The Disney dub unfortunately prolongs that misunderstanding. Pazu’s trumpet song remains one of the most beautiful pieces of score to ever grace the screen. And that medium does not inherently provide a genre. The stories are beautiful and true works of art that could be transposed to live-action “for adults” if desired, but the chosen medium was animation.
The fundamental misunderstanding of animation, which many Studio Ghibli films confront and oppose, is the assumption that these stories are simply “for children,” which is derogatory to both the films and children. I realized that, despite previous Miyazaki films existing, the American critics of 1989 were still unsure what to make of these unusual films. In researching for this article, as I do for every review, I came upon a New York Times review, dated August 1989, that was not only poorly written but entirely missed the point of the film. Unfortunately, while entertaining and relatively accurate, the Disney English dub remains a source of frustration among fans for reasons we’ll return to shortly. However, the English dub most familiar to American audiences is the Disney dub.
Streamline still distributed the dub was allowed to develop their own dub, which was released on its first Japanese DVDs, along with the Streamline-dubbed My Neighbor Totoro and The Castle of Cagliostro. In 1989, Magnum Video Tape & Dubbing produced an English dub for international Japan Airlines this version was briefly screened in the US by Streamline Pictures, whose head-man was disappointed by the dub’s “clumsy” results. The film was treated to no less than three two English dubs, each from separate distributors, which remains the cause of some controversy among die-hard fans. After they meet, a daring and mythical adventure ensues, with dirigible airships, sky pirates and their flaptors, the military led by a greedy egotist, robots, magic elements, and beautiful animated environments.
When Sheeta, a young girl, falls from an airship and is saved by her mystical amulet, young Pazu discovers her floating toward the main mine of the town where he works. The film solidified much of what the world would come to expect from Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki.Ĭastle in the Sky, as the name is often shortened, centers around the legendary floating island called Laputa. It is unique because it was distributed under various names, with varied English dubs, and even a secondary score. Laputa: Castle in the Sky, or 天空の城ラピュタ or Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta, was Studio Ghibli’s first official film, released in 1986. *Spoiler Alert: detailed film analysis below*