Mononoke Hime   The Princess Mononoke [Monster Princess]

Q: When will it be released?

In Japan, it was released in theaters on July 12th, 1997. The world release by Disney will follow. Also, it was released in Hong Kong and Taiwan in August of 1997 (the Disney/Tokuma deal does not cover the Asian market except Japan, so Tokuma released it in those countries).

According to a representative from Disney, the North American release of Mononoke Hime is "tentatively set in the second quarter of 1999" through Miramax.

However, there has been no official announcement from Disney yet.

Q: Is it coming to the US?

Yes. According to an article in the Houchi Newspaper (7/17/98), Disney plans to release it in the US, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Brazil, and so forth. Miramax is handling the distribution in the US, through its subsidiary, Dimension Film (known by such movies as "Scream").

Q: Will it be dubbed?

According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter (9/30/97), Michael Johnson, the president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said that it "will be released in both dubbed and subtitled versions, predicting that older audiences will prefer to see the latter." In a TV interview (aired in Japan), the vice president of BVHE in charge of marketing said that the cast for the English dubbed version is a "big secret".

The voice cast of the English version includes Billy Crudup as Ashitaka, Claire Danes as San, Gillian Anderson as Moro, and Minnie Driver as Eboshi.

Neil Gaiman, a writer who is known by such works as "The Sandman" is currently working on the English script of Mononoke Hime. He is not "rewriting" the script. He is just making the literal English translation of the script into "lines that people can say". According to the news release by Miramax, Gaiman stated, "I couldn't be more excited to write this script," and "My goal is to remain faithful to the story while providing a translation that a non-Japanese audience will be able to follow. To that end, I've been researching Japanese folklore."

Q: Is Disney going to cut violent scenes for the US release?

So far, all information suggests that the answer is "No." The contract between Disney and Tokuma states that Disney cannot make any changes to the film other than dubbing it. Mr. Tokuma, the president of Tokuma Publishing, and Mr. Suzuki, the producer at Ghibli, both have stated "There will be no cuts," in various interviews. That does not prevent Disney from asking (or pressuring) Tokuma to make some cuts. However, judging by the reaction from Miyazaki and Ghibli concerning the cuts in the dubbed "Nausicaa" (a.k.a. "Warriors of the Wind"), it is very unlikely that Tokuma would agree to it.

For more information, see the Disney-Tokuma Deal page at Nausicaa.net, or join the Nausicaa Mailing List.

Q: Who did the voices in the Japanese version?

Ashitaka, the protagonist, was played by MATSUDA Youji (http://www.happysize.co.jp/~matsuda/), who played Asbel in "Nausicaa". SHIMAMOTO Sumi, who played Nausicaa, was also in the cast. This time, she played Toki, a working married woman. Mononoke Hime was played by ISHIDA Yuriko. She is a popular actress who appears in a lot of "trendy drama", the fashionable shows on Japanese TV. She played the part of Okiyo (Shokichi's girlfriend) in "Pom Poko". Another familiar voice is that of KAMIJO Tsunehiko, who played Gonza. He did the voice of the Mamma Aiuto Boss in "Porco Rosso".

As in other Ghibli movies, the cast of "Mononoke Hime" is filled with great movie and stage actors, instead of Seiyuu (voice actors). Some of the very best Japanese actors are in the cast. MORISHIGE Hisaya, whose signature role is Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof", played Okkotonushi, a 500 year old Boar God. Moro no Kimi, a 300 year old Dog God was played by MIWA Akihiro. He is an actor very well known for playing mysterious female roles. MISHIMA Yukio, the famous Japanese novelist/ playwright wrote several plays for him. MORI Mitsuko, who is a sort of Angela Lansbury in Japan, played Hii-Sama, the old medium of Ashitaka's village. Eboshi Gozen (Lady Eboshi), the competent leader of the iron making people, was played by TANAKA Yuuko, another popular actress (and a very good one).

Q: Did Joe Hisaishi do the music?

