Castle in the Sky

• Japanese: 天空の城ラピュタ, Hepburn: Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta
• Also known as Laputa: Castle in the Sky
• Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• August 2, 1986

Voice Cast

• Sheeta-Anna Paquin
• Pazu-James Van Der Beek
• Dola-Cloris Leachman
• Muska-Mark Hamill
• Uncle Pom-Richard Dysart
• General-Jim Cummings
• Boss-John Hostetter
• Charles-Michael McShane
• Louie-Mandy Patinkin
• Henri-Andy Dick
• Okami, Additional Voices-Tress MacNeille
• Young Sheeta, Madge, Additional Voices-Debi Derryberry
• Old Engineer, Additional Voices-Matt Miller
• Papa, Additional Voices-Ernest Fessler
• Additional Voices-John DeMita, Scott Menville, Andrew Philpot, Susan Hickman, Michael Sorich, Corey Burton

Two friends are pursued by a government agent, the army, and a group of pirates as they search for a legendary flying castle containing advanced technology.

Castle in the Sky is a story involving friendship and loyalty with a touch of Indiana Jones mixed with themes of the evil military industrial complex since the military of this fictional world is searching for a magical floating city filled with advanced technology-and possibly treasure.

The story borders on fanciful as well as a touch of steam punk. This is a foreign place that was created yet also familiar. We have the rightful heir to the throne of a magical land. We have a young boy who seeks to prove that a mythical world is real in order to redeem his father. We have an military looking to it for purposes of power. And who can forget some air pirates looking to Shanghai its treasure. There is a lot going on Castle in the Sky yet it never feels like it’s convoluted or overstocked. It all blends together and works hand-in-hand but without crowding out any one thing. 

But it’s not just a simple one-off fun adventure. It involves character growth along with unexpected yet logical twists such as one character being from the royal family of the mythical city that everybody is looking for. Since the city has not been occupied for about 700 years I’m not sure how he quite figured that out. The city of Laputa has been so unseen by the world that it is a children’s story if anything. That was an issue for me with no implied answer ever given.

I am also bothered by the implication that the inhabitants of Laputa decided they were evil and simply dismembered their empire and abandoned their seat of power. It seems simplistic and even in a world with floating cities and air warships it doesn’t make sense. It feels so implausible mostly because they just did it with no deeper explanation. No context.

And a bigger question is why did the people of Laputa when they finally abandoned the city not use the destruction spell? Since they brought none of their technology with them, it would appear they didn’t want anybody on the ground to have access to it and the destruction spell certainly would’ve prevented that. It never occurred to them that people might figure out how to get to Laputa?

Our main characters of Pazu and Sheeta are being forced into roles by others. Pazu by his circumstances and Sheeta by those seeking to use her for their purposes. It also hints at the roles of nature and technology with humanity and striking a balance between the two. Maybe even how governments need to serve the people and tend to the environment because when they do not bad things happen. But these themes never overwhelm the storytelling but are gently slipped in.

The first robot we meet in this story is capable of massive destruction while the second is gently tending to a garden. This takes some inspiration from Wales visually as well the 1985 Coal Minders Strike. Yet all the things that are tossed in get a hint of ambiguity. There is debate but not clear answers.There is a lot of meat to the story and even if you don’t get it all, it’s still an enjoyable adventure with interesting characters.

There are pirates who eventually turn out to be kind of good guys though they attack a ship in the opener presumably killing a few people on board. You don’t really think about that though by the end. It only occurs to me now.

There’s a very steampunk aesthetic to this. The designs are futuristic but also very old-school. It’s very much pipes and gears and levers and rusted airships. And even personal flying vehicles with wings like fireflies.

Castle in the Sky is fun and very entertaining. There is something here for children AND adults.