The Intro

In the world of anime licensing there are only a few companies that could be really considered major including ADV, CPM, Funimation and a couple of others. In the race to get titles licensed, sometimes money is what it comes down to and in this case I do believe that this was exactly what it came down to as this incredible movie (along with two others by the same director) were bought and released to an eager US audience by Disney........... who royally screwed up.

The Story

The story of Castle In The Sky is a fairly basic one. A long time ago, in an unnamed mining town on Earth, a boy named Pazu is working in the mines when a mysterious girl named Sheeta floats down from the sky wearing a mysterious crystal around her neck after she falls from an airship in the sky. After she wakes up, she reveals that she is being pursued by not only a dreaded pirate crew but also the military for her crystal. Thus begins the incredible adventure of these two young kids as they venture forth into the sky to find the legendary floating city of Laputa.

The Good and the Bad

I really enjoyed this movie! The story, the characters, the writing was wonderful! Blending a wonderful mix of romance, suspense, drama and comedy. Spanning just a few minutes over two hours, this movie never drags once. The pacing is kept up at a great rate and never lets up from beginning to end.

Dub vs. Sub

Oh this is where Disney dropped the ball to the point of seriously ticking off the director Hayao Miyazaki. I watched this movie in both sub and dub and neither version lived up to the actual movie itself. In the sub version, the subtitles are done in an incredibly lazy manner. They are mis-timed so that sometimes it is difficult to tell who is saying what... I have quite honestly seen better jobs done by fan subbing groups and that is saying a lot. Disney may very well be a multi billion dollar company but they have a lot to learn about how to properly subtitle anime!

Next we get to deal with their dubbing job. Disney brought in some great talent to play the roles. In the roles of Sheeta and Pazu we get to hear the voices of Anna Paquin and James Van Der Beek and while I enjoyed Anna's portrayal of Sheeta, it was quite obvious that James was over acting in a lot of the movie.

Two other bigger names that were cast into this movie were Cloris Leachman playing the role of Captain Dora the pirate and Mark "Please stop calling me Luke Skywalker" Hamill as Muska. Both of these roles were enjoyable to listen to and were some of the better performances of the movie.

All in all, I was very annoyed at Disney though. They may very well have billions of dollars at their disposal but they really need to take some notes from ADV before they try to stick their greedy little hands into the anime cookie jar.

Music

The original music of Castle In The Sky was very understated but when Disney redid the film (they really remastered it) they added an entire new music score with a full orchestra throughout the entire film and I loved it. The music was appropriate in every place it was in and was pleasing to listen to every single time it started up. The only thing that I didn't really like was that they didn't bother to translate or subtitle the closing theme to the movie which would've been very nice but I'm not going to hold it against them.

Extras

At first glance, there appears to be tons of extras included with this movie but upon closer inspection the extras aren't as plentiful as one thought. Included in the extras are trailers for the other releases that Disney bought from Hayao Miyazaki (which are also front loaded on the disc), an introduction from the director of the American version John Lasseter (whom you might remember as the director of the Toy Story films) which is also front loaded in front of the movie and isn't very interesting, borders on tedious.

Also included on the first disc is a behind the scenes feature with a few of the voice actors including James Van Der Beek, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman and Mandy "Inigo Montoya" Patinkin. I always find these features interesting because it's fun to watch them record their lines and see them trying to match up their lines to the mouth movements on the screen. As one can imagine, this isn't the easiest task in the world so you have to respect American actors who make attempt. The last extra to mention on the first disc would be the three original Japanese trailers for this movie.

Now we get to move onto the second disc. The second disc included in this set is actually a story board version of the movie. For those of you who are really into animation and art, this will be a great treat for you as all it is, is the English or Japanese soundtrack to the movie put up against story board drawings for the entire movie. I personally didn't find it that interesting (I love animation but not that much!) others may really like it so give it a chance. It may catch your attention more than you think.

Overall

Overall I loved this movie and have no problem recommending it to others. The only reason why I would hesitate on it though is the horrible job that Disney did with it. One of the questions that every anime fan asks themselves at one point or another is "could this movie have been done better by one of the smaller more experienced studios?" but sadly it is a question that will never be answered even though most anime fans will agree that the answer is yes.

Even still, this is a fabulous movie suitable for the whole family to enjoy together. It has a wonderful blend of action and comedy that will please everyone.

Related Reviews

Castle In The Sky
Spirited Away
Kiki's Delivery Service
Grave Of The Fireflies The Cat Returns
Nausicaa Of The Valley of The Wind

©L.B. Bryant 2004

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4