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Princess Mononoke
Japanese movie poster
Directed by	Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by	Toshio Suzuki
Written by	Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay and story) Neil Gaiman (English adaptation)
Starring	Yoji Matsuda Yuriko Ishida Yūko Tanaka Kaoru Kobayashi (Japan) Billy Crudup Claire Danes Minnie Driver Billy Bob Thornton (USA)
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography	Atsushi Okui
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Distributed by	Toho Miramax Films Alliance
Release date(s)	Japan: July 12, 1997 United States: October 29, 1999 Canada: November 26, 1999 United Kingdom: October 19, 2001
Running time	134 min
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	¥2,350,000,000
Gross revenue	$159,375,308 (worldwide)

Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫 ,Mononoke-hime^?) is a 1997 Japanese animated historical fantasy feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. It was first released in Japan on July 12, 1997 and in the United States on October 29, 1999 in select cities and on November 26, 1999 in Canada.

It is a period drama set specifically in the late Muromachi period of Japan but with numerous fantastic elements and concentrates on the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who consume its resources as seen by the outsider Ashitaka. "Mononoke" (物の怪 ^?) is not a name, but a general term in the Japanese language for a spirit or monster.

Roger Ebert placed the movie sixth on his top ten movies of 1999.^[1] Mononoke also became the highest grossing movie in Japan until Titanic took over the spot several months later. Overall, Mononoke is the third highest grossing anime movie in Japan,^{[citation needed]} next to 2001's Spirited Away and 2004's Howl's Moving Castle, both also by Miyazaki.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Ashitaka 2.2 San 2.3 Lady Eboshi 2.4 Jigo 2.5 Forest Spirit (Shishigami) 3 Production 4 Setting 5 Releases 5.1 Theatrical run 5.2 Translations 6 Cast 7 Reception 7.1 Awards 8 Soundtrack 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links

[edit] Plot

Set in feudal Japan, a time of upheaval of samurai and isolated villages, Princess Mononoke follows the journey of the last Emishi prince,^[2] Ashitaka, and his attempts to make peace between the humane settlement, Irontown (Tataraba in the original Japanese), and the creatures living in the forest that surrounds it.

The film begins with Ashitaka receiving a curse during a battle with a demonic giant boar called Nago which is threatening to destroy his village. During the fight, Ashitaka receives a wound on his right arm; the cursed wound will spread to the rest of his body and eventually kill him. Ashitaka resolves to journey to the boar's origin, the lands to the West, and find a cure for the curse. He cuts his hair, signifying his permanent departure from his village,^[3] and rides out with his steed Yakul, his loyal red elk. On his journey, Ashitaka passes by a village suffering a samurai attack. Some samurai attack him, and Ashitaka defeats them with the supernatural strength of his cursed arm. In a nearby town he meets Jigo, a wandering monk impressed by his feats of arm, who informs Ashitaka that the god of the forest in the mountains of the west may be able to help him.

A nearby town in the mountains of the west, called Iron Town or Tatara Ba,^[4] continually clears the nearby forests to make charcoal to smelt ironsand, leading to battles with beasts attempting to protect their diminishing forest. In one such battle, a pack of wolves, led by the wolf god Moro, attack villagers transporting rice. They are accompanied by San, a human girl adopted by the wolves whom the people of Iron Town call 'Princess Mononoke'. In the attack Moro and several villagers are injured. The day following the battle, Ashitaka finds two injured villagers near a river. While rescuing them, he sees San treating Moro's wounds, and she disappears quickly. He returns the villagers to Irontown passing through a forest full of bestial gods, including diminutive sprites called kodama. Also in the forest is the Forest Spirit (Shishigami in the original Japanese), described as a "god of life and death", who takes the form of a deer-like kirin during the day and a large shadowy "night-walker" (Daidarabotchi) at night.

