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| Genre: | Animation - Family |
| Year: | 1986 |
| Rating: | NR |
| Length: | 2 Hours 5 Minutes |
| Cast: | Hayao Miyazaki, James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Mark Hamill |
Perhaps the finest early creation by Spirited Away's anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki, Castle in the Sky (1986) is a soaring mix of gentle fairy-tale enchantment and high-flying aerial adventure. Inspired as much by Jonathan Swift (who conceived of the idea of a "castle in the sky" in Gulliver's Travels) as by Miyazaki's avowed love of aircraft, the story concerns two young children, Sheeta, a tragically orphaned girl, and Pazu, a boy determined to journey to a legendary kingdom in the clouds that his father once discovered. With the help of a band of air pirates (led by one of Miyazaki's most memorable creations, the fiery Ma Dola), Sheeta and Pazu make it to the castle in the sky, but only to face the threat of Muska, a scheming government agent who wants control of the kingdom's ancient-but-lethal technology. Although considered a box office disappointment when first released to Japanese theaters, Castle in the Sky retains all the linchpins of a Miyazaki classic: strong child characters, fantastic gadgets, and a visionary's sense of wonder. In a continued championing of the director's work, Disney's DVD offers a new English dub of the movie, featuring performances by Anna Paquin (as Sheeta), James Van Der Beek (as Pazu), and Cloris Leachman (as Dola). Volk Lindsay
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