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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Japanese promotional poster
Directed byHayao Miyazaki
Written byHayao Miyazaki
Produced byIsao Takahata
StarringSumi Shimamoto
Goro Naya
Yoji Matsuda
Yoshiko Sakakibara
Iemasa Kayumi
CinematographyKoji Shiragami
Edited byTomoko Kida
Music byJoe Hisaishi
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • March 4, 1984 (1984-03-04)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Kaze no Tani no Naushika) is a 1984 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his manga of the same name. The film stars the voices of Sumi Shimamoto, Goro Naya, Yoji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara and Iemasa Kayumi.[1]

The film tells the story of Nausicaä, a young princess of the Valley of the Wind who gets involved in a struggle with Tolmekia, a kingdom that tries to use an ancient weapon to eradicate a jungle of mutant giant insects. Nausicaä must stop the Tolmekians from enraging these creatures.

The film was released in Japan on March 4, 1984 and was presented by the World Wide Fund for Nature. While created before Studio Ghibli was founded, the film is considered to be the beginning of the studio and is often included as part of the Studio's works, including the Studio Ghibli Collection DVDs.[2] Among its numerous awards, it won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1984.

Plot

One thousand years has passed since the Seven Days of Fire, an apocalyptic war that destroyed human civilization and gave birth to the vast Toxic Jungle,[Note 1] a forest swarming with giant mutant insects in which everything is lethal to humans. Scattered settlements exist wherever the Toxic Jungle relents. The Valley of the Wind is one such settlement. The Valley's settlers have a prophecy stating that a man "clad in blue and surrounded by fields of gold" will one day reunite man and nature.

Nausicaä, the agile, cheerful and peace-loving princess of the Valley of the Wind, has managed to befriend the Toxic Jungle. She explores the Jungle and communicates with its creatures, including the gigantic, armored caterpillars/trilobites called Ohmu.[Note 2] She often travels on a compact jet-powered glider in order to find out about the origins of the Toxic Jungle, understand its nature, and even find a cure for both humans and the world.

One night, a large fixed-wing cargo aircraft from the kingdom of Tolmekia crashes in the Valley. Nausicaä tries to rescue an onboard passenger, the wounded Princess Lastelle of Pejite, who pleads with Nausicaä to destroy the cargo before dying. The cargo is an embryo of a Giant Warrior, lethal genetically engineered bioweapons that caused the Seven Days of Fire. Initially discovered by Pejite, the invading Tolmekians seized the embryo and Lastelle. The Tolmekian plane, however, was attacked by mutant insects before it crashed.

The next morning, Tolmekian troops, led by Princess Kushana and Officer Kurotowa, subjugate the Valley and secure the Giant Warrior embryo, killing Nausicaä's sick father in the process. Kushana plans to mature the Giant Warrior and then use it to burn the Toxic Jungle, even though history warns of fatal consequences. Kushana announces her decision to leave for Pejite along with four hostages, including Nausicaä. Before leaving, Nausicaä's master discovers her secret garden of jungle plants. According to Nausicaä, plants that grow in clean soil and water are not toxic. The jungle's soil, however, has long been tainted by man.

Kushana and her detachment never reach their destination, as an agile Pejite interceptor decimates the entire Tolmekian wing before being shot down. Nausicaä, her fellow hostages and Kushana crash-land in the jungle, disturbing several Ohmus, which Nausicaä soothes. She then leaves to rescue Asbel, the Pejite pilot and the twin brother of Lastelle, but both are swallowed by quicksand and end up in a non-toxic world below the jungle. Nausicaä realizes that the jungle plants purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water that remains hidden underground.

