Princess Mononoke

Template:Nihongo foot is a 1997 Japanese animated historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Set in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, the film follows Ashitaka, a young Emishi prince who journeys west to cure his cursed arm and becomes embroiled in the conflict between Irontown and the forest of the gods, as well as the feud between Lady Eboshi and a human girl raised by wolves named San. Produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli, and distributed by Toho, it stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijō, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, and Hisaya Morishige.

Miyazaki began developing early concepts in 1980 and later considered basing a film on the Japanese literary classic the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Template:Nbsp(1212); elements of both evolved substantially into the eventual film. After taking a break to direct On Your MarkTemplate:Nbsp(1995), he led the production with a budget of Template:JPY, making it the most expensive animated film at the time. Some computer-generated imagery and other digital techniques were used in conjunction with hand-drawn animation, a first for Miyazaki. The film explores themes of environmentalism and societal diversity, partly inspired by Miyazaki's readings into novel historical and cultural studies, and presents a feminist portrayal of its characters. It also blends fantastical elements with its depiction of medieval Japanese history, influenced by the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} style. The score was composed by Joe Hisaishi, a longtime collaborator of Miyazaki's.

Princess Mononoke was theatrically released in Japan on July 12, 1997, breaking several box office records and attracting large audiences. Suzuki led the film's marketing, then the largest advertisement campaign in Japan. It eventually became the highest-grossing film in the country. Following a distribution deal struck between Tokuma Shoten and Walt Disney Studios, it was the first of Studio Ghibli's films to be released internationally and was given to Miramax Films to be dubbed into English and distributed in North America. Neil Gaiman wrote the translation, making significant alterations for its American audience; the dub underperformed at the box office. Template:As of, the film has grossed Template:USD through various theatrical and home media releases. It received a broadly positive critical response in both Japan and the United States and earned a number of major Japanese accolades, including top awards at the Mainichi Film Awards and the Japan Academy Film Prize. Its sustained popularity and cultural impact have since made it a cult film.

Plot summary

In Muromachi-era Japan, the last Emishi prince, Ashitaka, kills a gigantic demon to protect his village, but his arm is afflicted by its curse. The demon, once the boar god Nago, was corrupted by an iron ball embedded in its body. Learning that the curse will eventually kill him, Ashitaka is exiled to the west, seeking a cure by uncovering the source of Nago's hatred.

On his journey, Ashitaka discovers that the curse grants him supernatural strength. He encounters a monk named Jigo, who advises him to seek answers in the nearby mountains from the Forest SpiritTemplate:Nbsp– a deer-like god of life and death that transforms into the giant Nightwalker at sunset. Guided by tiny {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Ashitaka passes through the forest of the gods, where he catches a glimpse of the Forest Spirit. Meanwhile, a group of men led by Lady Eboshi repel an attack by a pack of wolves led by the goddess Moro and her adopted human daughter, San.

Ashitaka arrives at Irontown, a settlement that has deforested the surrounding area to mine iron, leading to conflicts with the animal gods of the forest. However, the town shelters former prostitutes and people with leprosy, who work to manufacture firearms. Eboshi, the town's leader, admits to shooting Nago, instilling the hatred that corrupted him. She also reveals her plan to kill the Forest Spirit, hoping to eradicate the gods and enable Irontown to prosper. Though Ashitaka's cursed arm tries attacking Eboshi, he resists its influence. Eboshi is collaborating with Jigo, who stands to be richly rewarded for delivering the Forest Spirit's headTemplate:Nbsp– believed to grant immortalityTemplate:Nbsp– to the Emperor.

The wolves attack; San infiltrates Irontown and duels Eboshi. Ashitaka subdues them both, but a townsperson shoots him. Strengthened by the curse, he takes San out of the town before collapsing. San threatens to kill him for sparing Eboshi, but is taken aback when he compliments her beauty. She brings Ashitaka to the Forest Spirit, who heals his wound but leaves the curse. The next day, a boar clan, led by the blind god Okkoto, declares their intention to attack Irontown, preferring to die in battle rather than allow their kind to diminish. Ashitaka recovers and implores Moro to let San escape with him, but is banished from the forest instead.

The boars assault Irontown's forces but are annihilated by their weaponry. San and the mortally wounded Okkoto retreat to the forest, unknowingly followed by Eboshi and Jigo, who use the blood of the fallen boars to deceive Okkoto into leading them to the Forest Spirit. San tries stopping him, but his pain transforms him into a demon, engulfing her. With Moro's remaining strength, she and Ashitaka free San. The Forest Spirit grants peaceful deaths to Okkoto and Moro. As it transforms into the Nightwalker, Eboshi beheads it. Its body explodes into a dark, chaotic fluid that expands in search of its head, killing everything it touchesTemplate:Nbsp– including the forestTemplate:Nbsp– and briefly reanimates Moro's head, which bites off Eboshi's arm.

Though reluctant to help the humans, San joins Ashitaka in pursuing Jigo to recover the Forest Spirit's head. Ashitaka evacuates Irontown as the Nightwalker's body floods it, and together, he and San retrieve the head from Jigo, returning it to the Nightwalker. As the sun rises, the Nightwalker dies and dissolves into the wind. In its place, the devastated land is renewed with abundant flora, and Ashitaka's curse is lifted. A repentant Eboshi resolves to build a better town. While Ashitaka chooses to help with Irontown's reconstruction, San, unable to forgive humanity, stays in the forest. They promise to meet as often as they can.

