Castle in the Sky: Special Edition - 2
Disc DVD starring Anna Paquin,
James Van Der Beek, Cloris
Leachman, Mark Hamill
Floating In The Sky
Inspired by Gullivers Travels, the fantasy-adventure Castle in the Sky
(1986) was Hayao Miyazakis third feature, and helped to establish his
reputation as a visionary in both Japan and America. The orphan Sheeta
inherited a mysterious crystal that links her to the legendary sky-kingdom
of Laputa. With the help of resourceful Pazu and a rollicking band of sky
pirates, she makes her way to the ruins of the once-great civilization.
Sheeta and Pazu must outwit the evil Muska, who plans to use L aputas
science to make himself ruler of the world. Castle echoes elements in
Myazakis earlier Nausicaä, and anticipates imagery in his later films, from
My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away. Disneys new English dub, which
features Anna Paquin (Sheeta), James Van Der Beek (Pazu), and Cloris
Leachman (pirate matriarch Dola), is lively and close in tone to the original
Japanese, if a bit talkier. The exciting flying sequences, appealing
characters, and fantastic vision of a steam-powered future Jules Verne
might have imagined make Castle in the Sky a must-have for fans of
Japanese and Western animation. (Unrated: suitable for ages 10 and
older: violence) --Charles Solomon
Retitled from its original Japanese name of LAPUTA (for being an
offensive phrase, something which director Hayao Miyazaki was oblivious
to at the time), CASTLE IN THE SKY is the master animator's third film,
and it's one of his most beloved of all time. I nitially a box office
disappointment in its 1986 release, it has since been embraced by critics
and audiences around the world. Inspired by Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's
Travels", CASTLE IN THE SKY is a steampunk-themed action adventure
tale about two young orphans -- young miner Pazu, and mysterious girl
Sheeta (who wears a magic crystal around her neck) -- who team up to
find the long-lost island of Laputa, which is rumored to have great riches
and gems. They are aided by a band of bumbling yet sympathetic air
pirates led by the feisty Dola (who at first chase them, yet turn out to be
true allies) and pursued by the government headed by its villainous
topmost-secret agent, Muska, who wants the power of Laputa for his own
benefit.
For anyone looking for an exciting way to spend two hours, this film is an
excellent choice, featuring just the right amount of humor, exploration,
wonder, and mystery to keep one interested. The artwork, although not as
spectacular as in some of Miyazaki's later movies, is fantastic and
gorgeous enough to watch with imaginative characters and locations,
incredibly exciting action scenes, and breathtaking flight sequences that
will make one feel giddy. And while the characters that populate this tale
are less complex than Miyazaki's other works, each has a memorable,
endearing personality that stays with the viewer long after the film is over.
Dola, in particular, makes for a terrific comic character, shouting orders to
her dimwitted sons one moment and being protective of Sheeta the next.
Muska is one of the few Miyazaki creations to ever come across as an
irredeemable villain, but like Dola, he commands every scene he's in with a
sinister charisma that is both alluring and chilly.
Anime fans have often compared this movie to Gainax's sci-fi adventure
series NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER. After all, both works
share similar story and character elements... not to mention that they were
both created by Miyazaki himself. Where both differ is in their execution.
NADIA, although charming for the most part, suffered from taking a wrong
turn at its midway point, devolving into cartoonish nonsense which all but
distracted from the main plot, even though it did have a strong ending.
CASTLE IN THE SKY, on the other hand, remains consistently
entertaining and focused for its two hour running time, and is all the better
for it. While the film's epic tone is sometimes broken up by some
"cartoonish" moments, like a brawl between Pazu's boss and one of Dola's
sons, it's never to the point that it detracts from the film.
About eleven years ago, Disney released an English version featuring a
cast of big-names such as James van der Beek, Anna Paquin, Cloris
Leachman, Mark Hamill, Mandy Patinkin as well as some cameo
appearances by veterans such as Tress MacNeille and Jim Cummings. It
also features an ambitious reworking of Joe Hisaishi's gorgeous musical
score for a performance by the Seattle Music Orchestra (interestingly, the
man behind this rescore is none other than the composer himself). As
much as purists have cried blasphemy over this version for its occasional
extra dialogue and the aforementioned rescore, Miyazaki had no such
problems; in fact, he is said to have applauded the reworking, and for good
reason, because the newly rerecorded music is truly the star of the new
dub. While there are some instances where filling in some critially silent
scenes from the original Japanese is a bit jarring (notably the journey
through a dragon-infested storm cloud), the overall reworking is fantastic
and in many ways improves on the original, particularly in scenes such as
when a robot attacks a fortress and the climactic moments toward the end.
Here, Hisaishi displays his musical versatility and genius for matching
music to visuals.
As far as the perfor mances in the dub go, the leads are probably at the
short end of the stick; James Van Der Beek's Pazu sounds significantly
more mature than his character, while Anna Paquin's Sheeta speaks with
an odd accent that fluctuates at times (a problem which actually works in
favor of the character). That said, both do good jobs overall and provide a
fairly believable chemistry throughout. It's the lively supporting cast,
however, that really make this dub so much fun, particularly Cloris
Leachman's Dola and Mark Hamill's Muska. Both are perfectly cast and
steal every scene they're in; as with the rescore, these two really warrant a
listen to the Disney dub. The script adaptation borders on the loose side at
times--there's quite a bit of extra lines and/or commentary (some of which
are pricelessly funny and others somewhat overdone)--but aside from at
least one debatable alteration (Sheeta's speech in the climactic showdown
"the world cannot live without love" as opposed to the original "you can't
survive apart from Mother Earth"), the overall characters, story, and spirit
remain fairly faithful to the original. On the whole, there is little point
comparing the Disney version to the original language track; each puts
their own stamp on this legendary masterpiece, and I like them both.
(They're also better than Streamline/JAL's more literal but frightfully
robotic, lifeless, abysmally acted and poorly written older dub from the late
1980's.)
In 2003, Disney brought this film to DVD (after a long-delayed release from
its initial 1999 date) with the dub as well as the Japanese language track,
complete with a widescreen anamorphic transfer and a surprisingly scanty
amount of extras. However, this upcoming re-release promises correct
that latter flaw by providing more extras, although it remains to be seen if
the literal subtitles will be better synched for purists.
Either way, you can't go wrong with CASTLE IN THE SKY. It's one of
Miyazaki's greatest, and I highly recommend it.
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