Yes, of course. ^_^ The Image Album, "Mononoke Hime" is available (TKCA-70946, 3,000 yen). The Soundtrack Album is available for 3000 Yen (incl. tax). Hisaishi also wrote the song "Mononoke Hime" (lyrics by Miyazaki), which was used in the movie. It was sung by MERA Yoshikazu, a Japanese coutertenor (a male who sings in a high range). The single CD of the song is available for 700 yen (incl. tax).

Hisaishi has received the "Japan Record Award", a sort of Japanese Grammy, for his work in Mononoke Hime.

(See Sampsa Virtanen's MH CDs page)

Q: Who are other staff members?

Miyazaki is credited for the original story/screenplay/directing.

Supervising animators - ANDO Masahi, KOSAKA Kitaro, and KONDO Yoshifumi.

Ando is one of the young rising stars at Ghibli. After joining Ghibli in 1990 and worked as an inbetweener for "Only Yesterday" in 1991, he was quickly promoted to a key animator for "Porco Rosso" (1992). He worked as the supervising animator for "On Your Mark".

Another one of young talents at Ghibli, Kosaka worked as the supervising animator for "Whisper of the Heart".

A veteran animator, Kondo had worked as a character designer and supervising animator for "Grave of Fireflies", "Kiki's Delivery Service", and "Only Yesterday". Sadly, he passed away on January 21st, 1998.

Art - "Mononoke Hime" has five art directors, something totally unprecedented. They are: OGA Kazuo (Totoro, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko), YAMAMOTO Nizou (Holmes, Laputa, Grave), KURODA Satoshi (Mimi), TANAKA Naoya (Ocean Waves), and TAKESHIGE Youzou (On Your Mark).

Q: I heard that it is a very big movie. How big is it?

It's "big" in several senses. With a 2.4 billion yen (about $20 million) production cost, "Mononoke Hime" is the most expensive animated movie ever made in Japan ("Akira" cost about 1 billion yen). It's about 133 minutes long, and uses some 144,000 cels. ("Laputa" was 124 minutes and "Pom Poko" used about 82,000 cels). It earned more than 18.65 billion yen in Japan, with more than 13.53 million attendance. It became the No.1 movie of all time in Japan, beating the record held by "E.T." for 15 years (the Mononoke Hime's record has been then broken by "Titanic").

Q: I heard that Miyazaki is retiring after Mononoke Hime. Is this true?

No. He has announced that he will make another movie. Mr. Tokuma, the president of Tokuma Shoten, told a Japanese newspaper that Miyazaki's next movie will be about the 21st century. According to him, it will deal with such issues as environmental problems and terrorism, and it will have even bigger budget than Mononoke Hime. However, Miyazaki hasn't said anything about exactly what he will make next. He might have a different idea from Mr. Tokuma's.

Miyazaki did say "I think that this (Mononoke Hime) will be my last (feature-length) movie" at the press conference. In an interview, he said that he just can't go on physically, since directing a movie is such exhausting work. He also said that he is leaving Ghibli to make way for young people. However, he also stated that he "may assist in some capacity in the future", such as producing and writing scripts. Sadly, judging from his eulogy for Kondo, it seems that he was planning to write and produce another film for Kondo to direct, as he did in "Whisper of the Heart".

He has formally quit Ghibli on January 14th, 1998 (he still seems to come to Ghibli quite often). He is building a new studio, "Senior Ghibli", near Studio Ghibli as his "retirement place". He said that he has not decided what he would do there yet. He might do some "small" projects, since he said "I have been making movies which had to please 20 people out of 100. It has been very hard. But if I just have to please 2 out of 100, I can do a lot of things."

Q: Did it use computer graphics?

Yes. Ghibli bought several Silicon Graphics workstations and set up the CG division since "Mononoke Hime" uses CG extensively, in more than 100 cuts.

Computers were used in three ways: Digital painting, Digital composition, and Computer generated images. About 15 munites worth of CG were used in Mononoke Hime, of which, 10 minutes were for digital painting.

