<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkWWWKKA8jY">Princess Mononoke Trailer On Youtube</a>

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    Even though it is perhaps not the most lauded work of Hayao
Miyazaki, the movie Princess Mononoke is still a classic worth
preserving. Released in 1997, this movie focuses on the story of
Ashitaka, a young prince who has fallen under a curse that will kill
him unless he finds a way to remove it. This quest leads Ashitaka to
travel to the distant forest where the Forest God lives in hopes of
finding someone or something that can help him. Along the way he meets
a mercenary priest who wants to kill the Forest God and claim the
reward money offered for the spirit's head, as well as a small colony
of iron workers, who are waging war against the forest animals in an
effort to get at the rich natural resources beneath the forest. Caught
up in the fighting Ashitaka falls in love with the human girl, San,
who was raised by the wolves of the forest, and must find a way to
save not only himself, but San and the Forest God as well. With it's
brilliant animation and a message that allows for a wide cross-culture
appeal, Princess Mononoke is without a doubt a work that should be
preserved for future generations.

    Princess Mononoke was released in 1997, following closely on the
heels of the cartoon series Captain Planet, which ran from 1990 to
1996. Like many of Hayo Miyazaki's films, Princess Mononoke deals
heavily with the relation of human beings to the planet, and the
impact that industrialization has on nature. One of the main themes is
the damage that people can do to the environment, which is also a main
focus of the animated series Captain Planet. “Captain Planet...[is]
symbolic of a contradictory environmental ethic that seeks to improve
the planet and maintain existing social relations, ( King.)” In a
direct correlation to the sudden fascination with the environmentalist
movement that was taking place in western culture, Miyazaki's films
place great importance on the,”transformation and reinvigoration of
the tenets of Shintoism and local mythology...For example, a
non-Japanese audience viewing Princess Mononoke can clearly read the
symbolic beheading of the spirit of the forest in terms of globally
circulating narratives of environmental destruction, whereas a
Japanese audience are also likely to simultaneously engage here with
speciﬁc allusions to kami, or gods, and Shintoist tenets of respecting
and communing with nature’s deities, (Wright.)“ So it can be said that
Princess Mononoke is a typical work of the times for both Japan and
America. The themes of environmentalism would be familiar for either
culture, and the idea of an animated film or series that highlighted
such themes would be especially appropriate for America, since such
things were already mainstream. Following the first Gulf War in the
early 1990's, the secondary message of peace and learning to live
together – not just in terms of humans and nature, but also in terms
of humans and other humans – would have been especially well received.
Princess Mononoke was also squarely in the height of the Japanese
animation craze that was hitting America following the appearance of
the acclaimed Vampire Hunter D ( 1985 ) and Akira ( 1988. ) Such
series as Sailor Moon ( 1995-2000 ) and Dragon Ball Z ( 1989-2003 )
were also extremely popular at this time in America as well as
overseas.

    What sets Princess Mononoke apart from this trend is the sheer
popularity that the film enjoyed. It “eclipsed Steven Spielberg’s E.T.
to create a new domestic box-ofﬁce record, only to be nudged out by
James Cameron’s Titanic in the same year (Wright.)” This may be due to
the fact that although computer generated images, also known as CGI,
were just beginning to take off during the mid-to-late nineties, the
studio responsible for producing the fantastical films of Miyazaki
firmly stood their ground and continued to animate by hand rather than
relying on computers. This hand animating is what gives Miyazaki's
artwork much of its unique look and broad appeal. Miyazaki was also a
fore-runner in the tradition of creating Japanese works of art – be it
games or film – that showcased characters stripped of anything that
would identify them as being strictly Japanese. This removal of the
native culture from their products has been given much of the credit
for the wild popularity of Japanese games and film. “Japan’s recent
cultural expansion is premised on a strategy of blurring distinctively
Japanese attributes of exports to create ‘culturally odourless
products’. In particular, animation and game software destined for
export are prone to mu-kokuseki—the erasure of racial and ethnic
characteristics and any context that would embed a speciﬁc culture or
country, (Wright.)” When it really comes down to it, though, there is
really no single explanation why the works of Miyazaki, and Princess
Mononoke in particular, stand out from the other works of this period.
Looking at other anime, there are many films and series that
incorporate the same idea of being culturally non-specific to Japan.
American cartoons were extolling some of the same virtues about
coexisting and environmental importance, but never came close to
approaching the popularity of Miyazaki's works. The majority of the
animated works at this time were still hand drawn, with the boom of
computer animation coming later, burgeoning in the beginning of the
2000's. It may be that the success of Princess Mononoke lies in the
combination of the beautiful hand-drawn art, and the way in which
Miyazaki incorporated Japanese folk lore and themes into a film that
is still culturally ambiguous enough to reach a wider audience.
Certainly no other film had brought these aspects together in such a
way prior.

    Realizing that Princess Mononoke edged out the blockbuster E.T.,
it should not be surprising that it was hailed as an almost instant
classic. “Virtually every frame is alive to this movement, and
astounds with its natural talent and imagination,(Aoun.)” Another
critic, cited in Aoun's article, raves that it is,”the Star Wars of
animation.” It almost seems as if the critics are strangely,
unanimously in agreement with audiences in regards to this film, which
is a favorite of both young and old. Since it has only been a meager
fourteen years since the release of Princess Mononoke, there doesn't
exist much of an ability to compare the thoughts on it in the present
and what might be considered of it in the future. Only time will tell
if this masterpiece has the ability to remain a timeless classic, but
it has aged well, and continues to be a perennial example of
Miyazaki's ability to delight movie-goers.

