Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa (Castle in the Sky)

In a world filled with planes and airships, Sheeta is a young girl who has been kidnapped by government agents who seek her mysterious crystal amulet. While trapped aboard an airship, she finds herself without hope—that is, until the ship is raided by pirates. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, Sheeta manages to flee from her captors. Upon her escape, she meets Pazu, a boy who dreams of reaching the fabled flying castle, Laputa. The two decide to embark on a journey together to discover this castle in the sky. However, they soon find the government agents back on their trail, as they too are trying to reach Laputa for their own greedy purposes.

Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa follows the soaring adventures of Sheeta and Pazu, all while they learn how dreams and dire circumstances can bring two people closer together.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa was the first film to be produced and released by Studio Ghibli. It won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1986.

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Adaptation:

Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa

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Characters & Voice Actors

Pazu

Main

Tanaka, Mayumi
Japanese

Sheeta

Main

Yokozawa, Keiko
Japanese

Dola

Supporting

Hatsui, Kotoe
Japanese

Muska

Supporting

Terada, Minori
Japanese

Uncle Pom

Supporting

Tokita, Fujio
Japanese

Shalulu

Supporting

Kamiyama, Takuzou
Japanese

Lui

Supporting

Yasuhara, Yoshito
Japanese

Shogun Mouro

Supporting

Nagai, Ichiro
Japanese

Duffi

Supporting

Ito, Hiroshi
Japanese

Anli

Supporting

Kameyama, Sukekiyo
Japanese

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Staff

Takahata, Isao

Producer

Miyazaki, Hayao

Director, Theme Song Lyrics, Screenplay, Character Design

Shiba, Shigeharu

Sound Director

Hisaishi, Joe

Music

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Opening Theme

"Sora kara Futtekita Shoujo (空から降ってきた少女; The Girl Who Fell from the Sky)" by Joe Hisaishi

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Ending Theme

"Kimi wo Nosete (君をのせて; Carrying You)" by Azumi Inoue

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Reviews

Jan 18, 2008

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

JTurner (All reviews)

183 people found this review helpful

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. Initially 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.

While purists will probably prefer to listen to the original Japanese version, I am of the opinion that there's nothing bad about watching Miyazaki's movies in English, and this is no exception. That said, there are two different dubs of this film. The first one, dubbed by an unknown company but released by Streamline several years ago, was a hastily produced, badly acted, poorly written trainwreck briefly released in 1989 but quickly disappeared afterwards. The current version, produced by Disney in 1998, features an all-star voice cast and, interestingly, a rerecorded score by the film's original composer, Joe Hisaishi with the Seattle Music Orchestra. There has been a lot of heated debates arguing over which is the better version. Personally, even after seeing the Japanese version once and having distanced myself from it enough to appreciate it on its own terms, I'm ready to offer up the following: Disney's Castle in the Sky, despite its faults, is an entertaining listen in its own right.

The leads aren't the strongest voices in the dub; 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 the cantankerous sky pirate captain and treacherous agent, respectively. If there's any reason to see this dub, it's for these two. Another reason to check out the dub is for the aforementioned rescore by Joe Hisaishi. There are some instances where filling in some critically silent scenes from the original Japanese is a bit distracting (notably the journey through the dragon-infested storm cloud), but the overall reworking is fantastic and in many ways improves on the original, particularly the scene where a robot attacks the army's fortress and the climactic moments toward the end. Here, Hisaishi displays his musical versatility and genius for matching music to visuals. (The original Japanese track is on the DVD, complete with its original, unaltered score.) 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.

Either way, though, you can't go wrong with Castle in the Sky. It's one of Miyazaki's all-time greatest, and I highly recommend it.

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Sep 25, 2014

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Ilse (All reviews)

156 people found this review helpful

I know this movie is almost 30 years old, but I recently re-watched it and I cried reminiscing about my childhood and thought I should write my first review on it. Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa aka Castle in the Sky is tied as my favorite Miyazaki movie alongside Princess Mononoke; my 2 favorite movies as a child.

The story of Castle in the Sky is about, you guessed it; a castle in the sky. There's a legend about a floating island castle, called "Laputa" that contains all the riches a person can ever dream of having. The main male character, Panzo believes that the castle exists, and dreams of one day following his deceased father's footsteps, and finding the castle for himself. The only problem is, he doesn't know where the castle is. Then there's the main female character, Sheeta whom Panzo finds falling/floating down from the sky with a shining sky blue necklace that has some sort of relationship to Laputa's location. Panzo and Sheeta begin a friendship, perhaps love relationship and they decide to go on a journey to find Laputa together. But they run into trouble with, and clowny pirates, the greedy army along with some mysterious men led by an even more mysterious man named, Muska.