You can see that CG was used in the previews of the movie.

Q: What does "Mononoke Hime" mean?

Hime means "Princess" in Japanese. Ghibli has given Mononoke Hime the English title, "Princess Mononoke". Mononoke Hime (or Princess Mononoke) is what San, the heroine, is called by other people, since she was raised by a mononoke and looks and acts like a mononoke.

So, what is a mononoke? Good question. ^_^; It's a monster/ghost/spirit.

Mononoke means "The spirit of a thing". Basically, the Japanese blamed mononoke for every unexplainable thing, from a major natural disaster to a minor headache. A mononoke could be the spirit of an inanimate object, such as a wheel, the spirit of a dead person, the spirit of a live person, the spirit of an animal, goblins, monsters, or a spirit of nature. Totoro is also a mononoke.

Q: I heard that it was based on "Beauty and the Beast". Is it true?

What you have heard about was the old version of "Mononoke Hime". Originally, Miyazaki had planned to make "Mononoke Hime" as a story about a princess who was forced to marry a Mononoke by her feudal lord father. You have probably seen a picture of Mononoke who looks like Catbus in Totoro's body and a girl in a Kimono (see the picture below). That is from a picturebook "Mononoke Hime", which compiled image boards Miyazaki wrote back in 1980. Miyazaki tried to make it into anime, but the project never materialized (it was even considered as the second project by Tokuma after "Nausicaa", but eventually, "Laputa" was chosen), and Miyazaki put it in the book.

The story of the movie "Mononoke Hime" is completely different from that in the picturebook. Mononoke Hime is a girl who was raised by Mononoke, not who marries one. There is a new character, Ashitaka, as the hero. In fact, Miyazaki even wanted to change the title to "Ashitaka Sekki (The Tale of Ashitaka)".

Q: I heard that it's very violent. Is it true? Why?

Yes. This is not a movie for small children, like "Totoro". Miyazaki puts the targeted audience as "anyone older than 5th grade". The movie trailer has several cuts which graphically depict scenes where arms and heads of characters are cut off and fly. The movie poster features Mononoke Hime with her face smeared with blood. You have to wonder if Disney would be able to sell it as a PG13 movie.

There is a reason for violence in "Mononoke Hime". In this movie, Miyazaki tackles the themes he covered in the manga "Nausicaa": the meaning of living in the middle of destruction and despair, and overcoming hatred and vengeance. "Mononoke Hime" deals with the war between Gods and Humans, and intense hatred between them. Miyazaki said that "When there is a fight, some blood is inevitably spilled, and we cannot avoid depicting it." In the project proposal, he stated, "However, even in the middle of hatred and killings, there are things worth living for. A wonderful meeting, or a beautiful thing can exist. We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation."

Q: The movie trailer said "13 years since Nausicaa". Why?

Because "Mononoke Hime" is very close to Nausicaa in terms of its genre (action adventure story) and its theme (the relationship between humans and nature).

Miyazaki wasn't satisfied with the ending of the movie "Nausicaa", which needed a miracle to bring a happy ending to solve the conflict between humans and nature. So he took another 10 years pursuing this issue (the relationship between nature and man), writing the manga "Nausicaa", which he finally concluded in 1994. "Mononoke Hime" will be based on this conclusion: "there is no happy ending to the fight between humans and Raging Gods" (from the project proposal).

Q: When does the story take place?

It takes place in the Muromachi Era (1392-1573, or 1333-1467, depending on the scholar), around the time of the War of Onin (1467-1477). Miyazaki chose this era since the relationship between the Japanese and nature changed greatly around that time. During the Muromachi Era, iron production jumped, which required great numbers of trees to be cut down (for charcoal), and people came to feel that they could control nature. Also, it was the time before Japan as we know it was formed. It was a confusing, yet lively era. Women had more freedom, and a lot of new arts were born. The rigid class structure of Samurais, farmers, and artisans was yet to be established. Miyazaki sees similarities between the Muromachi era and the current era, which is going through various changes and confusion.

