Youtube blocked my big top 10 Studio Ghibli review, so I tried reuploading on DailyMotion.
I've been rewatching some of my favorite animated movies of all time, and decided to make a tribute review for them.
I've been rewatching some of my favorite animated movies of all time, and decided to make a tribute review for them.
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00:004. Howl's Moving Castle
00:02Now this was another one I first saw on Starz, and what a fun time to talk about this one
00:07cause the film turns 20 this year and they're re-releasing the film in theaters starting
00:11September 26th and I found out a neighboring city will be playing this and I ordered a
00:16ticket so I finally get to see a Studio Ghibli film on the big screen for the first time.
00:21I even ordered a calcifer t-shirt for the occasion.
00:24Howl's Moving Castle does seem to get some mixed reception, either people love it and
00:28consider it one of Studio Ghibli's greatest, others were disappointed and confused by it
00:33and some were flat out let down cause it's based off a book and it's not a very faithful
00:37adaption apparently, which may turn a lot of people off. Yeah, Ghibli seems to get that
00:42a lot from adaptions not matching the book's original story. Tales from Earthsea anyone?
00:48I will admit some elements of this are confusing and questionable, but the overall product
00:53is beautiful. We got some very lovable characters including one of the most quotable ones being
00:59in the form of Calcifer voiced brilliantly by Billy Crystal who many of you will recognize
01:04as Mike Wazowski from Monsters Incorporated. Anytime this film is brought up I always hear
01:10someone quoting me or you'll make him burn. And like I said earlier he is one of the most
01:15marketable characters from Studio Ghibli, popping up across multiple items at the official
01:19Studio Ghibli store in Japan. The movie opens up with a giant moving contraption known as
01:24Howl's Moving Castle. First of all the design for this thing is insane and to think it was
01:29all hand drawn animated. No CGI whatsoever. And this movie even has CGI elements to it
01:36but none of it was used for the castle itself. That is very impressive. We open with a hat
01:42shop girl named Sophie who overhears all these girls gushing over hearing and seeing Howl's
01:47Moving Castle. Some of the girls gush over Howl while others tell stories on how Howl
01:51is a dark wizard who kidnaps pretty girls and eats their hearts. And Sophie doesn't
01:56believe Howl would ever take her because she doesn't consider herself pretty. As she goes
02:00outside for a bit she gets sexually harassed by two men when we are introduced to Howl
02:05voiced by the Dark Knight himself Christian Bale as he swoops in to save Sophie saying
02:09that he's been looking everywhere for her. He uses his powers to soar them over the city
02:14as he tries guiding Sophie to feel like she's walking on air. Howl then returns her safely
02:19to the ground and leaves, leaving Sophie to wonder if Howl really is a nice guy or
02:23if he really didn't consider her pretty which is why he didn't kidnap her. As Sophie returns
02:28back to the hat shop she finds an intruder in the form of the Witch of the Waste who
02:32is obsessed with wanting Howl and is jealous that Howl showed interest in Sophie. The witch
02:38casts Sophie with a curse that turns her into a withered old lady. She feels ashamed of
02:43her appearance as Sophie runs away from her hat shop and tries finding a new home. She
02:48meets a magical scarecrow named Turnip Head who leads her to Howl's castle. Sophie settles
02:53inside the castle where she meets the best character in the film, Calcifer. Calcifer
03:03sees himself as a mighty and fearsome fire demon, but he's just a cute little fireball.
03:08Calcifer reveals how he is what makes the castle move. He tries shooing Sophie away
03:13as Master Howl finds out. We also meet Howl's wizard apprentice, Markle, voiced by a very
03:19young Josh Hutcherson, which many may recognize as the main character from Bridge of Terabithia
03:24or the star of Five Nights at Freddy's the movie. We see how Markle uses a cloak that
03:28turns him into an old man, as he uses his disguise to use a magic dial that opens these
03:33portals to different doors across the world so he can sell spells to people who knock
03:38on the door. I just love the world and creativity of this film, it really wowed and amazed my
03:43younger teenage self. In the funniest scene of the movie, Sophie begins using Calcifer
03:48as a source to cook breakfast as she puts a frying pan over him. Here comes the quotable
03:53line that everyone who's seen this movie loves. So Howl comes in and doesn't seem to mind
04:00that this random old lady just barged in and started making breakfast, and he even joins
04:04in on helping her with the cooking. While it's never really discussed, it's safe to
04:08assume that Howl was able to sense that this old lady was Sophie all along, he just never
04:13bothered questioning it or pointing it out. Sophie offers to clean the place in exchange
04:24for a place to stay. Meanwhile, there's a war going on between different kingdoms, and
04:29Howl is summoned by the king to use his magic to fight off the enemies. Howl wants nothing
04:34to do with the war, and he wants Sophie to go in his place pretending to be his mother
04:38so she can pass off an excuse on why Howl can't make it. Howl promises that he'll be
04:43there with her in disguise, and so Sophie finds a silly looking dog who she becomes
04:48convinced is Howl's disguise. Admittedly, the following part of the movie is the only
04:53part of this movie I really don't like. The witch of the wastes is summoned to meet the
04:57king as well, and we get this long and uncomfortable scene of the two old ladies struggling to
05:01climb the steps. I normally appreciate the dedication of Ghibli's craft, how they put
05:07so much time into animating every step of the characters journeys, but this is a scene
05:13where I wish there was a time skip. It's not enough to ruin the movie, but it is enough
05:18for me to want to skip this scene every time. As they finally make it to the top, the witch
05:22rushes over to rest on a chair as Sophie goes forward to speak with the king. A strange
05:26spell occurs on the witch. Sophie doesn't find the king, but she finds his grand sorcerer
05:31Suleiman, voiced by Blythe Danner who played Mrs. Burns in the Meet the Parents trilogy.
05:36She reveals that the dog that was accompanying Sophie is actually her own dog, who she used
05:40to spy on people, and Sophie is surprised to realize the dog wasn't Howl, and so she
05:45begins wondering where is Howl. Suleiman reveals that she punished the witch of the wastes
05:49by removing all of her magic, reducing the witch to her true age and appearance. With
05:54the witch's powers gone, we occasionally get moments where Sophie seems to revert back
05:58to her younger age, but it's supposedly done whenever she gains confidence in herself,
06:03but whenever she's confronted with self-doubt or she starts thinking like she's not very
06:09pretty or anything, she seems to revert back to an old lady. So it's an interesting little
06:12detail that's never really explained, but it's something that a lot of people can pick
06:16up on if they're paying attention. So Howl arrives disguised as the king as he tries
06:20calling off the war, only for the real king to show up, exposing Howl's phony disguise.
