Princess Mononoke, (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)

Princess Mononoke is a Japenese anime film and was directed by Hayao Miyazaki and originally released in 1997. The version I watched, the English dubbed version, was released in 2001 and had a completly new cast.

The film starred Billy Cudrup, Claire Daines, Gillian Anderson, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Billy-Bob Thornton and Minnie Driver among others. I think that the addition of Claire Daines to the English version cast was a good choice as her name on the cast list may be a reason for viewers who have never watched films in the anime genre and also the 'Studio Ghibli Collection' before to make this their first anime film.

Although less well received and less well known as Miyazaki's more recent films, like Spirited Away, I think that Princess Mononoke is both visually and narrativly excellent and interesting. When I first watched this film, I had never seen any Japenese Anime films before and had been recomended them by a friend. I really enjoyed Princess Mononoke as it has a great plot and the animation was really well made. I have since gone on to watch other films from the 'Studio Ghibli Collection' and would now watch and recomend any film directed by Hayao Miyazaki.


Trailer for Princess Mononoke:

Joe Johnson