Nausicaä and Asbel return to Pejite, only to find it ravaged by the insects. Pejite survivors, boarding a single plane, reveal that they lured the creatures to eradicate the Tolmekians and would do the same in the Valley to recapture the Giant Warrior. To prevent any intervention, they take Nausicaä captive, knocking Asbel out in process. Later, with the help of Asbel and his mother, Nausicaä flees on a glider. While flying home, Nausicaä finds a team of Pejites using a wounded baby Ohmu to lead scores of enraged Ohmus into the Valley. Tolmekians deploy tanks and later the Giant Warrior against the herd to no avail: tanks prove too weak and the Giant Warrior, hatched ahead of time, soon disintegrates.

Nausicaä liberates the baby Ohmu and gains its trust; in the process, her pink dress becomes stained by the Ohmu's blue blood, turning completely blue. Both land in front of the herd, but are run over. The herd, however, calms down, and the Ohmus use their golden tentacles to heal Nausicaä's wounded body. Nausicaä awakens and starts to dance on top of the hundreds of glowing golden tentacles. Thus Nausicaä, "clad in blue and surrounded by fields of gold" fulfills the prophecy. The Ohmus and Tolmekians leave the Valley afterward, while the surviving Pejites remain with the Valley people, helping them rebuild.

Voice cast

Characters Japanese Version American Version Role
Nausicaä Sumi Shimamoto Alison Lohman Main protagonist
Asbel Yōji Matsuda Shia LaBeouf
Kushana Yoshiko Sakakibara Uma Thurman Main antagonist
Master Yupa Goro Naya Patrick Stewart
Obaba Hisako Kyōda Tress MacNeille
Kurotowa Iemasa Kayumi Chris Sarandon
King Jihl Mahito Tsujimura Mark Silverman
Mito Ichirō Nagai Edward James Olmos
Gol Kōhei Miyauchi Frank Welker
Gikuri Jōji Yanami Jeff Bennett
Lastelle Miina Tominaga Emily Bauer
Mayor of Pejite Mugihito (voiced as Makoto Terada) Mark Hamill
Lastelle's Mother Akiko Tsuboi Jodi Benson
Narrator Tony Jay

Production

When Tokuma Shoten approached Miyazaki to have the manga turned into a film, he initially refused but then agreed on the condition that he could direct.[3] Nausicaä was produced with animators hired for the one film and paid per frame.[4] One notable animator was Hideaki Anno, who later directed Neon Genesis Evangelion. Anno was assigned to draw the challenging God Warrior's attack sequence, which according to Toshio Suzuki is a "high point in the film".[4]

Releases

The film was released by Toei Company on March 4, 1984, and sold almost a million tickets.[4]

Warriors of the Wind

File:Wotwuscover.jpg
Boxart of the Warriors of the Wind dub.

In the 1980s, New World Pictures produced an English-dubbed version of the film, titled Warriors of the Wind, and it was released theatrically in North America, shown on HBO and released on VHS. The voice actors and actresses were not informed of the film's plotline and the film was heavily edited to make it a children-oriented film.[5] Consequently, part of the film's narrative meaning was lost; some of the environmentalist themes were diluted as was the main subplot of the Ohmu, altered to turn them into aggressive enemies. Most of the characters were renamed (for example, Nausicaä became "Princess Zandra"). The cover for the VHS release featured a cadre of male characters who are not in the film, riding the resurrected God Warrior—including a still-living Warrior shown briefly in a flashback. It was released around the world under various titles, such as Sternenkrieger (literally "Star Warriors") in Germany. An uncredited Susan Davis provided the voice of the title role, and Asbel, dubbed "Prince Milo" in this version, was voiced by Cam Clarke.

