Laputa Castle In the Sky [G]

Pazu is a young boy who dreams of following his late father’s footsteps and proving the existence of the floating castle of Laputa. And when a young princess, named Sheeta literally floats into his lap, his dreams are realised. With the military, an evil government agent, and a group of pirates after Sheeta and her magical necklace, Pazu and Sheeta embark on the adventure of a lifetime to learn about Laputa and Sheeta’s own forgotten heritage. 

As another g-rated anime movie from the vibrant imagination of Hayao Miyazaki, I was expecting Laputa Castle In the Sky to be more of a kiddie’s film like My Neighbour Totoro, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was more like The Castle of Cagliostro, filled with action, adventure, a great story, and memorable characters. 

Pazu is a young boy who dreams of following in his late father’s footsteps and proving the existence of the floating castle of Laputa. And when a young princess named Sheeta, literally floats into his lap, his dream is realised. With the military, an evil government agent, and a group of pirates after Sheeta and her magical necklace, Pazu and Sheeta embark upon the adventure of a lifetime to find Laputa and learn about Sheeta’s forgotten heritage. 

Laputa Castle In the Sky was a great little film that was based on a solid and original story that wonderfully depicted that ongoing battle of man versus nature. Admittedly it may not have set out to do that, but that’s one element of the film that I found rather apparent and I rather enjoyed it. 

Whereas, in many of Miyazaki’s films, the sheer brilliance of his imagination is apparent in the types of flora and fauna he creates, in Laputa it was all about the amazing machines and metal creations of man. The airships were absolutely amazing and their animation was mesmerising. 

Featuring the voice talents of Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, Jim Cummings, and Mark Hamill, Laputa Castle In the Sky was another memorable anime triumph for director Hayao Miyazaki and was filled with action, adventure, romance, treasure, amazing machines, memorable characters, and a great story. I just loved it.