06:25I gotta admit, this scene gave me a good laugh when I first saw it, because at first you're
06:29thinking that the first king was the real deal, and I figured the silly sounding one
06:34that came after was actually Howl's disguise, but then as soon as the silly king flees,
06:39you see how Suleiman says, hello Howl, and so yeah, that was a pretty good reveal, it
06:44was very subvertive. So Suleiman traps Howl with a spell that nearly fully transforms
06:49him into a giant bird-like monster, which he wants to use to fight in the war, but Sophie
06:55is able to snap him out of it so he can fly him out of there back to the castle. Sophie
06:59learns that Calcifer is a life force for both the castle and even Howl, and that if Howl
07:03keeps using his bird form to fight in the war, it may lead to him losing his humanity
07:08forever. Howl senses danger from the war coming after him. He adds new portals to the castle
07:14to lead his friends to a safer life as he heads off to fight more in the war. An enemy
07:19aircraft discovers the castle and tries bombing it. Sophie takes Calcifer out of the castle,
07:24causing the castle to begin collapsing. The witch becomes obsessed upon realizing that
07:28Calcifer is Howl's heart, and she tries grabbing him. Sophie panics and splashes water on her
07:34only to accidentally douse Calcifer, as the castle collapses with barely any parts moving,
07:40and Sophie is sent falling down a deep chasm away from everyone else. Sophie breaks into
07:45tears, fearing that she killed Calcifer and Howl. A ring that Howl gave her earlier begins
07:50glowing and it leads her to the magic door of Howl's castle, leading into the past where
07:55she sees a younger Howl catching a falling star, which happened to be Calcifer. Calcifer
08:00gives Howl his heart, and Sophie begins sinking back into reality, and before that happens
08:04she shouts to Howl that her name is Sophie and she knows how to save him, and she begs
08:09Howl to look for her in the future. Now this flashback really adds more to the meaning
08:13of Howl's introduction. When he first told Sophie that he was looking everywhere for
08:18her, boy did he mean it. Everywhere for many years, until he finally found the woman he
08:24met from his childhood. Sophie returns to the present and finds Howl in a more lifeless
08:28state as he's stuck in his bird form. She turns to the witch of the wastes and begs
08:39her to return Howl's heart. However, this causes what's left of the castle to end up
08:54hurling towards a cliff while everyone is still on it. Turnip Head jumps in front of
08:58it and uses his wooden pole to slow down the fall, saving everyone in the process. Sophie
09:03kisses Turnip Head for saving them, causing him to turn human. It's revealed that Turnip
09:08Head was actually a prince from one of the kingdoms at war. He was cursed into a scarecrow
09:13so his kingdom could get rid of him and fight in the war. Turnip Head reveals his curse
09:19could only be broken by true love, but he realizes that Sophie really loves Howl, so
09:24he accepts his loss and heads back to the kingdom to stop the war. Calcifer realizes
09:28he really likes Sophie, Howl, and the others, and he decides that he'll stay to voluntarily
09:33revive Howl's moving castle. Solomon was able to spy on everyone through a crystal ball
09:38and she decides that it is time to end this war as well, as we see the characters happily
09:43fly away on Howl's new flying castle.
09:46Now this movie is a lot to take in. The plot may not be the smoothest, it may not be the
09:50easiest to follow, not everything is explained, the ending might feel a bit rushed for some,
09:56but dang it this is still a very fun and imaginative movie with great characters, great voice acting,
10:01beautiful imagery, and gorgeous music. To me this is kind of like the Beauty and the
10:06Beast of Studio Ghibli, except the star is a girl who doesn't see herself as a beauty,
10:11and the beast himself is a wizard with a bird form. It might not be everyone's number one
10:16favorite Studio Ghibli film, but it's still a pretty dang good one.
10:20Number 3, Castle in the Sky. While Nausicaa is technically the first Studio Ghibli film,
10:25this is officially the first Studio Ghibli film, being the first one made after the studio
10:30came up with their official name. If I were to recommend any Studio Ghibli film to be
10:35the first one for anyone to watch, it would have to be Castle in the Sky. It's one of
10:39the most traditional fairytale like stories to ever come from the studio, and it's a very
10:44damn good one, with two of the most charming child protagonists I've ever seen in a movie.
10:49Castle in the Sky is the easiest film from Studio Ghibli to follow, while still containing
10:54many mystical and unexplained charms. The movie opens up with a giant aircraft where
10:59a girl named Sheeta tries to escape from a deranged man named Musca, voiced by Mark Hamill,
11:04the Joker himself. However, a lady pirate named Dola and her comical, bumbling sons
11:09try capturing Sheeta to get a magic crystal necklace she wears. Sheeta slips and falls
11:14from the sky, as we hear the most beautiful melody I've ever heard during the opening
11:18credits of any film. Seriously, Joe Hisayashi, he deserves so much more credit than he gets
11:24for his music. I honestly think he's the greatest composer ever. Schools need to quit teaching
11:29students about Mozart or Beethoven and study this man's music instead. As Sheeta keeps
11:34falling, a power emits from her crystal causing her to fall safely and slowly to the ground.
11:40Back on the surface, we're introduced to an orphaned boy in a mining town named Potsu,
11:44as he catches Sheeta as he sees her falling from the sky. One thing I love about this
11:49setting is how friendly everyone is. Potsu's boss and his boss's wife treat Potsu like
11:54he's their own son, and all the other workers see Potsu as a valued hard worker and a good
12:00person. If this were any other movie, the kid would likely be a klutz, a misfit that
12:05the whole town can't stand. It's honestly refreshing to see such a wholesome setting.
12:10Potsu's boss allows Sheeta to rest up and recover at their place. The next morning,
12:14we see Potsu and Sheeta spend time with each other, and like I said, they are some of the
12:18most charming child characters I've ever seen. Never once in this movie do they have a big
12:22disagreement or misunderstanding that drags the plot down. They just enjoy each other's
12:27company, and they're definitely the kind of characters that you could see getting married
12:30someday in the future. Potsu shows Sheeta a picture of a floating castle called Lapita.