Dissatisfied with Warriors of the Wind, Miyazaki suggested that people should put it "out of their minds."[5] Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki have asked fans to forget its existence and later adopted a strict "no-edits" clause for future foreign releases of its films. On hearing Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein would try to cut Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable, one of Studio Ghibli's producers sent an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts".[6]

2005 English re-release

An uncut and re-dubbed version of Nausicaä was released on DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on February 22, 2005 for Region 1. This DVD also includes the Japanese audio track with English subtitles. Optimum Home Entertainment released the film in Region 2, and the Region 4 DVD is distributed by Madman Entertainment. A remastered Blu-ray sourced from a 6K filmscan was released on July 14, 2010 in Japan. It includes an uncompressed Japanese LPCM stereo track, an English dub and English subtitles. On October 18, 2010 a Blu-ray version was released in Region 2 by Optimum Home Entertainment.[7] The film was released on Blu-ray in the United States[8] and Canada[9] on March 8, 2011 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

Gliders

Various gliders are seen in the film, and the protagonist, Nausicaä, uses a jet-assisted one-person glider-shaped machine with folding wings. According to the accompanying film book released in Japan, the glider is called Möwe (メーヴェ, Mēve, or "mehve" in the English manga), the German word meaning seagull.[10] An official scale model lists it as having an approximate wingspan of 5.8 meters (1/20 model measured to be 29 cm), while the design notes indicate it has a mass of only 12 kg.[10][11] In 2004, the Japanese-led OpenSky Aircraft Project began attempts to build a real-life, working personal jet glider based on the glider from the film. Two full-size gliders with no power source carrying the code name M01 and M02, with a half-sized jet-powered remote controlled mock up called moewe 1/2 was built.[12][13] The designer and tester of the project refused the official endorsement of the project by Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, noting that he did not want to cause trouble for them if an accident occurred.[14]

Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Joe Hisaishi, while the vocal theme song "Kaze no Tani no Naushika" was produced by Haruomi Hosono (Yellow Magic Orchestra and Happy End member) and sung by Narumi Yasuda.[15] Numerous soundtracks and albums relating to the film have been released.[16]

  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Image Album <Bird Person> (風の谷のナウシカ イメージアルバム 鳥の人) released November 25, 1983
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Symphony <The Legend of Wind> (風の谷のナウシカ シンフォニー 風の伝説) released February 25, 1984
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Soundtrack <Toward the Far Away Land> (風の谷のナウシカ サウンドトラック はるかな地へ) released March 25, 1984
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Drama Version <God of Wind> (風の谷のナウシカ・ドラマ編) released April 25, 1984
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Best Collection (風の谷のナウシカ BEST) released November 25, 1986
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Hi-tech Series (風の谷のナウシカ・ハイテックシリーズ) released October 25, 1989
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Piano Solo Album <For the Easy Use with Beyer> released March 15, 1992

Other media

Manga

Main article: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)

Miyazaki's manga version of Nausicaä was written over a period of 12 years, with breaks taken to work on Studio Ghibli films. Serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine, the first chapter was published in February 1982, and the last chapter in March 1994. As can be expected, the story of the manga is far more complex than that of the film. The tale depicted in the film roughly corresponds to only the first quarter of the manga (which is all that had been written at the time the film was produced), with significant differences in plot.

In addition to the plot, there are other significant differences in the manga—the characters are more developed, and the environmentalist tone is more sophisticated, echoed in the complex worldview of Princess Mononoke. Nausicaä herself is portrayed as being much more potent, with abilities that are not always explained.

The Nausicaä manga is published in English by VIZ Media. Earlier editions of the English manga and fan translations often used the title Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, omitting the definite article.

Video games

At least two video games were released based on the manga and the film. They were both developed by Technopolis Soft and published by Technopolis Soft and Tokuma Shoten.[17][18]

  • Nausicaä in the Nick of Time (Naushika Kiki Ippatsu or Nausicaä Kiki Ippatsu) is a Japanese shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Technopolis Soft for the NEC PC-6001 computer system in 1984.[19][20]
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is an adventure game developed by Technopolis Soft and published with NEC PC-8801 game, was an adventure game titled was also released in the 1980s.[21]

This was the last video game to be based on a Hayao Miyazaki product. It has been said that Hayao Miyazaki was displeased at the formula for the game (a shoot 'em up) and considered it against the peaceful messages of the source material. [clarification needed]

