Laputa – Castle in the Sky Blu-ray Review

• 9th May 2011

Laputa – Castle in the Sky was the first film to be created by Japanese animation studio and production company, Studio Ghibli. The famous studio behind more recent successes Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and, my personal favourite, Howl’s Moving Castle released the original version of this film back in 1986 and it won the Anime Grand Prix 1st prize that year. It was written and directed by the prominent and influential film director Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli.

The film is set in a time when mining was commonplace and it has been well documented that Miyazaki was influenced by the visions of writers such as Jules Verne. As Patzu, the apprentice of an engineer, carries his superior’s dinner back to the mine, an unconscious, mysterious girl floats down from the sky into his arms. The girl, Sheeta, and her magical crystal pendant hold secrets not yet understood by the youngsters. In saving her life, Patzu becomes involved in a high flying adventure as the two of them flee from pirates, the army and government secret agents eventually discovering Sheeta’s true identity in a floating castle of a lost civilisation known as Laputa.

Visually, this film is stunning and Miyazaki certainly has no equal when it comes to hand drawn animation. It captivates and draws you into this magical world were crystals can make girls and islands float and huge flying machines are a part of everyday life. It’s a world you could only dream of but Hayao manages to bring it to life and make the absolutely surreal somehow feel completely commonplace.

Sadly though, since Disney got their hands on this film and redubbed and re-scored it some of the magic has been taken away. With big names like James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin and Mark Hamill now voicing the characters they manage to take something away from their nature. Van Der Beek is too old to play such a naive, enthusiastic young boy and Paquin sounds disinterested in the story the whole way through. It is such a shame because the original English dub is excellent. Not only does Disney’s choice of actor leave something to be desired but the unnecessary additional dialogue they have added doesn’t fit quite right with the animation making it difficult to watch in parts.

As a huge Ghibli fan I’m completely biased and think the studio and the films it produces are incredible and this is no different. As the original Japanese version (with English subtitles) or the first English dub this is a brilliant film and highly recommended viewing for the whole family.

Laura Johnson