12:36Potsu says that no one seems to believe his dad really saw such a place, but Potsu is determined
12:41that someday he'll find it. Dola and her sons invade the town, looking for Sheeta's crystal.
12:46I just love the part where Potsu's boss tells the kid to sneak out while he takes care of it. We
12:50get this comical fist fight with him and one of Dola's sons. We get an action packed chase scene
12:59with a lot of gunfire and explosions. The two kids end up falling in a mineshaft where they
13:04run into Potsu's uncle Pom, who shows the two some mineral deposits that have glowing gems
13:09inside, and they're apparently weaker versions of the same type of crystal inside Sheeta's
13:14necklace. He warns the two about the powers of these crystals and how they shouldn't be
13:18used recklessly. Although this isn't a major scene or anything, I still think it's a very
13:23memorable break away from all the action. Potsu and Sheeta get more cute interactions as they
13:27just take a lunch break, and Uncle Pom is a very cool guy although he is kind of senile.
13:32Sheeta reveals that Lapita is real and she has a secret name tied to its existence. The two kids
13:38get captured by the military who are working with Musca, and Musca shows Sheeta a fallen robot
13:43soldier with an insignia matching Sheeta's crystal, and he reveals how she's the princess
13:48of Lapita. We get a heartbreaking scene where Musca will set Potsu free only if Sheeta guides
13:54the army to Lapita. Sheeta is forced to tell Potsu to forget all about finding Lapita and to just go
14:00home, and Musca gives Potsu three coins as a pity prize. We see Potsu is so heartbroken from losing
14:07his friend that he rushes home. I love the little detail where he trips and he is so angry that he
14:12nearly throws the coins he was given, but he doesn't. It says a lot without spelling it out,
14:17and gives the impression that he doesn't want the money, he just wants his friend back, but he
14:22doesn't throw it away because he knows he's poor and he needs it. It's a tragic little detail,
14:26but I love that attention. As Potsu enters his house in defeat, he's ambushed by Dola and her
14:31sons. Dola shames Potsu for just letting Sheeta go, and Potsu begs Dola to help him get back and
14:37rescue her. Dola agrees, but only because she wants that crystal. What I love about Dola is
14:42how she starts off as a villain, but over the course of the film she really grows to care for
14:46these kids, and she really softens up and becomes friends with them. A lot of action happens as the
14:51two kids reunite, but Sheeta loses the crystal. However, its power emits a light pointing to the
14:56location of Lapita, as Dola agrees to take the kids to Lapita, but only if they join her crew
15:02in the process. We get some odd but hilarious scenes with them being a part of the crew.
15:07Admittedly the scene where Dola's sons are attracted to Sheeta and want to help her in
15:11the kitchen is very odd and kind of uncomfortable, but it's still very funny. We get a very wholesome
15:33scene between the two kids on top of the crow's nest at night, as Dola eavesdrops in on their
15:37conversation and she is very charmed by their heart to heart. Like I said before, the characters
15:42in this film are just very charming. However, a storm occurs and the gang gets separated.
15:47Luckily the storm leads Pato and Sheeta straight to Lapita, and they are surprised to see it
15:51contains a lot of nature, but it also contains many dead robots and graves for those robots.
15:57We see one of the lone robots still mourning the loss of the other robots as he keeps bringing
16:01flowers to the grave. One of the most iconic images in this film is the one where the friendly
16:06robot hands Sheeta a flower to add to the grave. Both the imagery and music during the
16:11scene is like a needle straight to the heart. Just a beautiful scene.
16:15However, the military and Muska make it, and Muska captures Sheeta and takes her to the
16:19highest point of the castle, and Pato adventures up to save her. Muska reveals he is also an
16:24heir to Lapita, and reveals that Lapita contains massive weapons enough to destroy the planet,
16:29which he wishes to do because he sees himself as a higher being than the others. He demonstrates
16:34the weapon's power by destroying the military's airship. There is surprisingly a lot of implied
16:39death in this otherwise family friendly movie.
16:41We get some very suspenseful and terrifying scenes of Muska chasing and cornering Sheeta
16:45with a gun. He even shoots off her pigtails and threatens to shoot her ears off next.
16:50Pato finally makes it to the top, and as a last resort, Sheeta teaches Pato a spell of
16:55destruction in order to destroy the castle before Muska can use its weapons any further
17:00to destroy anything else. The spell blinds Muska and he falls to his death as the castle
17:05collapses. Pato and Sheeta manage to escape as they look back and see the collapsing Lapita
17:10fading from the distance. As the capsule collapses, it unearths a giant floating tree with roots
17:15underneath, and we see the lone robot is still alive as he continues to add more flowers
17:21to the grave along with looking after all the plant life and animals there.
17:25I just love how this scene really emits the feeling of having to leave a place you really
17:28don't want to see go. They easily could have just had the characters look back once and
17:32then ignore it, but no. It shows that they're really sad to see it go as they keep staring
17:36as it keeps fading away until it's entirely out of sight. The kids find out Dola and the
17:41gang survived, and they part ways. Dola and her sons fly off and wave goodbye as Pato
17:46and Sheeta ride back home.
17:48And that was Castle in the Sky. Man, this is one of the most fun and charming Studio
17:52Ghibli films. Hard to believe it's one of their first works. It holds up incredibly
17:57well. If anyone is interested in diving into the world of Studio Ghibli films, you can't
18:01go wrong with watching Castle in the Sky first. Part of me really wishes I could say this
18:06is my number one favorite Ghibli film, but there's two others that I find more impactful
18:11and more thought provoking.
18:13Number 2. Ok, I know some people may be upset with me for not calling this number one, but
18:19spirit it away. Now don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic movie. It was the one that
18:25got me into wanting to watch the rest of the studio's work. Back in the early 2000's
18:30before my family and I went on a vacation to Disney World, I remembered seeing a preview
18:33of this movie air on TV. I was shocked to see this was being advertised as a Disney
18:38film. It looked very incredible. I loved the animation on it. Later at the Rainforest Cafe
18:43at Animal Planet, a TV with a talk show was on, and I remember the two anchors took a
18:48moment to advertise this movie, and they discussed how it's a must watch movie. They were praising
18:53its animation and music, and I was very intrigued by this movie. I just knew though that my
18:59parents would have no interest in seeing something from Japan. I don't know, my parents just
19:04never really cared for anime, and I don't even care much for anime, but I love Studio
19:08Ghibli.