The game Crystalis, known in Japan as God Slayer: Haruka Tenkū no Sonata (ゴッド・スレイヤー はるか天空のソナタ), was influenced by the film and shares common elements; for example, an area known as "The Poison Swamp" requires the use of a gas mask to navigate, and players encounter a huge insect that resembles an Ohmu.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Rotten Tomatoes(82%)[22]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmovie[23]
IMDb(8.1/10)[24]
Total Film[25]
Film4[26]

The film grossed 740 million yen.[27] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind received generally positive reviews from film critics. As of January 2012, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 80% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 7.9/10.[28]

It made number 37 on Total Film's top 50 animated films list.[29]

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has cited the manga and film as an influence on his series.[30]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Toxic Jungle: Sea of Decay in subtitles and the manga translation
  2. ^ Ohmu: /oʊm/

References

  1. ^ "Kaze No Tani No Naushika". www.bcdb.com, May 13, 2012
  2. ^ "Ghibli 101 FAQ // Studio Ghibli //". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  3. ^ "Anime and Academia: Interview with Marc Hairston on pedagogy and Nausicaa". Utdallas.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  4. ^ a b c Studio Ghibli, The Birth of Studio Ghibli video, c. 2003 (included on UK Nausicaä DVD)
  5. ^ a b "FAQ". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  6. ^ Brooks, Xan (2005-09-14). "A god among animators". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-05-23. There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: 'No cuts.' / The director chortles. 'Actually, my producer did that.'
  7. ^ "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Blu-ray)". Optimum Releasing. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  8. ^ "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo): Uma Thurman, Patrick Stewart, Shia LeBeouf, Hayao Miyazaki: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  9. ^ "Nausicaa of the Valley 2-Disc BD Combo Pack BD+DVD Blu-ray: Amazon.ca: Hayao Miyazaki: DVD". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  10. ^ a b Official film book, ロマンアルバム 「風の谷のナウシカ」
  11. ^ Möwe with Nausicaä 1/20 scale model, Studio Ghibli Plamodel Collection, Bandai, 2004, Modeler: 2 horsepower(二馬力, Copyright: Studio Ghibli)
  12. ^ "Opensky Project". Petworks.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  13. ^ "Jet engine remote controlled moewe 1/2". Kabosu100.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  14. ^ 「万一の時にジブリや宮崎駿氏に迷惑をかけたくない」, Opensky Project
  15. ^ "Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind): Credits, Figures & Other Information". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
  16. ^ Nausicaä.net. Kaze no Tani no Naushika
  17. ^ "Multimedia Goods List //". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  18. ^ "Multimedia Goods List //". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  19. ^ "Anime Video Games Reviews: Nausicaa Tecnopolis Soft MSX". Anime-games.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  20. ^ "Nausicaa (1984, Technopolis Soft)". Generation-msx.nl. 2006-12-26. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  21. ^ Lawrence Lin. "MML Traffic #32 - week 1 - January". Noderunner.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  22. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nausicaa_of_the_valley_of_the_wind/
  23. ^ http://www.allmovie.com/movie/nausica%C3%A4-of-the-valley-of-the-wind-v53484/
  24. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087544/
  25. ^ 5 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n eco-fantasy packed with visual imagination and surreal wonder."-- Simon Kinnear, Total Film
  26. ^ http://www.film4.com/reviews/1984/nausicaa-of-the-valley-of-the-wind
  27. ^ Andrew Osmond (Spring 1998). "NAUSICAA AND THE FANTASY OF HAYAO MIYAZAKI". SF journal Foundation (72): 57–81. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  28. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  29. ^ Kinnear, Simon (10 October 2011). "37. Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984)". 50 Greatest Animated Movies. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  30. ^ Rogers, Tim (March 27, 2006). "In Defense of Final Fantasy XII". Edge. "Okay, so the Chocobos -- big, yellow riding birds -- were actually stolen from Hayao Miyazaki's movie 'Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind', and Hironobu Sakaguchi freely admitted that way back when."

Further reading

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