Voice cast

Template:Sronly

Character name		Voice actorTemplate:Sfn
English	Japanese	Japanese Template:Small	English Template:Small
Ashitaka	Template:Nihongo	Yōji Matsuda	Billy Crudup
San	Template:Nihongo	Yuriko Ishida	Claire Danes
Lady Eboshi	Template:Nihongo	Yūko Tanaka	Minnie Driver
Jigo	Template:Nihongo	Kaoru Kobayashi	Billy Bob Thornton
Kohroku	Template:Nihongo	Masahiko Nishimura	John DeMita
Gonza	Template:Nihongo	Tsunehiko Kamijō	John DiMaggio
Toki	Template:Nihongo	Sumi Shimamoto	Jada Pinkett Smith
Wolf	Template:Nihongo	Tetsu Watanabe	Template:Unknown
Nago	Template:Nihongo	Makoto Satō	John DiMaggioTemplate:Sfn
Ushikai	Template:Nihongo	Akira Nagoya	Template:Unknown
Moro	Template:Nihongo	Akihiro Miwa	Gillian Anderson
Oracle	Template:Nihongo	Mitsuko Mori	Debi Derryberry
Okkoto	Template:Nihongo	Hisaya Morishige	Keith David

Development

Early concepts and pre-production

Hayao Miyazaki composed the preliminary ideas for what would become Princess Mononoke in 1980 after releasing his first film, The Castle of CagliostroTemplate:Nbsp(1979),Template:Sfn drawing sketches of a princess living in the woods with a beast.Template:Sfn The story was roughly based on the "Beauty and the Beast"Template:Nbsp(1740) fairy tale, set in historical Japan.Template:Sfnm The Beast was realized as an animalistic spirit ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) whom the protagonist, the daughter of a nobleman, is forced to marry.Template:Sfnm After unsuccessfully proposing the film project to several production companies, Miyazaki published his concepts in a book in 1983,Template:Sfn republished in 2014 as Princess Mononoke: The First Story.Template:Sfn He reused various ideas from this project in works such as My Neighbor TotoroTemplate:Nbsp(1988) and Porco RossoTemplate:Nbsp(1992).Template:Sfn Shuna's JourneyTemplate:Nbsp(1983) in particular bears the closest resemblance to the eventual film, featuring a protagonist who rides an elk to the land of gods.Template:Sfn A few fundamental ideas from the 1980 concept appear in the final film, but the character designs and plot are entirely different.Template:Sfnm The film scholar Raz Greenberg wrote that the original concept also Template:Nowrap the end of tyranny vividly", in contrast with the film, showing the antagonist's fortress destroyed and its slaves emancipated.Template:Sfn According to the film scholar Rayna Denison, the stark difference between the original idea and the final film demonstrates the radical change of Miyazaki's filmmaking philosophies during that time.Template:Sfn He took cues from Japanese folklore, especially the tale of a princess with a birthmark, which evolved over time into Ashitaka's curse.<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

File:Shiratani Unsui Gorge 17.jpg

Some of the film's natural scenery was inspired by a visit to the forests of Yakushima.Template:Sfnm

Inspired by the writings of Yoshie Hotta, Miyazaki also considered creating a film adaptation of the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Template:Nbsp(1212), a Japanese literary classic on the ephemerality of life.Template:Sfn It was written by the poet Kamo no Chōmei during a period of political turmoil and natural disasters, which the animation scholar Susan J. Napier felt resonated with the "increasing sense of vulnerability" in Japanese culture during the time of the film's production.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn However, Miyazaki felt the concept was "far removed from common sense" and had no possibility of commercial success;<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> he never moved forward with this concept but continued to consider creating a historical piece.Template:Sfn Upon the completion of his manga series Nausicaä of the Valley of the WindTemplate:Nbsp(1982–1994), Miyazaki began work on the project proposal for the film in August 1994.Template:Sfnm However, encountering writer's block in December, he took a break from the production to direct the short film On Your MarkTemplate:Nbsp(1995) as a side project.Template:Sfnm Miyazaki returned to the film in April 1995 and began working on the storyboards in May.Template:Sfn The film's broad scope and high level of detail extended the pre-production process.Template:Sfn That month, Miyazaki took four of the art directors to visit the island of Yakushima,Template:Sfn which had already inspired some environments in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, to achieve the environmental depiction that he was seeking to portray.Template:Sfnm The island's relative lack of development informed their sketches of the film's forest of the gods.Template:Sfn The fifth art director, Kazuo Oga, went to the Shirakami-Sanchi mountains to draw inspiration for the Emishi village.Template:Sfn

Production and animation

Princess Mononoke was the most expensive animated film ever produced in Japan at the time.Template:Sfn It was originally allocated a budget of Template:JPY, which was expanded to Template:JPYTemplate:Efn later in the production,Template:Sfn more than double that of any previous Studio Ghibli film.Template:Sfn Miyazaki stated, "I don't care if the studio goes bankrupt."<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> The animation production commenced in July 1995.Template:Sfn Miyazaki created the storyboards using the approach he took toward serialized manga, writing the film's plot as he drew the scenes.Template:Sfn His declining sight initially caused him to use oversized paper, but he switched back to the normal size to increase the pace of the storyboarding.Template:Sfn This process was done in parallel with the animation, and the final boards outlining the end of the film were not finished until January 1997.Template:Sfn

An unusually high level of detail was afforded illustrating backgrounds and animating background characters due to the large budget available.Template:Sfn The decision to assign five art directors to the film was also unprecedented.Template:Sfn Each tackled a different aspect; for example, one handled daylight shots while another covered the nighttime.Template:Sfn The film used approximately 144,000 cels, 80,000 of them being key animation frames, more than any other Studio Ghibli film.Template:Sfnm Miyazaki is estimated to have drawn or retouched nearly 80,000 cels himself.Template:Sfn The final shots were completed in June 1997, less than a month from the release date.Template:Sfn

Computer graphics

File:Mononoke hime cgi.png

3D rendering was used to create writhing demon flesh that was digitally composited onto a hand-drawn Ashitaka.Template:Sfn

The film was created using a combination of hand-drawn animation and computer-generated imagery; approximately five minutes were animated entirely using digital processes. A further ten minutes use digital ink and paint, a technique used in all subsequent Studio Ghibli films.Template:Sfnm The company's hand-drawn methods were becoming outdated by the late 1990s,Template:Sfn and by 1997, members of Studio Ghibli's computer graphics team felt that the adoption was made largely out of necessity.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> According to Mamoru OshiiTemplate:Nbsp– a contemporary of Miyazaki'sTemplate:Nbsp– digital painting was adopted at the insistence of Michiyo Yasuda, a senior colorist at Studio Ghibli.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> While Studio Ghibli had already begun experimenting with digital techniques a few years prior on Pom PokoTemplate:Nbsp(1994), its computer graphics department was opened during the production of Princess Mononoke.Template:Sfn

