Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

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This article is about a film. For the manga of the same name, see Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga).

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Image:Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.jpg Region 1 DVD cover
Directed by	Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by	Isao Takahata
Written by	Hayao Miyazaki
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography	Hideshi Kyonen
Editing by	Naoki Kaneko Tomoko Kida Shiyoji Sakai
Release date(s)	March 4, 1984
Running time	116 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Kaze no tani no Naushika^?) is a 1984 film by Japanese writer, illustrator, and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, based on his manga of the same name. The movie has environmentalist undertones and was presented by the World Wide Fund for Nature when it was released in 1984. Nausicaä is ranked as one of the 50 greatest science fiction films by the Internet Movie Database.[1] This is the first anime featured-length film created by Studio Ghibli (considered before Studio Ghibli was established).

Contents 1 Movie 1.1 Synopsis 1.2 Releases 1.3 Cast 2 Manga 3 Möwe 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Movie

Synopsis

The story takes place 1,000 years after the "Seven Days of Fire," an event which destroyed human civilization and most of the Earth's original ecosystem. Scattered human settlements survive, isolated from one another by the "Sea of Decay" (fukai, sea of rot/fungus in Japanese), a lethally toxic jungle of fungus swarming with giant insects, which seem to come together only to wage war.

The title character, Nausicaä (Naushika transcribed into Japanese; pronounced NOW-ska), is a charismatic young princess of the peaceful Valley of the Wind. Her name comes from the princess in the Odyssey who assisted Odysseus; part of her character comes from a Japanese folk hero known as "the princess who loved insects", while another part was inspired by the writings of Bernard Evslin, as he had written a more indepth extrapolation of character of Odyssey 's Nausicaa. ^[1] Although a skillful fighter, Miyazaki's Nausicaä is humane and peace-loving. She has an unusual gift for communicating with the giant insects (particularly with the Ohmu, the gigantic armored caterpillar-like insects who are the most intelligent creatures in the Sea of Decay). She is also noted for her empathy toward animals, humans, and other beings, and for her skill at "windriding", flying with an advanced glider-like craft with a jet assist called a mehve.

The Valley of the Wind is threatened when another state, Pejite, unearths a God Warrior (kyoshinhei) which is then stolen by a more powerful state, Tolmekia. The God Warrior is one of the lethal giant bioweapons used in the ancient war. Pejite and Tolmekia hope to use the God Warrior against each other and, ultimately, against the Sea of Decay. While transporting the Warrior back to their realm, the Tolmekians are attacked by insects and subsequently crash-land in the Valley. The very next day, the Tolmekians invade the Valley to secure and revive the Warrior, eventually forcing the peaceful people of the Valley into armed resistance. The situation deteriorates as the fight to possess the God Warrior escalates out of control and the inimical fukai strikes back against those who attack it.

The story holds deeper meaning than its depiction of war; there are both humanistic and ecological subtexts in Miyazaki's narrative. Even the insects seem to be working toward some secret harmony and the lethal fungal forest seems to have a vital role in Earth's new ecosystem.

As she is forced to aid prisoners, villagers, enemies, mutant insects, and artificial bioweapons, Princess Nausicaä increasingly becomes a Joan of Arc figure—a warrior maiden inspired by a supermundane vision to defend all life against destruction.

Releases

A heavily edited and English-dubbed version of the film was shown on HBO and released on VHS by New World Pictures & Orion Pictures in the 1980s as Warriors of the Wind (Japanese: 風の戦士 or Kaze no Kishi, lit. "Warriors of Wind"). According to Nausicaa.net, the voice actors and actresses were not even informed of the film's plotline and more than 30 minutes of the movie were cut from the film because New World felt that "the parts were slow moving" [2]. As a result, much of the film's narrative meaning was lost; many of the environmentalist themes were purged as was the main subplot about the Ohmu being altered to turn them into aggressive enemies. Most of the characters were renamed (for example, Nausicaä became "Princess Zandra"). The cover for the VHS release featured a cadre of male characters, who are not part of the film, riding the resurrected God Warrior — including a still-living Warrior shown briefly in a flashback. It was released around the world under various different titles for example, in Germany, it is known as Sternkrieger (lit. "Star Warriors") during that time.

