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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)

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This article is about the film. For the manga it was based on, see Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga).
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
Topcraft
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • March 4, 1984 (1984-03-04)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film Japan
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. The film tells the story of Nausicaä, a young princess of the Valley of the Wind who gets involved into a struggle with Tolmekia, a kingdom who tries to use a warrior to fend off the Ohms. Nausicaä must stop the Tolmekians from killing these insects. 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.[1] Among its numerous awards, it won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1984.

Plot

One thousand years after the "Seven Days of Fire", an apocalyptic war which destroyed civilization and Earth's ecosystem, scattered settlements exist throughout the Toxic jungle (Sea of Decay in subtitles and the manga translation), a forest swarming with giant insects. Everything in the Toxic Jungle is lethal to humans.

Nausicaä, a princess of the Valley of the Wind is a skillful fighter, but also humane and peace-loving. She communicates with the giant insects (particularly the Ohmu, gigantic, armored, caterpillar insects who are the most intelligent in the Jungle.) Lord Yupa, a wise wandering warrior, is dedicated to finding the legendary "man in blue" who has the power to reunite people and nature. Nausicaä is inspired by Lord Yupa and she explores the Toxic Jungle to help her understand it. She travels long distances by "windriding": flying an advanced jet assisted glider.

A struggle among several kingdoms ensues when an airship crashes near the Valley. Nausicaä tries to rescue a wounded girl, who reveals herself as Princess Lastelle of Pejite. The airship, from the militaristic kingdom of Tolmekia, carries an embryo of a Giant Warrior, one of the lethal creatures used in ancient war. The dying Lastelle tells Nausicaä to destroy the embryo.

The Pejite discovered the embryo, but the more powerful Tolmekia stole it and took Lastelle as a hostage. The Tolmekians' airship was attacked by insects, causing them to crash. Tolmekians, under the leadership of princess Kushana, invade the Valley to secure the Warrior embryo. Kushana explains that the Giant Warrior will burn the Toxic Jungle, even though legends warn against this.

Kushana attempts to return to Pejite, along with Nausicaä and several new hostages. Before leaving, Nausicaä reveals to Yupa a hidden garden of jungle plants, which are not toxic because the plants grow in sand and water obtained from a deep, untainted well. Nausicaä explains that the jungle is toxic due to the fact that the soil has been tainted by man, even in the Valley. Since she has to depart, however, she shuts off the water which was keeping the plants alive.

Several Tolmekian airships are attacked and destroyed by a Pejite gunship. Nausicaä, Mito and Kushana escape to a surviving gunship. They crash land in the jungle and Nausicaä communicates with several Ohmus, thereby discovering the pilot of the downed Pejite gunship is still alive. With the help of her glider, Nausicaä rescues the pilot, Asbel of Pejite, the twin brother of Princess Lastelle. However, Nausicaä and Asbel are swallowed by quicksand and end up in a strange, non-toxic world below the jungle. Nausicaä realizes the jungle plants purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water, which remains hidden underground.

Nausicaä and Asbel return to Pejite, destroyed after insects are lured from the Sea of Decay to attack the occupying Tolmekians. The Pejite survivors, on a single airship, reveal that they will do the same thing in the Valley to recapture the Giant Warrior. The Pejite try to prevent Nausicaä from alerting the Tolmekians, but Asbel helps her flee. While flying home to the Valley, she encounters a herd of enraged Ohms following a baby Ohm being used by the Pejites to lure the herd to the Valley. Nausicaä releases the baby Ohm and gains its trust.

Meanwhile, the Tolmekians try to stop the herd with armored vehicles, but fail. Kushana arrives with the Giant Warrior to stop the Ohm, but the Warrior is unsuccessful. The Warrior dies during the fight because it was awakened too early from its larval stage.

Nausicaä and the baby Ohm arrive and are overrun as they attempt to calm the enraged Ohmu. The Ohms then calm down and use their tentacles to revive Nausicaä. Everyone sees that Nausicaä's dress is stained blue with blood of the baby Ohm, meaning Nausicaä must be the blue savior sought by Lord Yupa. The film ends with scenes of people and insects living together in peace.