Miyazaki's distaste for digital animation techniques was well known in Japan before the film's release, so his use of computer graphics came as a surprise, according to Denison.Template:Sfn He made the decision to use the new techniques early in the production, starting with the demon god in the opening sequence.Template:Sfn Certain sequences were created using 3D tools and then processed to resemble a traditionally animated sequence using a program called Toon Shader, developed by Microsoft at the studio's request.Template:Sfnm Some of this work was outsourced to the animation studio Toyo Links.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Three broad categories of digital techniques were applied to the animation: the use of digital ink and paint to finish coloring hand-drawn frames; 3D rendering and digital compositing, which put the hand-drawn images in a three-dimensional environment to create more visual depth; and morphing and particle effects, which create additional detail and smoother transitions.Template:Sfnm Template:Ill, the head of the computer graphics department, recalled that the most involved uses of digital techniques were to mask the transitions between the digital and hand-drawn elements on screen. Some characters, particularly the gods, alternate between rendering approaches in different shots.Template:Sfn

Themes

Conflicts of nature, technology, and humanity

Environmentalism is a central theme of Princess Mononoke.Template:Sfnm In the war between the forest gods and the people of Irontown, Ashitaka serves as the mediator.Template:Sfn Unlike many Western works with similar themes, the film does not present these positions as complete opposites,Template:Sfn nor does it outright reject modernity and technology.Template:Sfn The scholars Tracey Daniels-Lerberg and Matthew Lerberg wrote that it instead Template:Nowrap the unpredictable outcomes that emerge in the uncertainty that remains."Template:Sfn Both humanity and nature are given equal standing in the film's world, and Napier wrote that the film "offers a vision of life as a densely interwoven design, rather than a simple allegory of dichotomized opposites."Template:Sfn Additionally, the film portrays internal strife within parties on both sides of the conflict: the different clans of spirits disagree on how to handle the conflict, and the humans war amongst themselves for various reasons.Template:Sfnm Ashitaka's relationships with both parties are volatile and "even dissatisfying at moments", according to Daniels-Lerberg and Lerberg. They attribute this sense of unease to the focus on emotion, rather than strict logic, that the film puts on the conflict.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> According to the film critic Roger Ebert, Princess Mononoke is not a "simplistic tale of good and evil, but the story of how humans, forest animals, and nature gods all fight for their share of the new emerging order."Template:Sfn

The film scholars Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc wrote that the film simultaneously mounts a criticism of humanity's mistreatment of the natural world and "grudgingly admits" that some disputes are inevitable to facilitate technological progress.Template:Sfn While Irontown is shown to be a haven for downtrodden members of society, who have the opportunity to live honest lives and enjoy fair treatment from Eboshi,Template:Sfnm the conflict arises from the harm that the settlement causes to the surrounding environment. Greenberg identified this dynamic as a marked increase in complexity from Miyazaki's earlier works, which typically presented a utopian model as an answer to social issues.Template:Sfn Miyazaki expressed that he "meant to state [his] objection to the way environmental issues are treated",<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> referring to the general exclusion of humanity's role in environmental discourse in Japan.Template:Sfn The ecological writings of the historian Template:Ill, especially his "evergreen forest culture theory", were greatly influential on Miyazaki when creating the film's forest of the gods.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Miyazaki stated that Template:Nowrap book] taught me what I was the descendent of", and provided him an alternative to many traditional depictions of Japanese history that he disliked.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Napier saw the film as an "elegy for a lost Japan", a version of the country that predates the modern patriarchal society and was controlled by nature.Template:Sfn Setting the film in the Muromachi period allowed Miyazaki to depict the country before it had been deforested and altered by rice agricultureTemplate:Sfn and positions the film within the moment of history when "humankind pushed nature into submission", according to the animation writers Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy.Template:Sfn Miyazaki intended to portray the gods as "living animals, tortured by humans", feeling it to be an important aspect to depict in the relationship between nature and humanity.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> He was inspired for the film's concept by the Epic of GilgameshTemplate:Nbsp(Template:AbbrTemplate:Nbsp2100–1200 BCE), an ancient epic poem that depicts the death of the forest god and the ruin of humanity.Template:Sfn The philosopher Takeshi Umehara, who wrote a stage play titled GilgameshTemplate:Nbsp(1988), had previously suggested that Miyazaki adapt his work into a film; Miyazaki had declined the offer at the time but later stated that he had unconsciously included elements similar to the play in Princess Mononoke.Template:Sfn The film shares several themes with the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga, which Miyazaki had completed in 1994,Template:Sfn namely the "environmental catastrophe, the role of technology and warfare, and human interactions with nonhuman species", according to Napier.Template:Sfn Clements and McCarthy wrote that the film was conceived partly due to Miyazaki's discontent with the narrative of the manga's film adaptationTemplate:Nbsp(1984), in which the environmental theme was suddenly resolved via a deus ex machina.Template:Sfn

Miyazaki's filmmaking style changed considerably in the 1990s in response to various geopolitical conflicts, including the Gulf War and the Yugoslav Wars following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.Template:Sfn He was especially critical of Japan's decision to provide military aid in the Gulf War, which he considered a violation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> These events disheartened Miyazaki, who compared them to the preamble to World War I and felt he was watching history repeat itself.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> In 1995, two disasters occurred in Japan that had a marked negative impact on its culture: the Great Hanshin earthquake, which killed thousands and became the worst on record since 1923, and the Tokyo subway sarin attack perpetrated by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. Napier wrote that these had an effect "on both a psychological and an environmental level" and heightened the country's cultural "emptiness" following the Japanese asset price bubble bursting in 1992.Template:Sfn After finishing Porco Rosso, Miyazaki resolved to create a "substantial film" that acknowledged academic discourse, eschewing the escapist philosophy of his earlier works.Template:Sfn He instead set out to depict the philosophy that, "no matter how messy things get, we have no choice but to go on living."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Heterogeneity of society

File:Tama-Zenshoen Houses.jpg

The Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium, which Miyazaki was inspired by during the production.Template:Sfn