19:09So cut to 2006 when Month of Miyazaki premiered, and I made sure to tune in and watch Spirit
19:14It Away, and I was blown away. The movie was beautiful, it was terrifying, just amazing.
19:21For the longest time, I considered this the greatest Studio Ghibli film. I really wanted
19:26to buy the movie, but I just couldn't find a dang DVD of it anywhere in my state. It
19:31wasn't until the first Blu-ray edition in the 2010s from Disney where I finally got
19:35to buy and own this movie. This movie was the one that made me realize I want to make
19:40animation for a living someday. Sadly, that just did not work out. I just never got any
19:45better at animation, and can't afford the schooling for it, and even if I did, I feel
19:49like I would struggle with it. I was just never very good at learning.
19:54The best way to describe this movie is that it's Japan's version of Alice in Wonderland,
19:58except a bit darker and scarier at times, and it has more of a plot. The movie opens
20:02up with a girl named Chihiro, who shares the same voice as Lilo from Lilo and Stitch. She's
20:07bummed because she has to move to a new home and school. Her parents get lost and decide
20:11to check out what they believe to be an abandoned amusement park, but it's actually a giant
20:15bath house for worn out spirits. The parents come across a bunch of food and start helping
20:20themselves to it, but Chihiro wants nothing to do with it and just wants to go. She wanders
20:25off and meets a boy named Haku, voiced by Jason Marsden, who Disney fans may recognize
20:30as Max from a Goofy movie. Haku warns Chihiro that she shouldn't be here and he tells her
20:35to leave. The movie takes a pretty scary turn as these dark creepy shadow spirits arrive.
20:40Chihiro tries telling her parents to leave, but she's horrified to find that her parents
20:44have been turned into pigs. I remember this scene giving me such chills when I first saw
20:49it. Everything from the imagery and music is just spine chilling. Chihiro sees more
20:53spirits arrive and they enter the bath house. Chihiro starts fading away, but Haku arrives
20:58and assures her that he's a friend. He feeds her berries that prevent her from fading away
21:03into a spirit form. Haku wants Chihiro to follow his advice if she ever wants to see
21:07her parents again. He tells her to seek out the boiler man named Komaji and ask him for
21:13a job and no matter what he tells her to not refuse. She finds Komaji, who honestly
21:18reminds me of Gerald Robotnik from Sonic Adventure 2. He's voiced by the late David Ogden Steers,
21:23who voiced Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast. The good one that is. We get a funny scene
21:29with Chihiro trying to help these little suit creatures deliver coal into the boiler. One
21:34of the suit creatures accidentally gets crushed by the coal, so Chihiro tries helping him
21:38out by carrying it for him, causing all the suit creatures to intentionally drop the coal
21:42on themselves in hopes of Chihiro doing all their work for them. Komaji says that he doesn't
21:46need any more help, and he has one of his working ladies named Lin to take Chihiro to
21:53the boss Yubaba. It's worth knowing that Lin is the voice of Megara from Hercules. I love
21:58how when Lin asks who Chihiro is, Komaji just casually says that she's his granddaughter.
22:04It's just so funny to me. How he went from seeming very harsh to her, not even giving
22:09her a friendly greeting. Chihiro is taken to Yubaba, and she constantly begs for a job.
22:18Yubaba refuses to give her a job. Chihiro's shouting is waking up her big baby. In order
22:24to get the baby back to sleep, Yubaba reluctantly decides to give her a job. She uses a spell
22:29that takes away Chihiro's name and replaces it with a name called Sen, which means a thousand.
22:35This movie does have a deep metaphor about the corruption of toxic work environments,
22:39like how bosses don't see their workers as human beings, just numbers. Lin is forced
22:44to take in Sen and show her how to clean the bathhouse. We see all the spirits treating
22:49Sen terribly for being a human. Lin comes across as not caring for Sen very much early
22:54on in the film, but she quickly grows very attached and concerned over her. Sen is confused
22:59because she knows his haku is Yubaba's lackey, and he's been treating her much harsher compared
23:03to earlier. Lin tells Sen to stay away from Haku because he can't be trusted.
23:09The following morning, Haku wakes up Sen and tells her to meet him in the garden, where
23:12he'll take her to see her parents. We see her adventure off when she notices a socially
23:17awkward and kind of creepy spirit named No-Face. I just can't help but laugh upon learning
23:22that he's voiced by the guy who's been voicing Porky Pigs in Space Jam. Haku shows Sen her
23:29parents and tells her to remember which pigs are the real parents because she'll need to
23:33know if she ever wants to go back home with them. We get one of the most emotional scenes
23:37in the movie where Haku gives Sen a goodbye letter that Sen received from her friends
23:42before she moved. Sen reads the note and remembers that her real name is Chihiro, and she can't
23:46believe that she nearly forgot it. Haku explains that it's important for her to remember her
23:50name. Yubaba taking away people's names is how she's able to keep control of them, and
23:56he expresses how he wishes he could remember his own name. He then gives Chihiro a rice
24:00ball, telling her to eat it so she can regain her strength. As Chihiro eats it, she starts
24:04tearing up. Now I just love this scene because it says a lot without spelling it out. You
24:10can just imagine a number of reasons for why she's crying during this scene. I mean it
24:15could be because she's scared because she's lost in a world where all the spirits hate
24:19her and want her dead. She's scared of being forced to work for a scary witch. She's scared
24:24that she'll never see her parents restored to their old selves, and they might never
24:28go home. And she's conflicted over whether Haku can really be trusted, since others are
24:33telling her that he cannot be trusted, yet he's the only one showing her kindness and
24:38seems to be showing an effort in trying to get her back home. As Sen heads back to the
24:42bathhouse, she finds out Haku can turn into a dragon as he flies off. One rainy night,
24:47Sen notices No-Face standing outside alone in the rain, and she offers him to come inside
24:51and dry off. Sen needs to get certain tokens to get soap for cleaning up a tub, but none
24:56of the human hating spirits are bothering to help her, so No-Face steals some of them
25:00and gives them to Sen to thank her for the kindness she showed him earlier. A giant stinky
25:06sludge spirit shows up and wants a bath. I always crack up with Sen's reaction to his
25:11appearance, it's pretty funny stuff. As Sen tries cleaning him, she notices something
25:16stuck in the creature, and Yubaba orders all of her workers to help Sen in pulling it out.