Q: What is the thing which looked like a gun in the trailer?

It is called Ishibiya (Stone Fire Arrow). Ishibiya is old Japanese for "hand cannon". Firearms were first introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in 1543. However, fireworks came from China prior to that, and there are some speculations that hand cannons are imported from China before 1543.

The Ishibiya are manufactured at Tataraba (the iron making encampment) by Lady Eboshi's men. People fight against Mononoke Hime and the Animal Gods using Ishibiya.

Q: What is the strange creature which appeared at the end of the trailer?

It is called Kodama. It means "echo" (its literal meaning is a "tree spirit"). However, since its name is written in Katakana, not in Kanji, it could also mean "small ball" or "small spirit". They (there are many, in various sizes and shapes) are a kind of spirit who live in the forest.

Q: What are Emishi?

The Emishi were "barbarians" who lived in the northeast region of Honshuu (the main island of Japan). Ashitaka, the hero, is a descendant of the Emishi Royal family. The Emishi kept their independence from the Yamato regime (the Japanese Emperor's government) for a long time, but were finally defeated by the first Shogun at the end of the 8th century. Their culture did not survive, and very little is known about them today. By the Muromachi era, when "Mononoke Hime" takes place, they had long been assimilated into Japanese society. Miyazaki used his creative freedom and made a clan of Emishi survive in a hidden village in the Northern land.

Q: What is "Tatara Ba"?

"Tatara Ba" means "Iron making place". A "Tatara" is a foot bellows which was used to make iron, and it also came to mean a particular process of iron making, and people who made iron using that process. In the Tatara iron making process, iron sands and charcoal are put in a furnace made of clay, and burned for several days.

Then, the furnace is taken down to take an iron ingot out. In this process, a great amount of charcoal is needed to melt the iron sands, and therefore, trees are a very important resource (sometimes more than iron sands) for the Tatara people.

In "Mononoke Hime", the Tatara people try to cut the forest down to keep their iron manufacturing going, and the Gods who live in the forest fight against them.

Iron signifies human civilization. Weapons (war) and tools (agriculture) made of iron are what made human civilization. Agricultural tools such as axes and spades made it possible for humans to turn forests (nature) into farmland (the human world). Agriculture made it possible to support a higher population, and a higher population means more forest being cut down. The fight between the Tatara people and the Gods of the forest really signifies the (irresolvable) conflicts between humans and nature.

Q: What is the animal with horns on which Ashitaka is riding?

It is called "Yakkle". That is its own name, its species is called "Akashihi". It is a fictional animal Miyazaki created, based on a yak. A similar animal appears in Miyazaki's manga, "Shuna's Journey".

Q: Where can I find a fansub?

(Q: What is a "fansub"? A: A fansub is a video tape that is an illegal copy of a foreign-language video tape or LD or Video-CD or other medium, onto which subtitles (superimposed text translations of the dialog, written text, or song lyrics) were applied, based on a script that has been translated (with varying degrees of accuracy) by fans (read: non-professionals) for the purpose of making a film available to fans before any commercial effort to release that feature in their country is underway. Context: fans of popular anime are often impatient with the delays between the Japanese release of their favorite titles and the commercial release.)

We would highly recommend that you do not use or distribute fan-subtitled versions of this or any other Studio Ghibli film scheduled for release by Disney, Miramax, or Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

This is because every fansub that replaces the purchase of a legally produced copy of these films:

• directly or indirectly robs Studio Ghibli of the income it is due for the effort it put into the production of these films, and
• reduces the demand for the legally produced videos and LDs, thereby making companies like Disney (who made the effort to release these films in English and other languages for your understanding and enjoyment) believe that there isn't enough demand to release any other anime from Studio Ghibli or any other source.

Do not e-mail us with requests for the fansub of this or any other Studio Ghibli film. We don't make them. We will not give you one. We will only recommend that you read FAQ pages like this one, and be patient for the official releases (which will likely include subtitled versions).

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