Fun fact: the title “Princess Mononoke” is actually taken from a storybook that Miyazaki made several years before this film. This movie was originally supposed to be an adaptation of that storybook (about a young girl who marries a monster) but the plot was quickly changed into a battle between humans and nature. The producer of the movie wanted to keep the title “Princess Mononoke” though, which is why the film has a kind of misleading name.
Yeah, I agree that Ashitaka comes across as a bit bland (although I think that this was mainly due to his role as somebody who was largely outside the conflict). In response to your comment about San, I think that Lady Eboshi is a pretty interesting character. I think that one of the things the movie does well is the moral ambiguity of the characters and their actions. But I can see where you’re coming from. Like I said, I found the movie pretty dull the first time I watched it.
Thanks for this trivia! Was the original storybook ever released? And I think I need to clarify my earlier comment: Just because I wasn’t captivated by the story or the characters doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the film as a whole. As I said, the animation blew me away from beginning to end and if I were hard-pressed to pick another character I enjoyed, Jigo would probably be it. Also, bear in mind that the last Ghibli movie I saw before Mononoke was Howl’s Moving Castle, which I loved almost everything about. So maybe based on my love of that film, I was expecting more than I should have from Mononoke.
Princess Mononoke is definitely one of my personal favorites; I was very fortunate to see it on the big screen with Neil Gaiman’s superb translated dub. The animation is breathtaking, but as an epic story it is one of the most deeply rich, complex, and ultimately winning tales ever depicted in Anime. The approach of having each of its characters as flawed individuals lends a very “adult” tone to the story, particularly in its depictions of the supposed “badguys” Lady Eboshi and Jigo actually being sympathetic, and the “heroic” San actually being a sometimes unlikeable character. While Ashi-taka may not have the depth of any one of those characters, I’d say that his character works well in its own right—he’s sort of like a male version of Nausicaa, which serves as an interesting contrast to the rest of his co-stars. I especially enjoyed Billy Crudup’s voice acting of the character; he really nails the character’s compassion and brave nature while maintaining a calm presence without sounding monotonous. He’s definitely one of the best voices in the dub. Actually, the whole cast in general as good (despite a few iffy moments from Claire Danes), and even though I’m probably in the minority, I actually liked Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo. I thought his accent added to the character and I still could feel the cynical nature in his character. I really can’t watch this movie in Japanese at all; nor any of the others, for that matter.
I think it’s best to look at this film as sort of a darker, more mature version of Nausicaa, particularly in its intentionally ambiguous ending; Miyazaki apparently made the film out of dissastisfaction for the way the film of Nausicaa concluded. It’s one of his best IMO. I personally prefer it to Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, both of which, by no means bad, aren’t among my top ten.
Yeah, I love HMC! It’s the best of Miyazaki’s films I’ve seen so far. Add one cup of darkness, three hats, a sprinkle of romance,five gallons the power of flight and three spoonfuls of magic–Howls’ Moving Castle!
I’m iffy about Howl’s Moving Castle; visually it’s very solid and the characters are well defined, but I personally found the story to be somewhat lacking; I was particularly disappointed in the ending, it was too rushed, too anticlimactic. I was expecting another action-packed climax via Mononoke and Laputa or Kiki. Still was a pretty good film, but it’s not Miyazaki’s best. Billy Crystal’s funny as Calcifer, though.
Oh cool, I haven’t seen that one yet. I haven’t seen Pom Poko properly yet either, even though I have it on DVD. I was watching it and got a bit worried that a member of my family would walk in and get the wrong idea
Totoro and Pony are the first Miyazaki movies I ever watched, so they’re very special to me. I have the tendency to shriek ‘HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!’ whenever we have breakfast.
That reminds me of the time I went to see Ponyo at the cinema. When the Studio Ghibli titlecard came up, a little boy in the audience shouted “TO-TO-RO!”
Just got done watching MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS and I would gladly recommend it to any Ghibli fan. It’s just light-hearted fun and is sure to put you in a good mood on an off-day. The only thing is it’s presented episodically, so if you have a problem with that, feel free to sit it out.
I actually expected to dislike this movie when the DVD was released ~6 years ago, but I quite enjoyed it. I agree that people should know what to expect before watching it: it’s made up of little comical vignettes and has a vastly different visual style from other Ghibli movies.
Sorry I couldn’t join in on the discussion early on, as I wasn’t looking at the forum. I always get excited to help out a new Ghibli watcher.
For anyone in the UK, Film4 is doing a Ghibli season that goes right up to christmas . All English subs rather than dubs aswell, and they’re showing Ponyo on christmas day
Wanted to bump this thread, now that THE SECRET WORLD OF ARIETTY has been released. Here’s a review of said film by JesuOtakuto get you all started (has some adult language, so be forewarned): thatguywiththeglasses.com/videol … ietty-vlog
Speaking of which, I can’t wait to do that again this year! 