Voice cast

Characters Japanese Version American Version
Nausicaä Sumi Shimamoto Alison Lohman
Asbel Yōji Matsuda Shia LaBeouf
Lady Kushana Yoshiko Sakakibara Uma Thurman
Lord 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.[2] Nausicaä was produced with animators hired for the one film and paid per frame.[3] 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".[3]

Releases

The film was released by Toei Company on March 4, 1984, and sold almost a million tickets.[3]

Warriors of the Wind

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

A heavily edited and English dubbed version of the film was released theatrically in North America, shown on HBO and released on VHS by New World Pictures in the 1980s as Warriors of the Wind. According to Nausicaä.net, the voice actors and actresses were not even informed of the film's plotline and more than 30 minutes were cut from the film because New World felt that "the parts were slow moving".[4] As a result, part of the film's narrative meaning was lost; some of the environmentalist themes were diluted as was the main subplot about 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 even 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 different titles, such as Sternenkrieger (literally "Star Warriors") in Germany. An uncredited Susan Davis provided the voice of the title role, although it was (and often still is) erroneously believed to be June Foray due to the similarity in voices and Asbel, dubbed "Prince Milo" in this version, was voiced by Cam Clarke.

Many fans of Nausicaä, along with Miyazaki himself, dislike this version; Miyazaki suggested that people should put it "out of their minds."[4] 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 that 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".[5]

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.[6] The film was released on Blu-ray in the United States[7] and Canada[8] 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.[9] 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 weighs only 12 kg.[9][10] 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.[11][12] 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.[13]

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 (former Yellow Magic Orchestra member) and sung by Narumi Yasuda.[14] Numerous soundtracks and albums relating to the film have been released.[15]

  • 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 story—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.[16][17]

  • Nausicaä in the Nick of Time (Naushika Kiki Ippatsu or Nausicaä Kiki Ippatsu) is a Japanese shoot 'em up computer game developed and published by Technopolis Soft for the NEC PC-6001 computer system in 1984.[18][19]
  • 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.[20]

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]

Figure skater Chen Lu used the film's music for her skating program in both the 1993 World Figure Skating Championships and 1994 Winter Olympics, winning Bronze in both.

Reception

The film grossed 740 million yen,[21] and currently holds a 80% "Fresh" on Rottentomatoes.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ghibli 101 FAQ // Studio Ghibli //". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  2. ^ "Anime and Academia: Interview with Marc Hairston on pedagogy and Nausicaa". Utdallas.edu. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  3. ^ a b c Studio Ghibli, The Birth of Studio Ghibli video, c. 2003 (included on UK Nausicaä DVD)
  4. ^ a b "FAQ". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  5. ^ 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.'
  6. ^ "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Blu-ray)". Optimum Releasing. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Nausicaa of the Valley 2-Disc BD Combo Pack BD+DVD Blu-ray: Amazon.ca: Hayao Miyazaki: DVD". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  9. ^ a b Official film book, ロマンアルバム 「風の谷のナウシカ」
  10. ^ Möwe with Nausicaä 1/20 scale model, Studio Ghibli Plamodel Collection, Bandai, 2004, Modeler: 2 horsepower(二馬力, Copyright: Studio Ghibli)
  11. ^ "Opensky Project". Petworks.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  12. ^ "Jet engine remote controlled moewe 1/2". Kabosu100.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  13. ^ 「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
  14. ^ "Kaze no Tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind): Credits, Figures & Other Information". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
  15. ^ Nausicaä.net. Kaze no Tani no Naushika
  16. ^ "Multimedia Goods List //". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  17. ^ "Multimedia Goods List //". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  18. ^ "Anime Video Games Reviews: Nausicaa Tecnopolis Soft MSX". Anime-games.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  19. ^ "Nausicaa (1984, Technopolis Soft)". Generation-msx.nl. 2006-12-26. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  20. ^ Lawrence Lin. "MML Traffic #32 - week 1 - January". Noderunner.net. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  21. ^ Andrew Osmond (Spring 1998). "NAUSICAA AND THE FANTASY OF HAYAO MIYAZAKI". SF journal Foundation (72): 57–81. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

Further reading

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