Taiyou no ouji Horusu no daibouken (1968)

Horus, a kid living in an unnamed Scandinavian/Eastern Europe culture of the Iron Age, recovers the Sword of the Sun from the rock giant Moog and learns from his dying father that he must ... See full summary »

Director:

Isao Takahata

Writer:

Kazuo Fukazawa

Stars:

Yukari Asai, Mikijirô Hira, Etsuko Ichihara

Cast

Credited cast:
Yukari Asai	...	Coro the Bear
Mikijirô Hira	...	Grunwald the Demon of Ice (voice)
Etsuko Ichihara	...	Hilda (voice)
Gilbert Mack	...	Voices
Masao Mishima	...	Village Leader
Hisako Ohkata	...	Hols (voice)
Corinne Orr	...	English dubbed version
Ray Owens	...	Voices
Eijirô Tôno	...	Ganko
Billie Lou Watt	...	Prince
Hisashi Yokomori	...	Horu's Father / Toto
Tadashi Yokouchi	...	Paul / Moog the Rock Giant

Storyline

Horus, a kid living in an unnamed Scandinavian/Eastern Europe culture of the Iron Age, recovers the Sword of the Sun from the rock giant Moog and learns from his dying father that he must returns to his ancestral territory. In the process, he defends a village from the attacks of Grundewald, a warlord/ice demon and befriends the enigmatic Hilda, a lonely and beautiful girl who sings haunting songs (and who hides a terrible secret).

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Plot Keywords:

demon | sword | giant | young | japan | 

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Genres:

Animation | Fantasy | Family | Action | Adventure | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

21 July 1968 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Little Norse Prince

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Doga

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first movie where now legendary Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (later founder of Ghibli Studios) worked together. At the time, Miyazaki was simply a in-between animator at Toei Doga, but his talent bought him to the attention of Setsuyo Matoba, who was the production supervisor. In order to find a role for Miyazaki, a "chief animator and concept artist" role was specially invented.

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Goofs

In the English Dub opening credits Isao Takahata's name was misspelled as "Sao Takahata".

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Quotes

Hilda: [sings] In the twilight red sky / a lonely star shines / Someone calls me, / "Come away, voiceless lark / Come away, wingless lark / From where did you come? And where will you go, now?"

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Connections

Featured in Hana and Alice (2004)

User Reviews

Art

It's impressive what this guys managed to create 1968. Only Disney movies have been on a similar level back then. The drawings have been beautiful, it was full of amazing action, great characters (especially Hilda impressed me) and a captivating story. Also worth mentioning is the music. The music was totally unusual and impressive.

Sadly the story doesn't make fully sense. Some characters aren't designed as well as they could have been. Especially the evil demon didn't look impressive at all - not even slightly scary. Also the drawings lacked detail all together. But that is all understandable, since "Anime" has been in it's children's shoes.

I don't know why, but Isao Takahata movies are the emotionally most touching movies for me. Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) has been the most extreme cinematic experience for me. I am almost crying remembering this movie. And it's almost 10 years ago since I watched it the last time. Horus is different. It's not a sad movie, like Grave of the Fireflies is. I'ts quite cheerful and optimistic. It's one of the movies that is so warmhearted, that it makes you feel like a child again.