
The early image boards of the film were compiled as a storybook in Princess Mononoke: The First Story, published by Viz Media on October 21, 2014. How Princess Mononoke Was Born, a 400-minute documentary covering the film's production was released on home video on November 21, 2001, and a book with the same name was published by Tokuma Shoten on October 1, 1998.
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Overall, Mononoke is the third most popular anime movie in Japan, next to Spirited Away (2001) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004), both by Miyazaki. Mononoke also became the highest-grossing movie in Japan until Titanic took over the spot several months later. Roger Ebert placed the movie sixth on his top ten movies of 1999. The film originated in 1980 as early image boards by Miyazaki. The theme song to Princess Mononoke (lyrics by Hayao Miyazaki / composed by Joe Hisaishi) featured countertenor Yoshikazu Mera, a decision considered controversial at the time, but has since become a classic. The advertising slogan used to promote the film is "Live." (生きろ。 Ikiro). Mononoke (物の怪) is not a name, but a general term in Japanese for a spirit or monster. It is a jidaigeki (period drama) set in late Muromachi period of Japan, and centers on the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who consume its resources, as seen by the outsider Ashitaka. It is considered one of Miyazaki's masterpieces, taking sixteen years to design and three years to produce, with a recorded box office revenue of ¥19.3 billion yen, breaking box office records in Japanese cinemas at that time. So it’s relatively easy, even for those who object to dubbing on general principle, to put aside any qualms and embrace “Princess Mononoke” for what it is, a savage and beautiful episode in the ongoing battle between man and nature.Ĭoming in the wake of the summer’s domination by “Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,” “Princess Mononoke” demonstrates that George Lucas has something to learn from Miyazaki about the graceful and organic use of myths and legends set during the tumultuous Muromachi era (1392-1573) on the cusp of the Iron Age, the story deftly makes use of ecological and technological themes and evokes a period of rapid change to connect with contempo sensibilities.Īlso gratifying is the way good and evil are not placed in simplistic opposition, but are intriguingly and realistically parceled out among virtually all the characters, human and animal.Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫, Mononoke Hime) is the 10th feature-length animated film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu, and distributed by Toho. But the fact remains that dubbing, while robbing any film of its intrinsic aural personality, does much less egregious damage to an animated film than it does to a live-action piece. Some may regret the loss of the fey, more childlike quality of the original voicings, which were in line with general Japanese practice. Delay of nearly a year and a half was occasioned by the decision to have DC Comics writer Neil Gaiman prep an English-language script to be performed by an array of name thesps. Miramax acquired the picture and initially planned to release it in the summer of 1998. Though set in the 14th century, its ecological bias and feminist slant provide a modern resonance.” That review praised “Mononoke” as “a rich cartoon fable of bygone gods locking horns with man and with industry, which threatens to unbalance the forces of nature. 2, 1998, on the eve of its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The first film from any source to gross more than $150 million at the domestic Japanese box office (“Titanic” was the second), this 1997 production from Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli was reviewed by Variety in its original version on Feb.

Nevertheless, it will take all of Miramax’s legendary marketing prowess to secure sure footing anywhere beyond the specialized circuit, as the PG-13 film, while mainstream in its appeal, is too violent and, at 133 minutes, too long for small fry, and departs from the anthropomorphic and musical Disney conventions in so many creative, exciting ways.
