Mononoke-hime (1997)

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay) and
Neil Gaiman (English adaptation: US version)

Release Date:

26 November 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

The Fate Of The World Rests On The Courage Of One Warrior.

Plot:

On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest and Tataraba, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Plot Keywords:

Sword | Warrior | Asia | Mutilation | Transformation

Awards:

11 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Yôji Matsuda	...	Ashitaka (voice)
Yuriko Ishida	...	San (voice)
Yûko Tanaka	...	Eboshi-gozen (voice)
Kaoru Kobayashi	...	Jiko-bô (voice)
Masahiko Nishimura	...	Kouroku (voice)
Tsunehiko Kamijô	...	Gonza (voice)
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Toki (voice)
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Yama-inu (voice)
Mitsuru Satô	...	Tatari-gami (voice)
Akira Nagoya	...	Usi-kai (voice)
Akihiro Miwa	...	Moro-no-kimi (voice)
Mitsuko Mori	...	Hii-sama (voice)
Hisaya Morishige	...	Okkoto-nusi (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pamela Adlon	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Pamela Segall)
Gillian Anderson	...	Moro (voice: English version)
Lewis Arquette	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Corey Burton	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jennifer Cihi	...	Tatara's Women Song (voice: English version)
Billy Crudup	...	Ashitaka (voice: English version)
Claire Danes	...	San (voice: English version)
Keith David	...	Okkoto / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John DeMita	...	Kohroku (voice: English version)
Debi Derryberry	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John Di Maggio	...	Gonza / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Minnie Driver	...	Lady Eboshi (voice: English version)
Alex Fernandez	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jack Fletcher	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Julia Fletcher	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Julia DeMita)
Pat Fraley	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Patrick Fraley)
Takako Fuji	...	Woman in Iron Town
John Hostetter	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Leslie Ishii	...	Tatara's Women Song (voice: English version)
Yoshimasa Kondo	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John Rafter Lee	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Sherry Lynn	...	Iron Town Woman / Emishi Villiage Girl (voice: English version)
Tress MacNeille	...	Iron Town Woman / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn	...	Tatara's Women Song (voice: English version)
Matt McKenzie	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Michael McShane	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Matt K. Miller	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Marnie Mosiman	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Adam Paul	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Toki (voice: English version)
David Rasner	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dwight Schultz	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Tara Strong	...	Kaya (voice: English version)
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Jigo (voice: English version)
K.T. Vogt	...	Complaining Wife (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Princess Mononoke (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for images of violence and gore.

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:TV-14 (TV version) | Mexico:B | Iceland:L | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12 | Italy:T | New Zealand:PG | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Spain:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia)

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Trivia:

Disney/Miramax, which released the film in North America, was contractually obligated not to edit any footage out for its North American release. They asked to, but were refused. Although they kept their end of the bargain in not editing the film, they did release it into far fewer theaters than promised and expressed surprise that it had made little money at the box office.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the movie, Lady Eboshi mentions iron for "Lord Asano and his samurai," however Lord Asano lived 1667-1701 -- well after the Tokugawa shogunate seclusion laws that banned firearms.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the spirits of the gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony, but as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed. Those that remained were guarded by gigantic beasts who owed their allegiances to the Great Forest Spirit, for those were the days of gods and of demons.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 100 Greatest Cartoons (2005) (TV)

Not perfect but still wonderful

When he is touching by a demon while defending his village, Ashitaka is sent out to the West, from where the crazed demon originated, seeking a cure for the demon infection that will otherwise kill him. However, in seeking the domain of the gods he walks into the middle of a three-way battle between the samurai, who want Iron Town's iron deposits; Lady Eboshi who rules Iron Town and is stripping the forest of it's trees to mine it out; and finally the animals and spirits of the forest who must defend their homes, fighting for them is the human Mononoke, a young woman raised by the wolves.

It is hard to top Spirited Away, and it is maybe unfair of me to come to this film after I had seen that. This film cannot match the sheer wonder that I felt when I saw that film but this is still an accomplished film who's story is it's strength and weakness. The story is a pretty good tale that paints a reasonably good picture of this far off land, although some elements of the plot are a little thinner than I would have liked (namely the samurai). However it still manages to be engaging despite this - although of course it was never going to be as personal a story as Spirited Away. The obvious message of peace between man/industry and nature is more than just the usual one; where Lord Of The Rings was very much nature good, iron bad; this film is a lot more balanced and doesn't look at either badly.

While this runs in the background everything is fine but, when the film has to tie everything up it doesn't quite manage it. The ending is strangely very fast in happening and it ends on a morally good solution but one that I found to be emotionally quite unsatisfying. I must admit that the final 5 minutes left me feeling a little abandoned by the characters. However other than this the story is pretty exciting and the two hours go by pretty quickly.

The characters are interesting but I never managed to really get behind anyone other than Ashitaka. Eboshi was too unpleasant to relate to while Mononoke herself was too distant despite the occasional times where I felt for her. Part of this may be down to the voice cast in the US version. In Spirited Away the US cast fitted the film really well, here it is less the cast. Crudup is, ironically, one of the best voices in the cast. I say ironically because I couldn't place him in comparison to the more famous cast. Driver is OK but her character wasn't. Danes is pretty good and I felt that her character improved due to her good voice work. Anderson was miscast and her voice simply didn't fit her character at all (even with the echo added). Thornton was good for the more comedic role but slightly took away from the dramatic impact of the samurai. Pinkett-Smith brings her attitude to the role well and both she and Keith David are funny.

Visually it is as impressive as you would expect from Miyazaki. It all looks great, the whole land is filled with detail and it flows so freely. The spirits and gods are imaginative and very well drawn and the people show up just how basic stuff like Pokemon really is! It is a little too gory to be for kids (even though it is rated pg in the UK) but the vast majority of it is as detailed as you wished more kids' animation was.

Overall I really enjoyed this film but occasionally found it difficult to get past some of it's weaknesses. The characters are not all as strong as I would have liked and some of their voices aren't that good. The ending is a bit of a letdown as I was hoping for a more emotionally satisfying conclusion to the story. Despite this, it is still a wonderful film and easily one of the best animations I have seen.