Napier wrote that "the sense of a broken heterogeneous world is stridently manifest" within Princess Mononoke.Template:Sfn The film challenges popular cultural beliefs, such as the existence of a homogenous Japanese ethnicity ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Template:--), by depicting social outcasts and peoples not of Yamato origin.Template:Sfn The Emishi people are related to the modern Ainu people,Template:Sfnm and Miyazaki highlights this difference in the film: Ashitaka is immediately treated as a stranger at many of the villages he visits.Template:Sfn The film scholar Eija Niskanen wrote that the film also critiques the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, a group of ethnonationalist theories about Japan that claim its culture is unique from others and depict the nation's people as uniform.Template:Sfn The film scholar Shiro Yoshioka felt that the writing of Yoshihiko Amino, another historical scholar, influenced Miyazaki's writing in this regard.Template:Sfn According to Denison, his explorations result in highly polarized characters and participants on both sides of the conflict becoming "monstrous".Template:Sfn Miyazaki said that more recent historical studies had increasingly focused on the lifestyles of common people outside the nobility, many of which do not align with the theories of a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> He was also inspired to portray people with leprosy after visiting the Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium near his home in Tokyo. He commented afterwards, "In the middle of no matter what kind of misery there is joy and laughter. In human life which tends toward ambiguity, I have never seen a place which shows this with such clarity."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Napier felt that the film proposes a possible future Japanese identity that highlights non-uniformity and the role of women.Template:Sfn Toshio SuzukiTemplate:Nbsp– the film's producer and a longtime friend of Miyazaki'sTemplate:Nbsp– stated that Miyazaki was a feminist and brought ideals of gender equality to his professional life as well as his fictional works.<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> However, McCarthy felt that his prior portrayals of women were predicated in a fundamentally patriarchal worldview; Miyazaki's female characters succeed only when given the opportunity to in a society ultimately governed by men.Template:Sfn She argued that the protagonists Ashitaka and San were constructed incrementally through various predecessors in Miyazaki's works.Template:Sfn His earlier films also portrayed young characters as able and driven to change the world, which is not continued here.Template:Sfn San, according to Napier, is an "embodiment of Miyazaki's anger with what he increasingly perceived as a stupid and chaotic world."Template:Sfn She also found San's early appearance in the film with a bloodstained face to create a vivid image of violence, wildness, and "aggressive sexuality that is confrontational rather than alluring."Template:Sfn McCarthy wrote that San is Miyazaki's only female protagonist to be entirely unbound from patriarchy, refusing to accept a domestic life even despite her love for Ashitaka.Template:Sfn In a divergence from Miyazaki's previous works that close with clearly optimistic outlooks, the film ends in an ambiguous manner; the Forest Spirit's death revives nature, but the wild forests remain felled,Template:Sfn and Ashitaka and San do not stay together but agree to occasionally meet.Template:Sfn

Napier felt that the film's conflicting philosophies do not facilitate the inclusion of an antagonist of a similar kind to the Count from The Castle of Cagliostro or Muska from Castle in the SkyTemplate:Nbsp(1986).Template:Sfn Eboshi's initial characterization sets her in the role of a villain: the belligerent of the environmental conflict and the cause of Nago's demonic corruption.Template:Sfn However, this impression is repeatedly challenged by depictions of her leadership and caregiving qualities; the community of Irontown holds sincere respect for her, and her sheltering of former prostitutes and people affected by leprosy contravenes many traditional roles of femininity.Template:Sfnm Miyazaki's depictions of female characters working on iron and people with leprosy manufacturing weapons are considerable departures from historical views.Template:Sfn Napier emphasized that the decision to place a female character in this leadership position prevents her stance from being viewed as a cliché of oppressive militarism or the interpretation of technology as inherently detrimental.Template:Sfn She wrote that Eboshi can be viewed as a tragic character because she is not evil but is forced to become an aggressor to safeguard her progressive community.Template:Sfn Although Eboshi and San represent diametrically opposed views, they share many leadership and nurturing characteristics,Template:Sfn and the scholar Alice Vernon examined the relationship between the two as a symbiotic one, where Eboshi represents a possible future image of San.Template:Sfn

Style

File:Kaparamipu and attushi, Ainou clothings. Museum der Kulturen Basel.jpg

Some of the costumes in the film resemble traditional Ainu clothing.Template:Sfn

Princess Mononoke marked the first time Miyazaki explored a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} styleTemplate:Nbsp– a period drama focusing on the lives of historic Japanese people.Template:Sfn He particularly appreciated the works of Akira Kurosawa, who had directed several key films in the genre.Template:Sfn The film subverts many traditional elements of the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, such as the portrayals of the Emperor and the samurai as sacred and noble.Template:Sfn Miyazaki chose not to align with typical depictions of the Muromachi period, such as the development of high culture or Zen aesthetics in the capital city of Kyoto.Template:Sfn Napier wrote that the forest of the gods also subverts typical depictions of nature in the Muromachi period; as opposed to carefully tended Zen gardens, it is untamed, violent, and largely avoided by humans.Template:Sfn The film exaggerates its historical perspective to facilitate the narrative; Irontown, for example, is inspired primarily by metalworking settlements in China.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Miyazaki lacked a historical reference for the Emishi people's garments, so the clothing worn by the girls in Ashitaka's village is influenced by styles from Bhutan and Thailand,<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb.</ref> and other characters' embroidered fabrics resemble traditional Ainu clothing.Template:Sfn Instead of traditional arms, guns are the primary weapons in the film's conflict.Template:Sfn Isao TakahataTemplate:Nbsp– a fellow director and longtime friend of Miyazaki'sTemplate:Nbsp– said that the film was "dangerously liable to give the audiences misconceived impressions of history."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Napier wrote that the film goes "beyond realism" to support its themes,Template:Sfn and the critic Kazuhiko Komatsu felt that its world, while sometimes consistent with historical fact, is essentially Miyazaki's fantasy.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