Ashitaka is given a warm welcome when he reaches Irontown. He learns from the leader of Irontown, Lady Eboshi, that the giant boar which cursed him was once a forest god called Nago and that Eboshi had shot the boar, driving it to madness. On hearing this Ashitaka is filled with rage and must restrain his right arm from killing Eboshi. He is dissuaded from doing so by lepers whom Eboshi has taken under her care and employed as gunmakers. She also employs former prostitutes in her famous ironworks in order to free them from brothels. Irontown is then infiltrated by San, who attacks Eboshi. Ashitaka intervenes to stop the two sides' fighting and takes San back to the forest, but is severely wounded when he is shot through the chest. With his curse's power, he manages to open the gate and leave the town, but collapses soon afterward. San presents Ashitaka to the Forest Spirit who heals his wounds but does not remove the curse.

San soon learns that the boars, under the leadership of the boar god Okkoto, are planning another attack on Irontown. Eboshi prepares for the assault and sets out to destroy the Forest Spirit. The head of the Forest Spirit is believed to grant immortality. Jigo, who is now revealed to be a mercenary-hunter, plans to give the head to the emperor; in return the emperor promises to give Irontown legal protection against the envious daimyos coveting the town's prosperity. Eboshi, however, suspects (rightly) that the emperor's agents are also assigned to take control of Irontown at the most opportune moment. Meanwhile, Ashitaka recovers and falls in love with San, something she has difficulty accepting due to her lifelong hatred of other humans.

In the ensuing battle, Irontown successfully sets a trap for the boars, devastating their army. Jigo's hunters also succeed in corrupting Okkoto in the same way as Nago, and San becomes entangled in Okkoto's demonic tentacles. Moro, also badly wounded, saves San, and then is killed, along with Okkoto, by the Forest Spirit, in mercy for their suffering. Eboshi then succeeds in shooting off the Forest Spirit's head while it is transforming into the night-walker. Jigo collects the head while the body is transformed into a god of death covering the surrounding land with a lethal black ooze that completely destroys all life and turns the land barren. The hunters scatter before the ooze and the population of Irontown moves into the surrounding lake, leaving Irontown to destruction. Ashitaka and San manage to take the head from Jigo and return it to the Forest Spirit. It collapses into the lake and the land becomes green again. Ashitaka and San part, vowing to see each other occasionally while Ashitaka, finally freed of his curse, helps rebuild Irontown. Eboshi survives, albeit without an arm, and vows to rebuild Irontown along more harmonious lines. The film ends with a kodama appearing in the rejuvenated forest.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Ashitaka

Ashitaka (アシタカ ^?) is an Emishi prince who was meant to become leader of his tribe. While rescuing his village from Nago, the demon boar god, Ashitaka’s arm is afflicted with a curse that will eventually consume and kill him. Under the effect of the curse, Ashitaka gains superhuman strength, but causes him to grow weaker as time passes. Ashitaka is exiled from his village and goes westward to find the cause of the demon’s corruption as well as a cure for his curse, despite being told there is no such thing.

After arriving at Irontown, Ashitaka is caught up in the town’s war against the mountain gods. Amidst the battle at Irontown, Ashitaka meets San and soon becomes enamored with her. Ashitaka takes San back to Moro and attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between the warring sides. He is unsuccessful. Throughout the film, Ashitaka develops deep feelings for San and eventually falls in love with her. It is stated by Moro that he wanted to share his life with her. At the end of the film, Ashitaka’s curse is eventually removed and, though San and Ashitaka have grown close, they go their separate ways: to the forest and to Irontown respectively. However, Ashitaka promises to visit San in the forest whenever he can.

The director Miyazaki wanted Ashitaka to not be a typical hero:^[5]

Ashitaka is not a cheerful, worry-free boy. He is a melancholy boy who has a fate. I feel that I am that way myself, but until now, I have not made a film with such a character. Ashitaka was cursed for a very absurd reason. Sure, Ashitaka did something he should not have done - killing Tatari Gami. But there was enough reason to do so from the humans' viewpoint. Nevertheless, he received a deadly curse. I think that is similar to the lives of people today. I think this is a very absurd thing that is part of life itself.

