Castle in the Sky

Getting back to Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, I turn to one of his early works, Castle in the Sky, released in 1987. Compared to the other films of his I've seen, it's a much more straight-forward action/adventure, but it does have pirates and giant robots.

Set in a past where airships dominate the skies, a young girl is on just such a huge airship when she is attempted to be kidnapped by a pirate gang led by an old lady with long pink pigtails. At the same time she is protected by a shadowy government agent. She manages to escape out the window, but she falls through the clouds. A crystal around her neck, though, slows her down, where she comes under the protection of a boy in a mining town.

These two, Sheeta and Pazu, will then both elude the pirates and the government, as they learn that the girl and her crystal come from a mysterious floating island called Laputa. When they realize the pirates, who include the old lady and her dim but good-hearted sons, are the lesser of two evils, they team up to find Laputa (the pirates want the treasure). But the government agent has a more nefarious purpose for finding the island.

This is a grand entertainment for both young and old, and I especially liked the scene in which Sheeta's crystal awakens a giant robot who is programmed to assist her. He does some serious ass-kicking. Having robots as sidekicks goes back a long way, and I think is a primal enjoyment for children who get picked on. I always wanted the robot from Lost in Space as my personal bodyguard.

At the same time, there is something about Miyazaki's work that is off-putting to me, and I frequently checked out of the movie. As I watch more of his films maybe I can figure it out. Both Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky are over two hours long--maybe that's just too long for an animated film. I will dutifully record my findings.

The version I saw was distributed by Disney, so had American actors dubbing, including Anna Paquin, James Vanderbeek, Cloris Leachman as the old lady pirate and Mark Hamill, who went on from Star Wars to have a superlative career voicing cartoon characters, as the chief villain.