According to Napier, the film presents a much "grimmer" tone than Miyazaki's previous works, inspired by the themes of the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.Template:Sfn She contrasted Miyazaki's previous depictions of historical settings to the film's rendering of the Muromachi period, which she wrote "refuses to sentimentalize the medieval history it highlights".Template:Sfn The film is unusual in Miyazaki's filmography for its lack of flying sequences. Napier suggested that its focus on lateral motion over vertical can be tied to the "sense of entrapment and desperation" it presents.Template:Sfn Studio Ghibli had begun hiring full-time animators by the early 1990s, in contrast to the industry standard of staff being employed on short-term contracts. Denison wrote that this helped the studio develop an animated "house style" over time.Template:Sfn Miyazaki felt that an important aspect of this style was the studio's aptitude for illustrating the natural world;<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Denison observed from an interview with the art directors that their approach was to "simplify and caricature nature's essential meanings", prioritizing moments of contemplation and mindfulness of the surrounding landscape.Template:Sfn The film uses a palette for the forest that contrasts with the pastel colors typically used in Miyazaki films, employing darker shades of green and brown.Template:Sfn Napier emphasized that the medium of animation, compared to live action, is well suited for exploring the film's themes.Template:Sfn The film depicts a number of animals and gods, but she noted that they are entirely distinct from the humans; most notably, the Forest Spirit presents a serene yet entirely foreign visage.Template:Sfn

Release

Marketing and Japanese release

The promotional strategy was spearheaded by Suzuki, who by 1997 had already developed relationships within the media industry while promoting previous Studio Ghibli releases.Template:Sfn Napier noted that the marketing put the film under the Studio Ghibli brand for the first timeTemplate:Nbsp– as opposed to previous works that were labeled primarily as Miyazaki filmsTemplate:Nbsp– which she felt reflected Suzuki's rising position as the studio's main producer.Template:Sfn According to Suzuki, three important elements of the campaign were the repeated use of a recognizable title logo, key imagery from the film, and a tagline.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> The tagline underwent several iterations before, with Suzuki's input, the final phrase was chosen: "Live."Template:Sfn Suzuki also changed the title from the original intention of The Legend of AshitakaTemplate:Hair spaceTemplate:Efn without Miyazaki's initial approval, as he found it less interesting.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> The budget allotted for the film's promotion was at least Template:JPY,Template:Efn even higher than the production budget, making it the largest film advertisement campaign in Japan at the time.Template:Sfn Yoshioka argued that it was essential for Princess Mononoke to be a commercial success to make up for the large production budget, and the scale of its campaign was significantly expanded from previous films' as a result.Template:Sfn Several types of merchandise, such as stuffed {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and copies of San's mask, were sold.Template:Sfn A number of preview screenings were organized before the release to advertise the film by word of mouth; 130 of them were originally scheduled, and 70 were ultimately held, a number that the film scholar Seiji Kanō still found "astonishing". Miyazaki's previous film, Porco Rosso, had had only 23 screenings by comparison.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

After Walt Disney Studios and Studio Ghibli's then–parent company, Tokuma Shoten, secured their distribution deal in 1997, the film would be the first among Miyazaki's works to receive a worldwide release. While the arrangement did extend the studio's reach to new regions, the announcement was made primarily to attract local audiences.Template:Sfnm Miyazaki also hinted at his retirement following the film's release, further piquing audience interest.Template:Sfn The film was marketed as a split between an anime and an art house film, avoiding advertising in the mainstream ahead of its release.Template:Sfn Denison felt that this choice was indicative of the studio's initial lack of confidence in the film's commercial viabilityTemplate:Sfn and their perception of its financial riskiness.Template:Sfn Template:Ill, the president of Tokuma Shoten, said in an interview before the release that it would be a "huge success" just to make back the investments that had been put into the film.<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Denison argued, however, that the marketing campaign's scale revealed the studio's ultimate aim to achieve a commercial success;Template:Sfn she interpreted this approach as a "local equivalent of the 'calculated' blockbuster film."Template:Sfn

Princess Mononoke was presented by Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television, and Dentsu, and released by Toho in Japan on July 12, 1997.Template:Sfnm It was the subject of immense public anticipation, and it was screened at 260 of the country's 1800 cinemas,<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> many of which reported audiences queueing to purchase tickets in previously unseen numbers.Template:Sfn The Japanese specialist magazine Animage, which was published by Tokuma Shoten and had been closely associated with Studio Ghibli since the 1980s, released special issues on the film, as did several other publications.Template:Sfnm Newspapers began to refer to the film's release as the "Mononoke phenomenon",Template:Sfn as by the end of its first week, the film had brought in over a million viewers and earned Template:JPYTemplate:Efn at the box office.Template:Sfn Advertising for the film labeled it a blockbuster ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), and it increasingly competed with many high-profile films in the Japanese market, including Hollywood imports such as The Lost World: Jurassic ParkTemplate:Nbsp(1997).Template:Sfnm By November, it had surpassed Template:JPYTemplate:Efn in distribution rental sales, breaking the national record previously held by E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialTemplate:Nbsp(1982).Template:Sfn During that period, 12Template:Nbspmillion people, a tenth of Japan's population at the time, saw the film in theaters.Template:Sfn A year after the film's release, it had attracted over 14.2Template:Nbspmillion viewersTemplate:Sfn and earned Template:JPYTemplate:Efn in gross revenue,Template:Sfn making it the all-time highest-grossing film in the country.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

English dub and American release

File:Gaiman, Neil (2007).jpg

Neil Gaiman (2007 photograph), who wrote the English script

As part of the Disney–Tokuma deal, the film was handed over to Miramax Films, a Disney subsidiary at the time, to dub and distribute in the United States and other regions.Template:Sfn The dub was directed by Jack Fletcher, who had previously worked on the dubs of other Studio Ghibli films such as Kiki's Delivery Service,Template:Sfn and its script was written by the fantasy author Neil Gaiman, who was an unusual choice for anime localizations at the time, according to Denison.Template:Sfn Gaiman claimed that Harvey Weinstein, who was the head of Miramax at the time, initially offered the role to the film director Quentin Tarantino, who had then recommended Gaiman instead. Gaiman had intended to decline the offer before being impressed by a scene in which a stone wets in the falling rain, saying, "I have never seen anything like this. This is real filmmaking."Template:Sfn Steve Alpert, an executive at Studio Ghibli, assisted with the translation.Template:Sfn