—Hayao Miyazaki

[edit] San

When San (サン ^?) was a baby, the wolf goddess Moro attacked her parents, who were found damaging the forest. San's parents threw her to Moro as a sacrifice to save their own lives. Moro raised San as her own daughter, and in turn San treats Moro as her mother and Moro's two natural pups as brothers. The wolf pups accept San as a sister.

San’s primary concern is protecting the forest and the animals she lives with. San rejects her own humanity and even thinks of herself as a wolf. She has attempted to assassinate Eboshi of Irontown many times, as San believes that Eboshi’s death will result in the end of Irontown and human growth into the surrounding forest. It is only by Ashitaka's affection to her that she slowly comes to acknowledge her human side as well.

After the battle for the Forest Spirit's head, San tells Ashitaka that he is very dear to her, but since she cannot forgive the human race for what they have done to the forest, she will continue to live apart from the humans. San returns to the forest and Ashitaka remains in Irontown.

[edit] Lady Eboshi

Eboshi (エボシ ^?) is the strong-willed and independent leader of Irontown. Though seemingly callous and distant to others, she actually cares a lot about the welfare of her people; the guns they produce are primarily intended to secure their independence from hostile parties. She also takes in lepers, treating them as humans instead of parasites, and helps them with their wounds - a fact which Ashitaka acknowledges to the point that he cannot condemn her for inflicting him (indirectly) with the curse.

Eboshi has many enemies, including San, men and the animal gods. Eboshi and her ishibiya troops are responsible for the cursed iron bullet in Nago which eventually affects Ashitaka. She shoots the Shishigami's head off, causing it to turn into a God of death and sending forth a dark liquid that kills anything it touches. The liquid falls on Moro's body, separating her head from the body. After Eboshi throws the Shishigami's head to Jigo, Moro's head resurrects long enough to bite off Eboshi's right arm. This event redeems her and she decides to rebuild Irontown not as an industrial center, but as a modest settlement.

This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help clarify the article; suggestions may be found on the talk page. (February 2009)

According to the producer Hayao Miyazaki, the character of Lady Eboshi was supposed to have a traumatic past, but whether she was previously a prostitute like the girls she employs, is not made clear. She has a strong and secure personality, evident in the fact that she lets Ashitaka move freely through the settlement unescorted, despite his unclear motives. She also almost never acknowledges the Emperor's authority in Irontown, a revolutionary view for the time and displays an untypical attitude for a woman of that era in that she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice herself or those around her for her dreams.^[5]

[edit] Jigo

Jigo, known in Japanese as Monk Jiko (ジコ坊 ,Jiko-bō^?), is an Imperial agent traveling in the disguise of a monk who was assigned by the Emperor to capture the forest spirit's head, in return for an entire hill of gold. The Emperor believed that the forest spirit's head would give him immortality. Jigo used a pack of skilled hunters, and a group of his own men, to help him hunt down the forest spirit. He also manipulated Lady Eboshi to kill the forest spirit for him, in exchange for tracking it down for her.

When director Miyazaki was creating the Jigo character, he was unsure whether to make him a government spy, a ninja, a member of a religious group or "a very good guy." In the end he decided to give Jigo elements of all of the above groups.^[5]

[edit] Forest Spirit (Shishigami)

The Forest Spirit, known in the Japanese version as Shishigami (シシ神 ^?), is the ancient spirit of the forest. During the day, the Forest Spirit resembles a great elegant stag with many antlers, bird-like feet, and a long deer-like face similar to that of a baboon. The Forest Spirit is protected by the Wolf Clan. As he walks, flowers bloom up at his feet, though they quickly wither and die. He is capable of both giving life and taking it away, which includes healing wounds.