Most fans of Nausicaä, along with Miyazaki himself, dislike that version; Miyazaki suggested that people should put it "out of their minds." [3] Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki has asked fans to forget its existence, and has subsequently adopted a strict "no-edits" clause for future foreign releases of its films. (A common rumor tells of Miyazaki sending Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, overseeing the distribution for the Miramax release of Princess Mononoke, an authentic katana with a simple message: "No cuts"^[2] when he heard that Weinstein would try to cut the film to make it "marketable.") An uncut and re-dubbed version of Nausicaä was released on DVD by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on February 22, 2005 for Region 1. This DVD also includes the Japanese audio track with English subtitles. Optimum Home Entertainment released the film in Region 2, and Region 4 DVD is distributed by Madman Entertainment. The 2005 DVD version made it around the world uncut.

The Nausicaä manga is published in English by VIZ Media. Earlier editions of the English manga and fan translations often used the title Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, omitting the definite article.

Cast

The film stars the following voice actors in the 1984 Japanese and 2005 re-dubbed English versions:

• Tony Jay: Narrator
• Sumi Shimamoto/Alison Lohman: Nausicaä
• Goro Naya/Patrick Stewart: Lord Yupa
• Yoshiko Sakakibara/Uma Thurman: Kushana
• Iemasa Kayumi/Chris Sarandon: Kurotowa
• Ichirō Nagai/Edward James Olmos: Mito
• Miina Tominaga/Emily Bauer: Lastelle
• Yoji Matsuda/Shia LaBeouf: Asbel
• Makoto Terada/Mark Hamill: Mayor of Pejite
• Hisako Kyouda/Tress MacNeille: Obaba
• Mahito Tsujimura/Mark Silverman: King Jihl
• James Arnold Taylor: Muzu
• Jôji Yanami/Jeff Bennett: Gikuri
• Akiko Tsuboi/Jodi Benson: Lastelle's Mother
• Cam Clarke: Prince Milo
• Frank Welker: Gol
• Children's Voices by: Paul Butcher, Molly Keck, Richard Miro, Jordan Orr, Aimee Roldan, Grace Rolek, Ross Simanteris
• Additional Voices by: Newell Alexander, Rosemary Alexander, Tom Amundson, Stephen Apostolina, Mitch Carter, Robert Clotworthy, David Cowgill, Wendy Cutler, Ashley Edner, Ike Eisenmann, Jean Gilpin, Nicholas Guest, Bridget Hoffman, Sherry Hursey, Rif Hutton, Edie Mirman, Peter Renaday, Lynnanne Zager

Manga

See longer article: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga).

Miyazaki's manga version of Nausicaä was written over a period of 13 years, with breaks taken to work on Studio Ghibli films. Serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine, the first chapter was published in February 1982, and the last chapter in March 1994. As can be expected, the story of the manga is far more complex than that of the film. The tale depicted in the film roughly corresponds to only the first quarter of the manga (which is all that had been written at the time the film was produced), with significant differences in plot.

In addition to the plot, there are other significant differences in the story – the characters are more developed and the environmentalist tone is more sophisticated, echoed in the complex worldview of Princess Mononoke. Nausicaä herself is portrayed as being much more potent, with abilities that are not always explained.

Möwe

The Möwe (Japanese: メーヴェ Mēve) is a fictional one-person plane/glider. It is unarmed, though the pilot can deploy non-lethal flash grenades to disorient pursuers. It does not provide any protection from the elements for the pilot, who is completely exposed to the wind. Although its performance specifications are not clear, it is slow enough to allow the pilot to hold onto and control it with nothing more than his/her arms and body weight. The mehve also possesses V/STOL capabilities.

The Möwe has an approximate wingspan of 5.8 meters (1/20 model measured to be 29cm), and is only 12kg according to the design notes.^[3]

The name Möwe is German, meaning 'seagull', relating to its form and white color. Also note that the Valley of the Wind is near the sea and it is the constant wind from the sea which protects its inhabitants from the toxic atmosphere of the Sea of Decay.

In 2004, the Japanese-led OpenSky Aircraft Project began attempts to build a real-life, working Möwe.

See also

• Editing of anime in international distribution
• Ohmu
• Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind (video game)
• Nausicaä Kiki Ippatsu (video game)

References

1. ^ First volume of English manga of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind published by VIZ Media, back cover.
2. ^ "A god among animators" by Xan Brooks, The Guardian, September 14, 2005 "There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: 'No cuts.' / The director chortles. 'Actually, my producer did that.'"
3. ^ Möwe with Nausicaä 1/20 scale model, Studio Ghibli Plamodel Collection, Bandai, 2004, Copyright: 2 horsepower(二馬力)

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