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Although best-known for the Oscar-winning 'Spirited Away', Miyazaki
and Studio Ghibli have been producing many anime features that have
not had much media coverage in this country. Along with Kiki's Delivery
Service, Castle in the Sky is a charming example of their early work.
The story focuses on an orphan girl, Sheeta (voiced by Anna Paquin)
who escapes from the custody of government agents and sky pirates,
who are all trying to find out the secrets of a magical neclace that
she wears around her neck. Along the way, she befriends Pazu (voiced
by James Van Der Beek), a young boy from a mining town, and together
they set off in search of the legendary flying castle of Laputa.
As with all of Miyazaki's films, the storyline is an imaginative
and enjoyable family adventure with humour, courage, friendship and
old-fashioned good-against-evil in equal measure. Considering the
film was made at a time before CGI effects were available, the visuals
are stunning for their time, and although they show their age slightly
the turn-of-the-century setting with its weird and wonderful flying
machines make it almost timeless. The airships, mining town (allegedly
inspired by the director's holidays in the valleys of Wales) and the
floating castle of Laputa itself are drawn with breathtaking attention
to detail which make it a joy to watch.
Unfortunately, the Disney dub lets the film down slightly in my opinion.
Although well acted, the voice of Pazu seems a little too 'grown up'
and Sheeta's New Zealand/American accent wavers in places. The most
noticeable problem, however, appears to be that the dubbed dialogue
is slightly excessive, especially when viewed with subtitles; the
subtitles follow the same script as the new dub, and sometimes appear
when the characters are not speaking. Nevertheless, the supporting
voice actors are not substandard either, particularly the villainous
government agent Muska (voiced by none other than Mark Hammel!) and
the motley crew of pirates. The rest of the soundtrack was redone
by the original writers, and the original score and Japanese dub are
an option on the DVD.
Overall, a beautifully made classic for any Ghibli fan, with minor
gripes on the English dub. 9/10
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If you want to find out more about Kiki's Delivery Service, the studio
behind it and their other releases, take a look at Miyazaki Movies
- we wrote it y'know ^_^