Really the art and music is stunning. The theme song of Castle in the Sky: Laputa may actually be my favorite piece of music ever! Seriously, please listen to that song! It makes me tear up every time I hear it! Furthermore the voicing of each character was perfectly matched, nothing unusual that pops out. The portrayal of Laputa, the castle in the sky, was absolutely beautiful! I actually teared up thinking about how I'd never be able to see the castle in real life. The connection and peace between the the robotic beings, and nature (trees, wild animals, plants) on the Island was absolutely beautifully portrayed. None of the characters were drawn like weirdly; every character's looks were unique and memorable. And normally I hate robots, but I felt this weird connection and pity for the dying breed of robots on Laputa. I loved all the characters, except Muska (who is the villain, so my hatred for him is a good thing). The stupid army was really funny, as were the pirates. Panzo and Sheeta are your average Miyazaki main characters, absolutely tragic and lovable!

I think this is the best animated story in the world.. Honestly there's nothing to dislike about this anime and so much to love. It's truly a heart-pounding adventure story about friendship, loyalty, greed, and people's connection to nature. The anime starts off innocently and happily, but it quickly becomes darker as the evil ambitions of the antagonists make themselves known. The characters, good and evil, are all fully developed and interesting to watch. I remember watching this over and over as a little baby, and I still have a vcr tape of Castle in the Sky ^o^. If you haven't seen this movie yet, then I think no matter what age you are, you should watch it at least a couple times in your life. Thanks for reading my first review!

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Sep 1, 2008

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Qin (All reviews)

126 people found this review helpful

Castle in the sky is the third film made by Hayao Miyazaki, who I've come to believe is one of the most masterful storytellers. The story is based on the Laputa of Gulliver's Travels, a floating city of scientists and ideologist, which is a legend, a dream of explorers. The young miner Pazu in the story has a goal, which is to find Laputa just as his father did before. And one day, a girl Sheeta who is wearing a magical necklace drifting down from the sky into Pazu's arms, their adventure begins.

The movie has a touch of magic and science fiction. Much of the film takes place in the air. Miyazaki does have a brilliant means to deal with the scenes in the sky. The huge military dirigible floating in the sky, air pirates fly in unwieldy flying machine, Pazu and Sheeta travels in tractive kite filling the scenes with action, adventure, battles and wonder.

Some political statement is implied in Miyazaki's animation with a fantasy, giving deeper meaning to his story. In Castle in the sky, environmentalism has been the central to the film. The landscape is overexploited. The towns and valleys look dirty and in great need of heal while the floating island Laputa is so beautiful and peaceful. There is an underlining message about the environment as well as the need for balance with the earth. But that seldom appears in the ordinary old stories that make it a delight to watch.

The music of the film is fascinating.Composer Hisaishi made the music contain a little sense of melancholy in a nursery rhyme flavor. The melody is clean and pure just like the laputa in the magical story, so mysterious and untouchable. Hisaishi and Miyazaki reached the best connection in the music creation. The commemoration of the past and the call for the love is perfectly delivered by the simple notes.

The opening theme music and its chorus version The Girl Who Fell from the Sky will surprise you with its great penetration. The amazing charm, which Hisaishi’s music bring even overflow the Miyazaki’s animation and create a unprecedented imaginary world for the audience. The symphony version of the theme music, comparatively speaking, is more like a great piece of fantasy anthology. The violin entered with a slow and melancholy tone then turned sweet and joyful. Followed by the piano, the music immediately sublimates a surge of power, which simply shakes the soul. The rhythm repeats and becomes more and more powerful. It is so well-timed that the music could easily enhance the atmosphere of the whole movie and arouse the resonance between the audience and the story.

Anyway it's worthy to spend 2 hours to watch this film. It will be a fantastic experience and hope you really enjoy it. ^^

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Sep 9, 2019

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 3

Optigisa (All reviews)

84 people found this review helpful

Studio Ghibli is the most illustrious Anime film studio ever conceived, and might as well be one of the best movie studios of all time, even outside the realm of Anime. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata have both produced some of the most imaginative works ever put to the animation medium, and their genius efforts show in most of their creations. Add in to the fact that Joe Hisaishi is one of the best soundtrack composers in all of Anime, and you’ve got yourself a trio that has produced works that were nearly perfect in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, a group of professionals and talents can’t always emulate perfection in every work they create, as consistent quality is something that is impossible to achieve, especially with the quantity of movies that Ghibli has put out throughout the years, and every person or studio will have their ups and downs every now and then. In Ghibli’s case, it's futile failure had to be a movie known as Castle in the Sky.

Considering that this movie has one of the highest review mean scores ever, it seems hard for someone to dislike it. Unfortunately, this movie never managed to be appealing nor striking nor cathartic in any way, shape or form, as this one is the most laborious and unimaginative movie Ghibli have ever produced, even with the fantasy elements sprinkled all over it. Saying that this movie should not be given such harsh criticism considering the old age of it is fair, but people tend to forget that Ghibli had made a movie two years prior to Laputa, which has aged extremely well, and that movie is called “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”. It’s really not about the age of the work at the end of the day, since a really old work can stand firmly against the test of time when given well executed directing and a well thought out script and characters. This wasn’t the case with Laputa though, as it’s plot feels trite now after it’s release, and so do it’s characters, due to several factors that is. Perhaps not having a manga to adapt to movie form, and it being the studio’s first film with no source material to work with, turned it into such a nauseating catastrophe.