Denison wrote that Miramax's approach to the dub "might be termed a project of indigenization" with an intent to form a new identity for the film outside of Japan.Template:Sfn The language scholar JenniferTemplate:NbspE. Nicholson wrote that the English dub's changes more closely approach an adaptation than a translation.Template:Sfn Cultural differences between the United States and Japan, amplified by the film's discussion of specifically Japanese elements, resulted in a script that co-mingled the two languages and cultures.Template:Sfnm Gaiman inserted dialog for off-screen characters elucidating cultural concepts considered obscure for American audiences.Template:Sfn Humor in particular demanded significant alterations; Gaiman approached the issue by searching for an "emotional equivalent" for the lines instead of considering the reason the originals were humorous.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Gaiman later recalled that although he oversaw the writing process, some script alterations were made without his knowledge. Several of the changes removed terms that identified the setting, such as substituting {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} with wine and removing mentions of Japan and China.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Nicholson found these decisions indicative of Miramax's intent to strip the film of its cultural context and divorce it from history entirely.Template:Sfn Gaiman also recalled his drafts receiving contradictory corrections from both Miramax and Studio Ghibli, to which he responded by writing two sets of revisions and asking them to "go fight it out amongst [themselves]."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

The film featured a variety of celebrity voice actors who had developed followings in both traditional acting and voice acting roles.Template:Sfn Denison wrote that various American and British accents were chosen to further remove elements of Japanese culture and color the film with "the 'American' voice that narrates it."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> The English-language release was marketed primarily as an art house film,Template:Sfn and the media scholar Emma Pett felt that choosing the Miramax label rather than the family film–oriented Buena Vista label helped target the film towards a "middlebrow, culturally sophisticated audience" outside the mainstream.Template:Sfn By this time, Weinstein had developed a reputation for importing and cutting international films to appeal to domestic audiences.Template:Sfn However, among the terms of the distribution deal were that Studio Ghibli would approve and have ultimate control of the translation and that the film would not have any time cut.Template:Sfn Weinstein attempted to convince Miyazaki and Suzuki otherwise but was unsuccessful.Template:Efn Gaiman said that Miramax rolled back the planned marketing campaign and opened the film in a very limited number of screens.Template:Sfn The English dub was first screened at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 1998,Template:Sfn and premiered at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York City on September 26, 1999.Template:Sfn It underperformed at the American box office, earning only Template:USD.Template:Sfn

Home media and other releases

The film was released on VHS in Japan by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 1997 and on LaserDisc by Tokuma Shoten in 1998.Template:Sfn Several related books have been published, including a manga series derived from the film's cels, art books with early sketches and storyboards, and reference works written by various academics.Template:Sfn The English dub was released theatrically in Japan on April 29, 2000, with Japanese-language subtitles. A documentary titled Mononoke-hime in U.S.A. was released concurrently.Template:Sfn These and other screenings internationally brought the English dub's total earnings to Template:USD at the time.Template:Sfn The film has also been released on home media in various European and Asian regions.Template:Sfn

The DVD release in North America was not initially set to include the Japanese audio track. Online petitions were opened to retain it,Template:Sfn and the planned August 2000 release was consequently delayed.Template:Sfn Miramax released the DVD on December 19, 2000, featuring the original Japanese audio, the English dub audio, and extras including a trailer and a documentary.Template:Sfn Nikkei Business reported that 4.4Template:Nbspmillion DVD units were sold in Japan Template:As of.Template:Sfn

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray in 2014, and it was included in a collection of Miyazaki's films in 2015.Template:Sfn GKIDS re-issued it on DVD and Blu-ray in 2017.Template:Sfn Template:As of, the film has grossed Template:USD from Blu-ray sales in the United States.Template:Sfn It has since received multiple worldwide theatrical re-releases, including at the annual Studio Ghibli Fest organized by GKIDS.Template:Sfn

GKIDS released the film in IMAX theaters in March 2025, featuring a remastered version in 4K resolution. Template:Ill, the vice president of Studio Ghibli, said that the original negatives had been preserved and rescanned in 4K over 10 years prior.Template:Sfn The remaster has grossed Template:USD in the North American box office Template:As of,Template:Sfn bringing the film's cumulative worldwide total to Template:USD.Template:Sfn

Music

{{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Parasite Eve1997Hana-bi1998soundtrackPrincess Mononoke SoundtrackJoe HisaishiJuly 2, 199765:05Tokuma Japan CommunicationsJoe Hisaishix|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

File:Joe Hisaishi 2011.jpg

Joe Hisaishi (2011 photograph), the soundtrack composer

As with most of Miyazaki's previous films, Princess MononokeTemplate:'s score was composed by Joe Hisaishi.Template:Sfn According to McCarthy, the score's development involved a much closer collaboration between the two than on previous works.Template:Sfn Hisaishi first composed an image albumTemplate:Nbsp– a collection of demos and musical sketches that serve as a precursor to the finished scoreTemplate:Nbsp– which he shared with Miyazaki and Suzuki.Template:Sfn The unused title The Legend of Ashitaka appears here as the title of the opening theme.Template:Sfnm With their input, the demos were then worked into the final score, performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra.Template:Sfnm Tokuma Shoten released the image album in July 1996 and the soundtrack album in July 1997.Template:Sfn The vocal theme song performed by the countertenor singer Yoshikazu Mera was released as a single before the film's release and became popular with Japanese audiences.Template:Sfn A third version of the soundtrack, arranged for symphony orchestra and performed by the Czech Philharmonic, was released in 1998. All three albums were issued on vinyl records in 2020.Template:Sfn

The vocal theme was re-recorded for the English dub by the American vocalist Sasha Lazard. Denison argued that this was a part of Miramax's efforts to remove the film's Japanese elements, but she also acknowledged that the score deviates substantially from a typical Hollywood-style compositional approach. For example, leitmotifs, which are commonly used to represent characters or settings, are instead used in transitional moments between more significant narrative events.Template:Sfn McCarthy wrote that the film complements the scenes featuring music and dialog with a liberal use of silence and ambient sounds to augment the tension of certain moments, a significant departure from American scoring approaches.Template:Sfn The musicology scholar Stacey Jocoy highlighted the emphatic use of brass instruments to accompany the film's epic story.Template:Sfn Hisaishi employs Japanese pentatonic scales in conjunction with Western tonalities,Template:Sfn and Jocoy analyzed the melody featuring this scale in San's theme as symbolic of her desire for "peace and beauty". The contrasting cluster chordsTemplate:Nbsp– which she found similar to those of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of SpringTemplate:Nbsp(1913)Template:Nbsp– are used to represent San's aggression.Template:Sfn