25:21It's fun to learn that this was based on a real life event that happened in Miyazaki's
25:25life where a bunch of people around his town got together to pull out a bunch of junk in
25:29a polluted lake, and one of the first items they yanked out was a bicycle, just like in
25:34this scene. Suddenly the stink spirit is purified and revealed to actually be a river spirit.
25:39He thanks Sen for her help and gives her some kind of bitter tasting food that Sen believes
25:43may turn her appearance back to normal. Meanwhile the spirit leaves a bunch of gold pieces as
25:48thanks for their service. Everyone is happy for Sen for making them so much money. No-Face
25:54starts getting corrupted by all the greed of the other people. No-Face starts getting
25:58corrupted by the greed of the other people and starts making fake gold to bribe the workers
26:01into giving him all the food he wants, and he even starts eating some of the workers.
26:06I've seen a lot of reviews and dissections of this movie over the years, but there's
26:10one thing that I'm surprised no one ever touches upon. One thing I noticed is that like right
26:14after he eats the first frog that he tricks, he suddenly starts speaking like the frog,
26:19and you also notice how he has more frog-like tendencies, like how he's constantly hunched
26:23over with bowed legs, and yeah, it is an interesting detail. It's almost like he's copying whatever
26:31he eats. It's like he's somehow adapting to their behavior, and it is an interesting detail,
26:38and I can't help but be reminded of In Sonic Adventure when you fought Chaos, and during
26:44his second to last form after he ate Froggy, how he turned more frog-like, and I'm not
26:49sure if that was intentional, but that's what it reminds me of. No-Face is a rather creepy
26:53character, but his whole purpose is to show how toxic greed can corrupt people. With being
26:57surrounded by so many rude and greedy people, it just really drove him to grow crazy.
27:02The next morning, Sen finds Haku getting attacked by paper dolls in his dragon form, and she
27:06tries saving him. She finds out the paper dolls were sent by Yubaba's twin sister, Zeniba.
27:12She was angry that Haku tried stealing her seal, and she gets back at Yubaba by turning
27:16her baby into a mouse, and she turns her Harpy into a little bug-like bird. Haku starts acting
27:22feral, and Komaji notices a black magic slug creature, which Shihiro manages to squish.
27:28As Haku starts bleeding out, Sen gives him part of the food that the river spirit gave
27:32her, causing Haku to calm down and then turn back into his human form, but he's in a very
27:36weak state. Sen wants to adventure back to Zeniba to return the seal to her, and hopefully
27:41ask her if she can spare Haku's life. Komaji gives Sen train tickets to see Zeniba. Before
27:47Sen has a chance to depart, Yubaba is outraged over No-Face taking over the place and eating
27:53many of the workers, and she forces Sen to deal with him. Here is arguably the scariest
27:57and most disturbing scene in the movie, but damn is it exciting. We see No-Face is now
28:02a giant blob, and he's rambling on like a madman as he's angrily demanding Sen to take
28:07his gold. Sen sacrifices the thing she was saving to restore her parents, and she thinks
28:14that No-Face needs it more, so No-Face starts eating it as he starts projectile vomiting
28:19all the junk he ate. He gets outraged at Sen and starts violently chasing her down the
28:23bathhouse towers. After vomiting out all the junk and spirits he ate, he reverts back to
28:33his old timid self, and Sen points out that the bathhouse is what was driving him crazy,
28:37and he should be better now. Sen boards the train and takes No-Face with her, if he promises
28:43to behave himself. This is honestly my favorite scene in the movie, and I know I'm not alone.
28:48Nothing really happens during the scene, but it's such a beautiful break after the most
28:52intense scene in the movie. We just see the characters riding the train with very somber
28:57music as they look out the window and ride past some beautiful CGI scenery. It shows
29:01off a lot of growth within Chihiro, how she went from being a scared, timid child at the
29:06beginning to being so determined that she's going to save her friends and parents. Meanwhile,
29:11Haku wakes up and confronts Yubaba, and demands her to release Sen and her parents. Yubaba
29:16realizes she was too caught up at work that she didn't even notice her own baby was missing.
29:20Haku reveals that her baby is with Sen and Zeniba. Yubaba says that she'll let Sen and
29:26her parents go, but only if she passes a test.
29:29Sen arrives at Zeniba's house, and is surprised to see that Zeniba is nothing like her evil
29:32sister. She's very kind and polite. Sen returns the seal, and she mentions that she switched
29:38the black slug that she cast on Haku. Zeniba laughs and reveals that the slug wasn't hers,
29:43it was her sister's. Yubaba's slug is what caused Haku to do her bidding, so Sen freed
29:47him from her possession when she squished it.
29:50Zeniba becomes a mother-like figure for No-Face, as No-Face decides that he wants to live with
29:54her. Zeniba unfortunately cannot help Sen with restoring her parents, but she makes
29:58her a hairband so Sen will never forget the friend she's made in the spirit world. Haku
30:02appears in his dragon form to take Sen back to the bathhouse, as Sen says goodbye to Zeniba.
30:08The two fly back to the bathhouse, and Sen is reminded of when she was a little girl.
30:12She fell in a river and nearly drowned, until the current pushed her back to the surface,
30:16saving her life.
30:17She realizes that Haku was the spirit of that river, and she says that his name is the Kohaku
30:21River. Suddenly, Haku's cursed dragon form shatters, breaking Haku from Yubaba's control.
30:28We get a beautiful scene as Haku realizes that he remembers his name, and the two fly
30:32back to the bathhouse.
30:33Sen takes the final test, which involves guessing which pigs are her parents. Sen reveals that
30:38none of them are her parents, and she is correct. Haku takes Chihiro back to the entrance, and
30:43tells her that her parents are waiting for her on the other side, and he tells her not
30:47to look back until she reaches the other side. Chihiro is surprised to see that her parents
30:51don't remember a thing from what just happened, and they leave for their new home.
30:55Now I've heard some people question if this movie was all a dream, but if you paid close
30:59attention, it wasn't, since during the last shot, we see Chihiro, before she gets back
31:03in the car, we see that she's wearing the hairband that Zeniba made for her. She was
31:08not wearing that purple hairband earlier in the movie, so that little detail lets the
31:12audience know that all of the events in this film actually happened.