The plot tries to implement a sense of mystery with a missing father that the two main characters have to find, but unlike My Neighbor Totoro, the mystery is not intriguing nor does it work in any way. Isao Takahata was needed in order for the mystery to work, but he wasn’t there to save this film, and an amateur Hayao Miyazaki wasn’t enough to save it on his own as well. The plot is also unoriginal, compared to some of the better Ghibli movies out there, which have the same exact premise but are filled to the brim with better execution and directing. The characters are all one dimensional archetypes, be it the cartoony villains who switch from being evil to the side of good very easily, or the main heroine who resembles every other Ghibli heroine, only much less developed this time around. All of this wouldn’t be so bad if the movie was made by a third rate studio, but unfortunately, Studio Ghibli made this movie. Studio Ghibli, one of the best studios when it comes to creating memorable, well written characters in the short span of one to two hours only, made such vacuous and poorly thought through, simplistic characters with this movie.

Perhaps it was trying to be simplistic, but with that, it deemed itself unwatchable for an older audience, and mostly became a movie for kids. It doesn’t tackle the same mature themes that others within the same studio tackle, and it lacks the directing genius that Miyazaki would later go on to showcase in his later works. As far as themes go, there is no theme exploration here, especially the environmentalism theme which Miyazaki likes to preach about in most of his other works. If there was theme exploration, then it was handled and conveyed in a much better fashion in most of his other works. The comedy displayed here is lackluster as well, and the emotional catharsis is nowhere to be found. Nothing, I felt nothing while watching this movie. It lacks the depth of Princess Mononoke, it lacks the imagination of Spirited Away, it lacks the emotional catharsis of Kiki’s Delivery Service, and it falls short in most regards, especially when it comes to creating emotion and resonating with people.

The animation has not aged well at all, and it shows throughout most of the movie. At least Nausicaa had some memorable art and colossal amounts of imagination poured into it, something that made it age all the more better, even when it’s animation was flappy at times. What also made Nausicaa age very well, is how extravagantly Joe Hisaishi’s tracks flowed with the movie’s memorable moments and gave them a certain feel that is hard to find anywhere else. Laputa felt much worse than Nausicaa when it came to the animation aspect, add in to the fact that the atmosphere was not intriguing, and the artwork was not memorable, and you’ve got yourself a work that is inferior to it’s predecessor in almost every aspect. Laputa fails in the animation and visuals department, and even when it comes to the directing and memorable scenes, it fails as well.

Moving on to the final aspect of the film, which is the soundtrack - it was neither striking nor memorable, nor could one say it was good, even as a standalone soundtrack and without having to compare it to Hisaishi's other works. This is rather surprising considering that this is a movie which composer Joe Hisaishi worked on. No track stood out, unlike some of the top Ghibli movies out there, and neither were the tracks immersive or good.

Other contentions a viewer would have with this film is that it is excruciatingly slow, as scenes take forever to translate. This movie is also too long for it's own good, spanning a length of two hefty hours. Any movie which fails in the audiovisuals department, in the script department, and in the characters department, must at least redeem itself by not having the viewer tortured for hours on end. A perfect length for a movie is to span between an hour and an hour and thirty minutes, which are more than enough to tell an entire narrative. Two hours is very long for a movie, even the Studio Ghibli ones, especially when the movie has nothing of value or substance to convey.

Aside from all of this, what is truly astounding about Laputa, is the fact that this movie might as well have one of the highest review mean scores an Anime could have, as there has yet to be a negative review for it. It being higher than movies such as Kiki’s Delivery Service and Only Yesterday in general mean scores adds more insult to injury, especially due to the fact that those movies surpass this one in almost everything - from sheer imagination, to directing, to the raw emotion poured into them, etc.

All in all, there really isn’t much else to say about this movie. It is not memorable in the slightest, bordering on nauseating boredom. The animation has not aged well at all, and the soundtrack is neither striking nor helps in making the scenes better. It’s technicalities would have been forgiven if it had a good story or characters, but alas, it is boring and trite, especially for those who have seen many other Ghibli movies, which have taken the same exact premise and executed it in a much better fashion. Laputa is Ghibli’s first feature film, and the studio would go on to write and produce some of the best and most memorable Anime movies ever made, leaving this one in the dust, right where it belongs.

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Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Cele - Dec 3, 2009	108 replies	by Crack »» Mar 13, 11:36 PM
What's the Philosophical Significance of Certain Motifs in Castle in the Sky? Hethalos - Jun 9, 2013	7 replies	by Prince_Utena »» Mar 27, 2020 2:16 AM
Dub Discussion JTurner - Feb 21, 2008	16 replies	by Optigisa »» May 21, 2019 4:08 PM
Anna Paquin as Sheeta Duckielover151 - Jan 13, 2019	5 replies	by JTurner »» Feb 5, 2019 11:48 PM
Is this movie a ripoff?? tobanga - Dec 23, 2015	2 replies	by Ichilicious »» Dec 7, 2016 10:41 AM

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Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa

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