At sunset, the Forest Spirit becomes the Nightwalker (known as Daidarabotchi in the Japanese version), a huge god in a humanoid form that appears to be made out of stars, with a long pointed face and tentacle-like spikes on the back. When Lady Eboshi shoots off the Forest Spirit's head whilst it is transforming into the Nightwalker, it becomes a raging god of death and his starry appearance changes to a dark tar-like liquid, searching for his head, and brings death to all it touches. At the climax of the film, the huge god retrieves its head, just as dawn breaks, and then apparently dies and collapses into the lake. However, Ashitaka claims that the forest spirit cannot die as it is the embodiment of Life as well as Death.

[edit] Production

Princess Mononoke is mostly hand-drawn, but incorporates some use of computer animation.^[6]

When released, Mononoke was the most expensive anime ever made,^{[citation needed]} with production of the film costing ¥2.4 billion (approximately US$20 million).^[7][8][9] Miyazaki personally checked each of the 144,000 cels in the film,^[10] and is estimated to have redrawn parts of 80,000 of them.^[11]

Computer animation was used during 5 minutes of footage throughout the film, and a further 10 minutes used digital paint, a technique which is used throughout all subsequent Studio Ghibli films. The computer animated parts are designed to blend in and support the traditional animation, and are mainly used in images consisting of a mixture of CGI and traditional drawing.

This is the only anime directed by Hayao Miyazaki that does not feature a flying sequence, his well-known trademark.

[edit] Setting

This story takes place in Japan during the Muromachi Period, which is considered to be the transition period between the medieval period and the early modern period. It is notable that the power of the shoguns greatly declined in this period. The landscapes which appear in Princess Mononoke are said to have been inspired by the ancient forests of Yakushima, off Kyūshū, and the mountains of Shirakami-Sanchi in northern Honshū.^[12]

Ashitaka comes from a tribe called the Emishi, which used to be natives of northern Honshū, that had been resisting subjugation by the Japanese emperor for centuries. However, the Emishi were defeated by the samurai of the Yamato clan, which proceeded to become the rulers and government of the Empire. The Emishi thus went into hiding, around the Northeast part of Honshū, Japan's largest island. By A.D. 1300, the Emishi were becoming integrated into Japanese society. However, Ashitaka supposedly comes from a tribe of the Emishi that had resisted integration and still lived in exile.

[edit] Releases

[edit] Theatrical run

The film was extremely successful in Japan and with both anime fans and "arthouse" moviegoers in English-speaking countries. In those countries, it was widely interpreted as a film about the environment told in the form of Japanese mythology. Disney's Miramax subsidiary purchased U.S. distribution rights, but wanted to cut the film for American audiences (and for a PG-rating). However, Miyazaki balked at this, and the film was instead released uncut with a rating of PG-13. Miramax also chose to put a lot of money into creating the English dub of the movie with famous actors and actresses, yet when they released it in theatres there was little or no advertising and it was given a very limited run, showing in only a few theatres and for a very short time. Disney later complained about the fact that the movie did not do well at the box office. In September 2000, the film was supposed to be released on DVD in the U.S. but Miramax announced that only the English dub would be included on the disc. Outraged fans demanded the Japanese track be put on the disc as well and the threat of poor sales prompted Miramax to hire translators for the subtitles, holding the DVD release back by almost three months. When the DVD was finally released it sold very well, due to no limitation in availability. According to Ultimate Disney, the film is due for a two-disc Special Edition treatment in the near future.^[13]

It was rated PG-12 in Japan, PG in the UK, M in Australia and PG-13 in the U.S. for images of violence and gore.

The film was promoted with the tagline "Live!" (生きろ ,Ikiro^?), inflected in the imperative.

[edit] Translations

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

The United States and United Kingdom DVD releases have both the English and Japanese soundtracks, together with subtitles for both the English dub and a more literal translation.

At Miyazaki's insistence, the film was uncut for the English release,^[14] so that only the soundtrack was altered. The English dub of Princess Mononoke is a translation with some adaptation by Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman. The main changes from the Japanese version are to provide a cultural context for phrases and actions which those outside of Asia may not be familiar with. Such alterations include references to mythology and specific names for groups, such as Jibashiri and Shishigami, that appear in the Japanese version, that are changed to more general terms, such as Mercenary and Forest Spirit, in the English version. The rationale for such changes is that the majority of non-Japanese viewers would not understand the mythological references and that the English language simply has no words for the Jibashiri, Shishigami and other terms. However, some critics (Michael Atkinson, Mr. Showbiz) have said that the translation from Japanese to English and the alterations in which it has resulted have weakened the film somewhat.