31:15And that was Spirited Away. It is definitely one of the studio's most important films,
31:20with some of the greatest visuals the studio has ever produced. You know the movie was
31:24great when it was the first anime to ever win an Academy Award. For the longest time,
31:29it was the only anime to receive an Oscar, until 2023's The Boy and the Heron. For the
31:35longest time, I felt for sure that this was my favorite Studio Ghibli film, until I heard
31:39someone mention that they thought there was another film that was even better, and that
31:44other film is the last film we are going to discuss.
31:48Number 1, Princess Mononoke. I was shocked to hear people claim that there is a movie
31:53that was even better than Spirited Away, and it was oddly the one that released a few
31:57years before Spirited Away. This was originally supposed to be Miyazaki's last movie ever
32:02made back in 1997, but we all know by now that his last films are never really his last
32:07films. Mononoke was the highest grossing film in Japan until Titanic released. Unlike most
32:13Studio Ghibli films that are geared towards family audiences, this one has a PG-13 rating
32:18and contains the most violent and bloody imagery to ever come from a Studio Ghibli film. I
32:23went into this thinking, there's no way this is going to be better than Spirited Away,
32:27but my god, I was mesmerized throughout, with its stunning animation, powerful and haunting
32:32music, decent voice acting, and thought provoking story. Many people claim that this movie has
32:38the best story when it comes to having an environmental message, and I absolutely agree.
32:44Every other movie with this message is very cliche and feels like it's been done before.
32:48Films like Ferngully, Pocahontas, and Avatar. The message usually being humans bad, nature
32:54good. Princess Mononoke dares be more complex than that. It shows that both sides have their
32:58good and bad qualities, and how important it is to find balance between the two instead
33:02of wiping one out over the other. The movie was also clearly a huge inspiration for both
33:07The Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of a Kingdom. I mean Link's default
33:12outfit is very similar to the hero's outfit. One of the film's greatest threats is a giant
33:16demon boar, where it has like this cursed stuff where if you touch it, it hurts you.
33:20The first action scene strongly resembles the guardians that surround Hyrule's ruins.
33:25Early on, the hero meets up with an old man who guides him on their quest. The Koroks
33:29are eerily similar to the Kadama spirits, with both their mass and rattling sounds,
33:34and you can even have a wolf fight alongside you. Also in the sequel, Link gets a cursed
33:38arm just like the movie's protagonist. You cannot tell me that Nintendo was not inspired
33:43by this movie.
33:45The film opens up with a narration by the voice acting legend himself Keith David, who
33:49voiced Goliath from Gargoyles, and Dr. Fossilier from The Princess and the Frog. He describes
33:54how long ago, there was a time where the world was ruled by people and animal gods. But over
33:59time hatred spread between the two, causing demons to rise from the hatred. A giant monster
34:04starts attacking a village, as our hero Ashitaka, voiced by Billy Crudup, rides his red elk
34:09Apu to try and stop the creature's rage from destroying his tribe. The monster turns
34:15out to be a giant boar god, whose hatred turned him into a demon.
34:19First of all, not only is this scene very intense with it's very haunting music, but
34:23the animation on this thing is insane. With it's spider-like movement, glowing red eyes,
34:28and the worm-like darkness surrounding it. The fact that most of it was done by hand,
34:33and only a little of it was done CGI, is just insane. Ashitaka accidentally gets touched
34:38by the demon boar before he manages to shoot it to it's death with his bow and arrow.
34:43The curse ends up giving his arm demon-like strength, but the curse will slowly take over
34:47his body and kill him over time.
34:49Our hero is banished from his tribe as he heads off to the west in hopes of finding
34:53a cure, and a way to see with eyes unclouded by hate. Before he leaves, his little sister
34:58Kaya, voiced by Tara Strong, gives him a crystal dagger so he'll never forget her. We get
35:03some more beautiful music and imagery as he rides off. We get a gruesome scene where he
35:08finds some samurai slaughtering people, and Ashitaka steps up to protect the people, only
35:13for his arm's curse to kick in, causing him to fire arrows that pierce a man's arm off
35:17and even decapitate someone.
35:20A monk named Jigo, voiced by Bad Santa himself, Billy Bob Thornton, notices Ashitaka's amazing
35:25fighting and meets up with him in a nearby town. He manages to help Ashitaka escape
35:30from thugs who want to kill Ashitaka for his gold currency. Jigo and Ashitaka settle near
35:35a wrecked village where Jigo gives some insight on how tough life is for everyone around here
35:39and how everyone is just out for themselves. Jigo reveals that he knows where Ashitaka
35:49is from, but he assures him that he won't tell anyone. He reveals how further west there
35:54is a forest where no man dares to go in, for it is guarded by deadly animal gods, and he
35:58reveals how there is a forest spirit, and how it is believed that the head of the spirit
36:02will grant someone immortality. The emperor would pay a handsome amount of gold to anyone
36:07who can give him that immortality.
36:10Ashitaka shows Jigo an iron ball that was found lodged within the boar god, which is
36:15what turned him into a demon in the first place. Jigo acts like he doesn't know what
36:18it is, but he directs him towards an industrialized town called Irontown, where they dig up iron
36:24and use it to make weapons to protect themselves from invaders. Meanwhile, we cut to the leader
36:28of Irontown named Lady Eboshi, voiced by Minnie Driver, who played Jane in Tarzan. We also
36:34have her right hand man Gonza, voiced by Bender himself, John DiMaggio. Eboshi and her men
36:39are trying to deliver rice back to their town, but they get attacked by two wolf gods, led
36:43by the queen of the wolf gods, Moro, voiced by Jillian Anderson from the X-Files. Eboshi
36:49succeeds at shooting Moro, causing iron to get lodged into her as she falls off a cliff.