    My personal reaction to this movie was very strong. It was one of
the first films by Miyazaki that was introduced to me, and remains
deeply embedded in my mind even to this day. Despite the amazing and
fantastical ability of the animation team and director to create
captivating movies, Princess Mononoke is the most hauntingly beautiful
of the many that I have seen. Miyazaki delights in providing a strong
female lead to follow, and this habit of his plays out well in the
conflict between San – the Princess Mononoke figure – and her nemesis,
Lady Eboshi, the founder of Irontown. Prince Ashitaka also provides a
positive male moral role model, nicely covering the bases for any
gender of child to be able to find a character worth identifying with.
Perhaps the most interesting thing that I discovered in the course of
researching was that Billy Bob Thorton plays one of the voice roles in
the movie, something that I found rather comical given that the bulk
of his work is far from appropriate for a young audience.

    When finding a work worthy of comparing to Princess Mononoke, it
was difficult to settle on a single comparison. There exists a breadth
of both Japanese animation and American animation available to stand
against Princess Mononoke, but because of the unique quality of
Miyazaki's work, it seemed unfair to lump it into either category
specifically. For this reason I have chosen to make two comparisons.
To begin with, it seems most appropriate to hold Princess Mononoke up
against one of the more popular Japanese animated movies of the time,
Vampire Hunter D. Even though a person who has seen both of these
movies might disagree at first glance, there are actually many
similarities between the two. Princess Mononoke incorporates many of
the same organic shapes and movements, especially when contrasting the
'demonic' presence that comes with Ashitaka's curse and the demonic
creatures that are encountered in Vampire Hunter D. Also similar to
Princess Mononoke is the way in which the characters in Vampire Hunter
D do not have a specifically Japanese appearance. The main male
character, D, looks European. He is tall, with pale skin. The main
female character is blonde. Not the only blonde, in fact, as the son
of the town's mayor is also fair skinned, with oval eyes and golden
hair. Both movies feature supernatural characters as well as human.
These shared traits are often over-looked due to the stark difference
in target audience between the two films. Vampire Hunter D contains
graphic violence and even nudity, making it less than appropriate for
children. Despite being animated, it was meant for adults, and this
shows through in the content. Princess Mononoke was meant to be
enjoyed by both children and adults, but the violent content it
contains ( another trait it shares with most Japanese animation )
netted it a rating of M-15, meaning that it was unsuitable for
children under the age of fifteen.

    To show the reverse side of American animation in comparison to
Princess Mononoke, it seemed most feasible to find an extreme of
American animation. Something contemporary and computer animated to
provide the best contrast between the work of Miyazaki and the works
done by his peers. For this reason Finding Nemo stands out as the best
example of American animation to stand against Princess Mononoke.
Finding Nemo was released in 2003 by Pixar studios in collusion with
Walt Disney. Disney is also responsible for bringing the works of
Miyazaki to America, which makes the comparison almost too perfect.
“According to director/founder John Lasseter, Pixar’s ‘most
inspirational ﬁlms’ are ‘the animated ﬁlms of Hayao Miyazaki and the
Studio Ghibli’ and what inspires them is ‘the sense of heart and
character, the use of scale, the brilliant staging and timing of
action and humor, the simplicity and beauty of the effects and mostly
the imagination, (Aoun.)” Ironically, Pixar has been on the cutting
edge of computer generated animation almost since it was begun, while
Studio Ghibli remains steadfast in its determination to do most of the
animation in their films by hand. Finding Nemo is probably one of the
more famous incarnations of this computer animation, and interestingly
enough, deals with some of the same environmental issues that Princess
Mononoke touches on. Finding Nemo focuses on the exotic fish trade,
casting it in a somewhat negative light ( Nemo is 'stolen' from his
family to supply an aquarium. ) Although the film's creators tried to
discourage people from buying exotic fish with their movie, it instead
led to a massive boom in clown fish sales, creating yet another
contrast with Princess Mononoke in that Miyazaki's film perhaps had
more realistic goals with its moralizing. The animation styles for the
two movies are, of course, as different as night and day, and the
maturity level of the story also seems to have a huge difference
between the two. Finding Nemo is a gentle comedy, awarded a G rating,
the mildest of all available. For violent content, Princess Mononoke
being put alongside Finding Nemo is much like putting Princess
Mononoke alongside Vampire Hunter D. Which just goes to illustrate how
delicately balanced between the world of American animation and the
world of Japanese animation Princess Mononoke really is.

    This work should definitely be preserved for the future, not only
because of the amazing animation quality and the imaginative vision
that backs up the impressive art, but also for the morality and
message of the story that is presented by Hayao Miyazaki. The story is
one of revenge, betrayal, and ultimately forgiveness. Princess
Mononoke provides an excellent example of the differences – and the
similarities – between American and Japanese animation, and will
likely remain one of the better examples for a very long time to come.



Works Cited

King, Donna Lee. "CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS: Kids,
Environmental Crisis, And Competing Narratives Of The New World
Order." Sociological Quarterly 35.1 (1994): 103-120. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Wright, LucyClode, Jerry. "The Animated Worlds Of Hayao Miyazaki."
Metro 143 (2005): 46. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Aoun, Steven. "Film Of The Quarter: Princess Mononoke." Metro 143
(2005): 171. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Murphy, Joseph. "Anime: From Akira To Princess Mononoke: Experiencing
Contemporary Japanese Animation." Philosophy East &amp; West56.3 (2006):
493. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.