The English dub received mixed reviews from critics.^[15] While most of the reaction was positive, others criticized the dub for most of its casting choices,^[16] notably Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo and Claire Danes as San, claiming that they detracted from the experience. Despite this love-hate atmosphere, the dub has been hailed as one of the best ever done^[17] alongside Spirited Away, which has been met with the same criticism.^[18]

The film has also been recently dubbed in Mandarin as well. There are not a great number of differences, and the translations seem to be accurate enough. Still, there are three translations mentioned of 'Princess Mononoke/Mononoke Hime', while most of the other names use either Chinese or sound translations.

[edit] Cast

The movie stars the following actors:

Character	Japanese voice	English voice
Ashitaka	Yōji Matsuda	Billy Crudup
San	Yuriko Ishida	Claire Danes
Moro	Akihiro Miwa	Gillian Anderson
Lady Eboshi	Yūko Tanaka	Minnie Driver
Jigo/Jiko Bou	Kaoru Kobayashi	Billy Bob Thornton
Toki	Sumi Shimamoto	Jada Pinkett Smith
Okkoto/Okkotonushi	Hisaya Morishige	Keith David
Gonza	Tsunehiko Kamijō	John DiMaggio
Kohroku	Masahiko Nishimura	John DeMita
Kaya	Yuriko Ishida	Tara Strong

• Iron Town Women – Sherry Lynn, Tress MacNeille
• Tatara's Women Song – Jennifer Cihi, Leslie Ishii, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
• Additional Voices by Pamela Adlon, Lewis Arquette, Corey Burton, Keith David, Debi Derryberry, John DiMaggio, Alex Fernandez, Jack Fletcher, Julia Fletcher, Pat Fraley, John Hostetter, John Rafter Lee, Tress MacNeille, Matt McKenzie, Michael McShane, Matt K. Miller, Marnie Mosiman, Adam Paul, David Rasner, and Dwight Schultz

[edit] Reception

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2007)

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and currently garners a 94% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website. Leonard Klady of Variety wrote a positive review of an early release of the picture.^[19] On Roger Ebert & The Movies, the film received two thumbs up from Harry Knowles and Roger Ebert.^[20] Ebert also gave the film four out of four stars in his print review and has added it to his 10 best movies of the year list.^[21] Despite positive reviews, the film did not fare well financially in the United States. It grossed only $2,298,191 the first eight weeks. ^[22]

Princess Mononoke ranks 488th on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. ^[23]

[edit] Awards

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.

• Best Picture; The 21st Japanese Academy Awards
• Best Japanese Movie, Best Animation, and Japanese Movie Fans' Choice; The 52nd Mainichi Movie Competition
• Best Japanese Movie and Readers' Choice; Asahi Best Ten Film Festival
• Excellent Movie Award; The Agency for Cultural Affairs
• Grand Prize in Animation Division; 1st Japan Media Arts Festival (by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Education)
• Best Director; Takasaki Film Festival
• Best Japanese Movie; The Association of Movie Viewing Groups
• Movie Award; The 39th Mainichi Art Award
• Best Director; Tokyo Sports Movie Award
• Nihon Keizai Shinbun Award for Excellency; Nikkei Awards for Excellent Products/Service (details)
• Theater Division Award; Asahi Digital Entertainment Award
• MMCA Special Award; Multimedia Grand Prix 1997
• Best Director and Yujiro Ishihara Award; Nikkan Sports Movie Award
• Special Achievement Award; The Movie's Day
• Special Award; Houchi Movie Award
• Special Award; Blue Ribbon Award
• Special Award; Osaka Film Festival
• Special Award; Elandore Award
• Cultural Award; Fumiko Yamaji Award
• Grand Prize and Special Achievement Award; Golden Gross Award
• First Place, best films of the year; The 26th "Pia Ten"
• First Place; Japan Movie Pen Club, 1997 Best 5 Japanese Movies
• First Place; 1997 Kinema Junpo Japanese Movies Best 10 (Readers' Choice)
• Second Place; 1997 Kinema Junpo Japanese Movies Best 10 (Critics' Choice)
• Best Director; 1997 Kinema Junpo Japanese Movies (Readers' Choice)
• First Place; Best Comicker's Award
• First Place; CineFront Readers' Choice
• Nagaharu Yodogawa Award; RoadShow
• Best Composer and Best Album Production; 39th Japan Record Award
• Excellent Award; Yomiruri Award for Film/Theater Advertisement