36:53The following morning, Ashitaka finds two injured men of Eboshi's washed up in a river,
36:58and he rescues them and wants to return them home. Suddenly, he spots Moro along with the
37:03title character San, Princess Mononoke herself, voiced by Claire Dane. San begins sucking
37:09and spitting out the contaminated blood from Moro. As she spots Ashitaka, she tells him
37:13to go away as she rides off with the wolves. Ashitaka finds little forest spirits called
37:18Kadama, who guide him passageway through their forest to get to Irontown faster. On
37:22the way there, Ashitaka gets a glimpse at the legendary forest spirit, being a deer
37:26like god with the face of a human. Ashitaka makes it to Irontown, as the town thanks him
37:31for saving and returning the two of their men. Ashitaka spends some time with the men
37:36and women there. He learns that the lady workers there used to be brothel slaves, and they
37:40were rescued by Lady Eboshi in exchange for working for her at her town, and the women
37:44are very grateful and loyal for that. The men start sharing a story on how Eboshi destroyed
37:49a forest which angered a giant boar god named Nago, causing Ashitaka to realize the boar
37:53god that he was cursed by was the exact same one, and he realizes that Eboshi was responsible
37:59for it. He comes there to confront Eboshi about his curse and how she is responsible
38:02for it, but he learns that despite Eboshi's harsh actions, she is doing everything she
38:07does for the sake of protecting her people. She even takes in people sick from leprosy.
38:12When the world turned away from the lepers, Eboshi took them in, washed up their wounds,
38:16and gave them work so they can live. Now that's what really makes this film really fascinating
38:20for many people. They easily could have had Eboshi just be a pure evil woman who just
38:25wants to watch the forest burn. She just wants to destroy everything and rule everything,
38:29but everything she does is to protect her own people that she cares for, along with
38:34scaring off invading samurai and animals that threaten her kingdom. So she brings up that
38:40destroying the forest may free Princess Mononoke, for she was taken by the wolves and is under
38:45their control. Up next comes what I consider to be the best
38:48sequence in the whole film, it just gives me chills every time. So San infiltrates Irontown
38:53and fights off many of the men with the intent of killing Eboshi. Ashitaka tries stopping
38:58her from hurting anyone, but San is too afraid to listen. Upon nearly getting shot to death
39:04by Eboshi's men, Ashitaka protects San, but she charges towards Eboshi and the two
39:09begin clashing in a sword fight. Ashitaka is fed up of all this hatred as he marches
39:14between them and grabs them, preventing them from fighting. His arm starts emitting shadowy
39:19tentacles as he tries getting everyone to look at it and realize what hatred really
39:23looks like and what it does to people. Eboshi gets fed up and tries cutting off Ashitaka's
39:32arm, but he stuns her along with San. He announces that he's leaving with the wolf princess,
39:37one of Eboshi's women gets outraged at him for hurting Eboshi and she shoots him,
39:42but Ashitaka keeps on moving forward regardless of all the blood he's losing.
39:46The guards at the gate beg Ashitaka to not go any further as they are grateful
39:50to him for returning those men, but Ashitaka tries opening the gate by himself despite
39:55all the blood he's losing. His cursed arm manages to push through the gate open
40:03as he returns San to her wolf brothers. Man, this scene was just powerful and intense.
40:09Honestly, it was right after the scene where I declared, okay, I'm sorry Spirited Away,
40:14I love ya, but Princess Mononoke is my favorite Studio Ghibli film now. God, I didn't even watch
40:20it all the way through and I already declared this is my favorite movie. So anyways, San recovers in
40:25his outrage at Ashitaka for stopping her from killing Eboshi and she threatens to kill Ashitaka
40:30as he's dying from his bullet wound, but she can't go through with it. We then see an ape tribe
40:40slowly telling San to give them Ashitaka so they may eat him and gain his strength. They believe
40:45that a human strength will allow them to fight off the humans and get rid of them once and for all.
40:50It's worth noting that in this movie, the animals are ruled by animal gods,
40:54and when the gods of those animal tribe are dead, the other animals that are following that god
40:58basically grow stupid to where they lose their ability to speak, and you can kind of see that
41:02with the apes, with the way they're losing their sanity and are talking in a very slow
41:06and uneducated manner. The apes insult San by calling her a human, which angers her wolf
41:12brothers as they try stepping up for her. San decides to take Ashitaka to the forest spirit
41:17to see what the spirit wants to do with him. At night, the forest spirit turns into a giant
41:21creature called the Nightwalker. We see Jigo and his men disguised in animal skins as they try
41:26waiting for their perfect opportunity to hunt down the forest spirit, but they see the boar
41:30tribe approaching, led by their new leader Okodo, voiced once again by Keith David. The forest
41:36spirit takes some life from some of the plant life in the forest and gives it to Ashitaka
41:40to save him from his bullet wound. However, Ashitaka's curse still remains. The next morning,
41:45San reveals to Ashitaka that the forest spirit wants him to live, and she reveals how Apuul
41:50spoke with her and told her all about him and his people, and Ashitaka is still very weak as San
41:55tries nursing him back to health by feeding him jerky. The boar tribe approach Moro and they are
42:06outraged to not only see two humans with her, but are even more outraged to learn that the forest
42:11spirit spared Ashitaka, yet left their leader Nago to die. Moro tells them that San is her
42:17daughter and that Nago wasn't helped because he was afraid to die. She reveals that soon the iron
42:22lodge in her will kill her too, and she's willing to accept that. Ashitaka tries explaining how it's
42:27true that Nago turned into a demon and attacked his home and cursed him. The new leader of the
42:32boar tribe named Okodo, a blind white boar, begrudgingly believes his story, but says that
42:37he and his tribe are going to risk their lives to destroy the humans once and for all. Back in
42:42Irontown, we see how Jigo is working with Eboshi. They made a deal where Jigo would give her men to
42:47protect her town in exchange for the head of the forest spirit so he can give it to the emperor.
