strong undertones of nature and technology. The one scene in Laputa with the robot that has moss growing on it along with the fact that its been tending to the garden for years is very symbolic. In my opinion what Miyazaki is trying to say is he’s not against the advancement of technology but at the same time he’s saying we have to respect and take care of nature. We need to find a middle ground between technology and nature.
The animation in this film is amazing and still holds up to this day. The backgrounds are beautiful. I love looking at the skies Miyazaki draws. It just looks so real that you forget this whole film was hand drawn. The airships are all creative from the large military ships to the small bug-like flyers that the Dola gang uses. It’s all creative and enjoyable to watch. The music is also wonderful. It’s pure and clean just like the film itself and really adds to the adventure theme the film has going for it.
Final Score
My final score for Castle in the Sky is 9/10. This truly is one of Studio Ghibli’s best films and captures the essence of going on an adventure that you thought about when you were a kid. It’s anime that you’ll like as a kid and love as an adult. Definitely give this film a watch if you haven’t yet. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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