Music releases for Princess MononokeTemplate:HairspaceTemplate:Sfnm

Release date	English title	Japanese title	Estimated units
Template:Dts	Princess Mononoke Image Album	lang}}	Template:Nts
Template:Dts	Template:SortTemplate:Efn	lang}}	Template:Nts
Template:Dts	Princess Mononoke Soundtrack	lang}}	Template:Nts
Template:Dts	Princess Mononoke Symphonic Suite	lang}}	Template:Nts

Reception

Critical response

The film was generally well received by critics in Japan, and Kanō described a "flurry of praise" in the Japanese media following its box office success.Template:Sfn The Asahi ShimbunTemplate:'s Noboru Akiyama felt that the work displayed a "strong artistic quality" and a number of reviews in animation magazines highlighted its visual fidelity.<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Several publications featured articles from critics and academics covering several aspects of the film's production as well as interviews with key staff.Template:Sfn According to Yoshioka, a variety of academics were attracted to write about the film due to themes such as Japanese cultural history being relatively "easy topics" to cover, as well as in response to Miyazaki's growing status as a public intellectual ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) within Japanese society.Template:Sfn Some scholars speculated on the contributing factors to the film's success; a number commented on the reactions of younger audience members, who found the themes relatable to their personal struggles and empathized with its motifs of hope.Template:Sfn Napier also wrote that the themes of conflict and coexistence with nature and the spirit world resonated strongly with Japanese viewers.Template:Sfn Very few reviews directed criticism at the film, and among them Kanō found many of the comments to be "highly questionable".Template:Sfn Kenichiro Horii of the Shūkan Bunshun found the text difficult to parse, and others were disappointed by the fantasy that Miyazaki had constructed. A few critics also faulted the female characters' lack of sex appeal.<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Despite its poor performance in the American box office, the film received widespread praise from critics in the United States.Template:Sfnm On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the film was assigned a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.Template:Sfn On Rotten Tomatoes, Template:RT data of the Template:RT data critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8 out of 10. The website's consensus reads, "With its epic story and breathtaking visuals, Princess Mononoke is a landmark in the world of animation."Template:Sfn In 2018, Pett conducted a meta-analysis of 1065 critical reviews published in the United States and the United Kingdom.Template:Sfn Initial reviews often discussed the cultural differences that the film would exhibit and the alterations that Miramax had made to the presentation; Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly was generally appreciative but felt "very curious to see if American audiences can handle it."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> While Janet Maslin of The New York Times felt that the film had been "effectively translatedTemplate:Nbsp[...] without losing its Japanese essence",<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Michael Atkinson wrote in Mr. Showbiz that "an enormous amount of something or other got lost in the translation."<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Many critics compared the film with the family-oriented works, primarily produced by Disney, which defined audience expectations for animations in the United States.Template:Sfn VarietyTemplate:'s Leonard Klady wrote that the film Template:Nowrap in the face of popular Western animation" by eschewing musical numbers or narratives written to appeal to children.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Stephen Hunter commented in an article for The Washington Post that the animation is "completely vivid and exquisitely detailed", but lacks the fluidity of Disney's works.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> Critics also highlighted the violence and mature themes as aspects inappropriate for children.Template:Sfn Burr and others favorably compared the film's fantasy elements with those of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom MenaceTemplate:Nbsp(1999)Template:Nbsp– which had been released a few months priorTemplate:Nbsp– and novels such as The Lord of the RingsTemplate:Nbsp(1954–1955) and The Chronicles of NarniaTemplate:Nbsp(1950–1956).Template:Sfn Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times considered the film Miyazaki's best and recommended it for an Academy Award nomination.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> In the United Kingdom, however, the film received a very limited number of reviews and was largely panned by critics. Pett and the journalist Andrew Osmond ascribed this to a general negative perception of anime in British society at the time, rooted in controversies caused by some violent and sexually explicit animations.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref>

Several publications have featured Princess Mononoke in their lists of best films. Animage ranked it 47th in their list of the 100 best anime in 2001.Template:Sfn Empire ranked it 488th on their list of the 500 greatest filmsTemplate:Sfn and placed it 3rd on their 2024 list of the 50 greatest animated films.Template:Sfn It also ranked 13th on PasteTemplate:'s list of the 100 best anime filmsTemplate:Sfn and 26th on Time Out and Total FilmTemplate:'s lists of the greatest animated films.Template:Sfnm

Accolades

Japan submitted Princess Mononoke for Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards,Template:Sfn but it was not nominated.Template:Sfn

Template:Sronly

Award / Publication	Year	Category	Recipient	Result	Template:Refh
Kinema Junpo	Template:Dts	Best Ten (Critics' Choice)	Princess Mononoke	Template:Runner up	Template:Sfn
		Best Ten (Readers' Choice)		Template:Won
		Best Director (Readers' Choice)	Template:Sort	Template:Won
52nd Mainichi Film Awards		Best Film	Princess Mononoke	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
		Best Animation Film		Template:Won
		Japanese Movie Fans' Choice		Template:Won
10th Nikkan Sports Film Awards		Best Director	Template:Sort	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
		Yūjirō Ishihara Award	Princess Mononoke	Template:Won
1st Japan Media Arts Festival		Grand Prize in Animation		Template:Won	Template:Sfn
7th Tokyo Sports Film Award		Best Director		Template:Won
Osaka Film Festival		Special Award		Template:Won
21st Template:Ill		Cultural Award	Template:Sort	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
15th Template:Ill		Gold Award	Princess Mononoke	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
39th Japan Record Awards		Best Composer	Template:Sort	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
		Best Album Production	Princess Mononoke Soundtrack	Template:WonTemplate:Efn
21st Japan Academy Film Prize	Template:Dts	Picture of the Year	Princess Mononoke	Template:WonTemplate:Efn	Template:Sfn
		Special Award	Template:Sort	Template:Won
40th Blue Ribbon Awards		Special Award	Princess Mononoke	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
22nd Hochi Film Awards		Special Award		Template:Won	Template:Sfn
12th Template:Ill		Best Director	Template:Sort	Template:WonTemplate:Efn	Template:Sfn
Elan d'or Awards		Special Prize	Princess Mononoke	Template:Won	Template:Sfn
28th Annie Awards	Template:Dts	Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production	Template:Sort	Template:NomTemplate:Efn	Template:Sfn
4th Golden Satellite Awards		Best Animated or Mixed Media Film	Princess Mononoke	Template:Nom	Template:Sfn
27th Saturn Awards	Template:Dts	Best Home Video Release		Template:Won	Template:Sfn
36th Nebula Awards		Best Script		Template:Nom	Template:Sfn