42:52However, Jigo is a bit of a double crosser for he has some of his men trying to take over Irontown
42:57while he's accompanying Eboshi to get the forest spirit. Ashitaka wakes up in the middle of the night
43:01and has a word with Moro. He tells Moro that she needs to set San free since she isn't a wolf. Moro
43:07is offended. She tells Ashitaka that San's real parents defiled her forest and threw San at her
43:13feet as they ran away to save their own lives. So instead of eating San, Moro took in San and
43:18raised her as her own daughter. It causes Ashitaka to realize that Eboshi was wrong about what she
43:23said about the wolves taking and controlling San. Ashitaka wants to find a way to protect both the
43:28humans and the forest, but Moro laughs at him thinking it's such an impossible thing. She warns
43:33Ashitaka to leave in the morning or she'll kill him. The following morning, Ashitaka is guided by
43:37one of Moro's sons to leave the forest. He gives the wolf his crystal dagger and asks him to give
43:42it to San. Moro decides to head to the pool of the water spirit to await her death. San decides to
43:47help with the boars and fighting off the humans. Ashitaka finds out Iron Town is under attack by
43:52Jigo's men, but he sees that the town is capable of handling the invasion for the time being. One
43:58of the workers named Toki, voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith, begs Ashitaka to bring Eboshi back alive
44:03as Ashitaka heads off to find Eboshi. Along the way he finds a bunch of wreckage as the men reveal
44:08that Jigo's men are using Eboshi and they plant a bunch of mines and bombs to attack the boars,
44:14which manage to wipe out a bunch of Eboshi's men as well. All the boars were wiped out except
44:18for Okoto, who is heavily injured and bleeding like crazy. Along with one of the wolf brothers,
44:23Asan tries guiding Okoto to safety. However, Jigo's men disguise themselves as Okoto's fallen
44:29warriors, tricking Okoto into thinking his army came back from the dead. As he blindly stampedes
44:34off of more rage, however, a demon rises out of him and he becomes a demon himself,
44:39also trapping San. Ashitaka rescues the other wolf brother who is trapped under the pile of
44:44boar corpses, and they get informed by the other wolf that San is in trouble as Ashitaka and the
44:49wolf head off to try to save San. They meet up with San, along with Okoto and Moro at the pool
44:54of the forest spirit, as they try freeing San from Okoto. Suddenly the forest spirit appears
44:59and frees Okoto from his demonic curse by taking away his life. This is both a haunting yet
45:04beautiful scene, mainly because of the music. Moro also collapses supposedly dead as well.
45:10As the forest spirit begins transforming into the nightwalker, Eboshi shoots off the head of
45:14the forest spirit as Jigo makes off with it. The nightwalker begins transforming into a black ooze
45:20that kills whatever it touches, and it starts spreading across the land. Admittedly this next
45:24part kind of confuses me, for we see a decapitated Moro lunge at Eboshi and bite her arm off. I get
45:30that it's a callback to an earlier scene where Eboshi mentioned how even without a head a wolf
45:34can still bite, but since when did Moro lose her head? The last he saw her she just collapsed,
45:39full body intact. But did the black goo from the forest spirit eat up her body or something? I
45:44wish they showed this detail. Either way, rest in peace Moro. San is outraged at Eboshi for killing
45:50the forest spirit, and she's mad at Ashitaka for helping her. He tries begging her to help him with
45:54trying to return the forest spirit's head back to the nightwalker. Ashitaka says yes I'm a human,
46:02but so are you. She's in denial and tries stabbing him with the crystal dagger, but he's unfazed and
46:08he hugs her telling her that he's sorry and he tried preventing all of this from happening.
46:15San ends up joining Ashitaka in trying to recover the head. They end up having to fight Jigo until
46:20he gives in. One detail I love about this scene is how Ashitaka tells Jigo that the head must be
46:26returned by human hands. As we see San join in in giving the head back, implying that San finally
46:32accepts the fact that she is indeed a human and not a wolf. The nightwalker accepts its head back
46:36and turns into a big gust of wind that destroys Irontown and he vanishes. After a bit of a pause,
46:42beautiful music kicks in as we see plant life growing out of Irontown's ruins, causing all
46:47the townspeople to stare in amazement. Ashitaka shows San that all the plant life is returning
46:52and San points out how the forest spirit is gone, but Ashitaka assures her that he's always with
46:56them and he's telling them that they must continue living. As we see that Ashitaka's curse is fading
47:02away slowly. San confesses that she loves Ashitaka, but she can never forgive the humans for what they
47:08did and so she's going back to the forest. Ashitaka says that he'll stay in Irontown and help them
47:13rebuild, but he promises to make time to make sure to visit her every once in a while, as the two
47:18make a bittersweet farewell. If this were any other movie it likely would have ended with the two
47:23leads getting romantically together, but no this movie does point out that it wouldn't make sense.
47:29Too much damage was done and it would feel forced to San to just forgive the humans just like that.
47:34It's a sad but harsh truth that sometimes peace is better kept by keeping a distance instead of
47:40confronting each other. We cut to Lady Eboshi being thankful that San and Ashitaka risked their
47:45lives to save everyone. She wishes to thank Ashitaka and she promises that they'll rebuild
47:50Irontown, but this time they'll do it right without causing more harm. And that was Princess Mononoke.
47:56Damn what an intense, haunting, yet beautiful environmental film. I was hooked across this
48:01entire film. Not a single scene bored me. There are a few questions that this film leaves me with
48:07though. The main one that I know a lot of people agree with is why is it called Princess Mononoke?
48:13I really think they should have stuck with the original title they conceived being The Legend
48:17of Ashitaka since this movie really is his movie. He's the one who wanted to bring peace to both
48:24sides. Calling this movie Princess Mononoke makes as little sense as calling the film Lady Eboshi.
48:29Both San and Eboshi are clashing opposites of the same coin. It doesn't make sense to name the movie
48:35after one side. Instead they should have named it after the guy who was trying to bridge peace
48:39between both sides. Either way it's a fantastic movie. One of the greatest animated movies I've
48:44ever seen. It might not be for everyone though. Like people who are squeamish of violence would
48:49definitely not like this film. It is very violent. It is very tragic, but it's got meaning in showing
48:55how ugly hatred and war really is and how the best way to live is to find value in both humanity and
49:00nature, not one over the other. And that was my list for my favorite Studio Ghibli films. I highly
49:06recommend them. Of course there are other films from the studio and some of them are pretty decent
49:11but I just didn't find them interesting enough to really talk about. I'll bet a lot of people
49:16are mad that I didn't put Totoro in this. Sorry. It's a cute film but honestly it's a little too
49:21kiddish for my taste. I just like maybe if I saw it as a kid I'd really like it, but to me it's
49:26it feels like I'm watching a preschooler show honestly. So I only wanted to talk about the 10
49:31I really appreciate. So these movies they just have a very important message of the importance
49:36of life itself and considering how dark my life has been lately I really needed this reminder more
49:42than ever. These movies are beautiful and I still can't get them out of my head. These are movies
49:47that I will always see myself coming back to. Thank you so much Studio Ghibli. Thank you so much for
49:52these movies. Even when we see the day where Miyazaki can no longer be with us I hope the
49:57studio can still find a way to keep on living. I really don't want to see this studio go. That's
50:02all I have to show for now. Thank you for watching. See you next time and have a great day.
50:22you