Princess Mononoke (1997)

On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writers:

Hayao Miyazaki, Neil Gaiman (adapted by: English version)

Stars:

Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka

Top Rated Movies #64 | 13 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Crudup	...	Ashitaka (voice)
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Jigo (voice)
Minnie Driver	...	Lady Eboshi (voice)
John DiMaggio	...	Gonza / Additional Voices (voice)
Claire Danes	...	San (voice)
John DeMita	...	Kohroku (voice)
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Toki (voice)
Gillian Anderson	...	Moro (voice)
Keith David	...	Okkoto / Narrator / Additional Voices (voice)
Corey Burton	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Tara Strong	...	Kaya / Additional Voices (voice) (as Tara Charandoff)
Julia Fletcher	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Julia DeMita)
Debi Derryberry	...	Hii-sama / Additional Voices (voice)
Alex Fernandez	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jack Fletcher	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

While protecting his village from rampaging boar-god/demon, a confident young warrior, Ashitaka, is stricken by a deadly curse. To save his life, he must journey to the forests of the west. Once there, he's embroiled in a fierce campaign that humans were waging on the forest. The ambitious Lady Eboshi and her loyal clan use their guns against the gods of the forest and a brave young woman, Princess Mononoke, who was raised by a wolf-god. Ashitaka sees the good in both sides and tries to stem the flood of blood. This is met by animosity by both sides as they each see him as supporting the enemy.

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Plot Keywords:

forest | anime | curse | princess | studio ghibli | 

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Taglines:

The Fate Of The World Rests On The Courage Of One Warrior.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for images of violence and gore

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

19 December 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Princess Mononoke

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 2,400,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$144,446, 31 October 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,375,308

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$159,375,308

Company Credits

Production Co:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment, Nibariki, Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (English-language version) Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While "Princess Mononoke" was acquired after it was released in Japan, its American release was delayed for almost two years, allegedly because of a negative reception at a Saint Paul, Minnesota test screening.

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Goofs

When Ashitaka swims to Iron Town during the battle, there is a shot of the water. In the next shot there is a floating corpse not visible in the previous shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the spirits of the gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony, but as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed. Those that remained were guarded by gigantic beasts who owed their allegiances to the Great Forest Spirit. For those were the days of gods and of demons...

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Crazy Credits

The 2014 Blu-ray release uses the Disney logo, instead of the Miramax logo.

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Alternate Versions

When aired on Canadian cable channel, YTV, a slightly different earlier "rough-cut" version of the English dub aired instead of the theatrical version. This version features some different dialogue such as in the scene where Lady Eboshi first sees San, she calls her "Wolf beast" instead of "Princess Mononoke". The singing of the movie's theme is also left in Japanese and not dubbed into English for this version.

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Connections

Referenced in Kong: Skull Island (2017)

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Soundtracks

Mononoke-Hime/Princess Mononoke Theme Song
(Japanese vocal version)
Lyrics By Hayao Miyazaki
Vocals by counter-tenor Yoshikazu Mera
Music composed by Joe Hisaishi
Music performed by Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Hiroshi Kumagai

User Reviews

Yet another 10 for Miyazaki

Im a Big fan of Miyazaki... This movie is Definitely in his top 3...

Princess Mononoke's story is very in depth and it grabs your attention. Time after time. You may have to watch it a couple times to catch everything but you will fall in love with the characters and story every time you sit down to watch it

As for the art... Its Visually stunning yet again. Everything is depicted so well in Miyazaki's artwork from the humans to the Forest gods and everything in between

this definitely worth watching.

And if you like it you should definitely check out some of his others like Castle In The Sky, Howls Moving Castle and Spirited Away