Legacy

File:James Cameron by Gage Skidmore.jpg

James Cameron (2016 photograph) cited Princess Mononoke as an influence on his science fiction film AvatarTemplate:Nbsp(2009).Template:Sfn

According to Napier, the film is commonly considered to be Miyazaki's most significant feature film.Template:Sfn She wrote that it marked a "new chapter" in his filmography on account of its nuanced and intermingled themes and the unprecedented scope of its production.Template:Sfn The film was longer and more expensive to produce than any Studio Ghibli film up to that point, which Napier reported induced a high level of stress and demanded "almost superhuman efforts" from the entire staff, including Miyazaki. Some senior employees, worn out from the film's production, left Studio Ghibli in its aftermath, with Miyazaki himself increasingly withdrawing from public relations.Template:Sfn Suzuki recounted that Miyazaki was overtaxed from supervising the storyboards, music, and vocal recordings and had "given his body and soul" to the production.<ref>Template:Harvnb, cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> In an interview before the film's release, Miyazaki said that, "Physically, I just can't go on."<ref>Cited in Template:Harvnb.</ref> He resigned in 1998 but returned shortly after to direct Spirited AwayTemplate:Nbsp(2001) following the death of Yoshifumi Kondō, who was intended to be Miyazaki's successor at Studio Ghibli.Template:Sfn

Princess Mononoke was the first film in which Miyazaki directly referenced scholarly writing, which strongly contributed to his status in Japanese society as a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and marked his works out for further academic inquiry.Template:Sfn Alongside Neon Genesis EvangelionTemplate:Nbsp(1995–1996), the film laid the foundation for anime to become the subject of study by academics and critics.Template:Sfn Yoshioka suggested that Miyazaki's growing reputation may have constrained his later creationsTemplate:Nbsp– as he never wrote a feature film in the style of his earlier action-adventure works after Princess MononokeTemplate:Nbsp– and motivated him to retire from the public eye.Template:Sfn McCarthy, however, felt that the film provides a novel view of femininity that allows the female characters to express themselves without needing comparison to the men but writes that Miyazaki "opened the gates of this marvelous possibility" only to revert to traditional storytelling and character archetypes in later films.Template:Sfn

Yoshioka felt the film's widespread success turned Miyazaki into an "icon of contemporary Japanese cinema" on the international stage and primed many of his subsequent works to become commercial successes in turn.Template:Sfn It has since become a cult film due to its sustained popularity among fans,Template:Sfnm and Pett wrote that the film is now an "established cultural touchstone", identifying multiple other works that it had influenced.Template:Sfn James Cameron, for example, cited the film as an influence on his science fiction film AvatarTemplate:Nbsp(2009).Template:Sfn Critics have also named a number of video games that take influence from the film, including Ori and the Blind ForestTemplate:Nbsp(2015)Template:Sfn and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildTemplate:Nbsp(2017).Template:Sfn Pett identified a shift in critical writings that reinterpreted San as a feminist figure.Template:Sfn In April 2013, Studio Ghibli partnered with the English production company Whole Hog Theatre to create a stage adaptation of the film.Template:Sfn It premiered at the New Diorama Theatre in London after selling out a year ahead of timeTemplate:Sfn and moved to Tokyo later that year.Template:Sfn In 2025, a newly discovered species of deepwater tilefish was named Branchiostegus sanae after the character San.Template:Sfn

References

Book and journal sources

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite encyclopedia
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
  • Template:Harvc
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
  • Template:Harvc
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal

Magazine and news sources

• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite magazine
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite magazine
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite magazine
• Template:Cite magazine

Online and other sources

• Template:Cite press release
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite episode
• Template:Cite AV media
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite news
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Rotten Tomatoes data

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} Template:Refend

Further reading

• Template:Harvc
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal

External links

• Template:Official website (in Japanese)
• Template:Anime News Network
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0119698

 | title/{{#if: {{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0119698|2=^tt}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | tt0119698/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345|from=}}
   | title/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D&s=tt
   }}
 }}{{#ifeq: {{#invoke:If any equal|main|Q618779|Q67325957|Q33999|value=Template:Wikidata}} | yes 
     | {{#switch: Template:Wikidata 
       | Q618779 
       | Q67325957  = awards Awards for
       | Q33999  = fullcredits Full cast and crew of
       }}
   | {{#if: Template:Wikidata 
     | {{#switch: Template:Wikidata
       | Q63032896 
       | Q66763446  = fullcredits Full cast and crew of
       | Q107974527 
       | Q482994  = soundtrack Soundtrack of
       }}
     }}
   }} Template:Trim] at {{#if: | IMDb | IMDb }}Template:EditAtWikidata{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb title with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | 3 | description | id | link_hide | qid | quotes | title }}{{#switch: {{#invoke:String2|matchAny|^tt.........|^tt.......|tt|.........|source=0119698|plain=false}}| 1 | 3 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning| 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning}}{{#if: 0119698 {{#property:P345}} || Template:Preview warningTemplate:Main other }}{{#switch: Template:Wikidata 

| Q21191270 | Q21664088 | Q50062923 | Q50914552 | Q99079902 | Q123186929 | Q55422400 | Q61220733 =Template:Preview warning | Q3464665 =Template:Preview warning }}{{#ifeq: Template:Wikidata | Q21191270 |Template:Preview warning }}{{#if: 0119698 | Template:WikidataCheck }}