[edit] Soundtrack

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Napier, Susan (2005-11-24). "Princess Mononoke: Fantasy, the Feminine and the Myth of Progress". Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (2nd Edition ed.). New York, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 231–248. ISBN 978-1403970510. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Princess Mononoke

• Official website
  • HTML site
• Princess Mononoke Production Diary at Studio Ghibli (Japanese)
• Princess Mononoke at Allmovie
• Mononoke-hime at the Internet Movie Database
• Princess Mononoke at Rotten Tomatoes
• Princess Mononoke (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Neil Gaiman on writing the English-language script

v • d • e The works of Hayao Miyazaki Films Director, screenplay and storyboard: The Castle of Cagliostro • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind • Castle in the Sky • My Neighbor Totoro • Kiki's Delivery Service • Porco Rosso • Princess Mononoke • Spirited Away • Howl's Moving Castle • Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Screenplay and storyboard: Panda! Go, Panda! • Whisper of the Heart Chief animator and concept artist: Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon • Hols: Prince of the Sun • Puss in Boots • Flying Phantom Ship • Animal Treasure Island • Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves TV series Director, screenplay and storyboard: Lupin III • Future Boy Conan • Sherlock Hound Scene design and layout: Heidi, Girl of the Alps • 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother • Anne of Green Gables OVA Director, screenplay and storyboard: Lupin III's Greatest Capers Manga Story and art: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind • The Journey of Shuna • Hayao Miyazaki's Daydream Data Notes Miscellaneous Director, screenplay and storyboard: On Your Mark • Mei and the Kittenbus • Mizugumo Monmon

v • d • e Studio Ghibli films Pre-Ghibli films Hols: Prince of the Sun · Panda! Go, Panda! · The Castle of Cagliostro · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Studio Ghibli theatrical feature films Castle in the Sky · My Neighbor Totoro · Grave of the Fireflies · Kiki's Delivery Service · Only Yesterday · Porco Rosso · Pom Poko · Whisper of the Heart · Princess Mononoke · My Neighbors the Yamadas · Spirited Away · The Cat Returns · Howl's Moving Castle · Tales from Earthsea · Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Studio Ghibli TV feature specials I Can Hear the Sea Studio Ghibli co-productions Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Studio Ghibli shorts Nandarō · On Your Mark · Ghiblies · Ghiblies Episode II · Imaginary Flying Machines · Mei and the Kittenbus · The Whale Hunt · Looking for a Home · The Day I Harvested a Planet · The Night of Taneyamagahara · Water Spider Monmon · Iblard Jikan Studio Kajino feature films Shiki-Jitsu Studio Kajino co-productions Satorare (Tribute to a Sad Genius) Ghibli Museum Library films Le Roi et l'oiseau · Kirikou et la sorcière · Princes et princesses · Les Triplettes de Belleville · Moya lyubov · Azur et Asmar · Snezhnaya koroleva · Panda Kopanda · Cheburashka · Animal Farm · Lupin Sansei Studio Ghibli Video game co-productions The Another World Related articles Hayao Miyazaki · Toshio Suzuki · Isao Takahata · Ghibli Museum · Ghibli Museum Library · Studio Kajino · Nausicaa.net