

Princess Mononoke was also the first-ever animated feature film to win Picture of the Year at the Japan Academy Awards (the Japanese equivalent of the Oscars) and helped generate more interest in Studio Ghibli movies outside of Japan when its English dub was released in the USA and Europe. Related: Best Studio Ghibli-Style Video Games To Play If You Love Miyazaki's MoviesĪfter its 1997 release in Japan, Princess Mononoke ranked as the country’s highest-grossing domestic film of all time until it was surpassed by fellow Hayao Miyazaki-Studio Ghibli anime Spirited Away in 2001. Along the way, Ashitaka meets Lady Eboshi (Yūko Tanaka/Minnie Driver), the ruler of Irontown who invoked the ire of the forest’s spirits by depleting its natural resources, and San (Yuriko Ishida/Claire Danes) – a young woman raised by wolves who grew to resent humankind. Set in Muromachi-era Japan, the story follows a young Emishi prince named Ashitaka (Yōji Matsuda/Billy Crudup) as he embarks on a journey to find a cure for a demonic curse, which leads him to a mining colony called Irontown where he finds himself in the midst of a battle between its human residents and the animals and spirits of the surrounding forest. Princess Mononoke explores a theme common to Hayao Miyazaki’s work – the relationship between humankind and nature. Princess Mononoke is the seventh feature film from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki and was produced by Studio Ghibli, the animation studio Miyazaki co-founded in 1985 alongside fellow anime luminary Isao Takahata.
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Audiences can revisit both versions of Princess Mononoke streaming on HBO Max now.Here’s how to watch Princess Mononoke online, including whether the animated movie is on Netflix, Hulu or Prime. Gaiman paid close attention to making Miyazaki’s Japanese script and story as accessible as possible for North American audiences while also remaining as true to the source material as possible, which ultimately succeeded as the film’s home media success has been credited with helping expand Studio Ghibli’s popularity outside of Japan. Though many anime viewers would recommend watching a subtitled version of the film, questioning some of the vocal performances, Princess Mononoke‘s English-language version continues to prove to be a rare exception of a good dub in the genre. Tarantino ultimately turned down the position, but would go on to recommend Gaiman to the studio as a potential alternative to pen Princess Mononoke‘s English script. The author previously confirmed that Oscar winner Quentin Tarantino was originally offered the position by the studio given their ongoing relationship with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk till Dawn and Jackie Brown. Interestingly, Gaiman was not Miramax’s first choice of writing the English-language dub of Princess Mononoke during its development cycle. Which wasn’t quite what Ghibli had intended.) So they kept theirs on and took mine off. (My name was taken off the poster by Miramax execs who were told by Ghibli that there were too many names on the poster. The author/screenwriter explained that Studio Ghibli pointed out to Miramax there were too many names on the poster, but that rather than the latter come up with a way to ensure Gaiman’s name remained, they elected to only keep Ghibli and Miramax names there.

In response to one fan taking to Twitter to share they just learned of his work on the film, Neil Gaiman revealed why he was left out of Princess Mononoke‘s English poster.


Related: Where To Watch Princess Mononoke Online & Is It On Netflix, Hulu Or Prime? Though underperforming at the domestic box office, Princess Mononoke would again receive rave reviews from critics in North America and would go on to become a hit on DVD and video releases in the years that followed. Billy Crudup led the ensemble cast of the English dub as Ashitaka alongside Claire Danes as San, Minnie Driver, Tara Strong, Billy Bob Thornton, John DeMita, John DiMaggio, Gillian Anderson, Debi Derryberry, Keith David and Jada Pinkett Smith. Following its critically and commercially successful launch in Japan in 1997, Miramax acquired the rights for Princess Mononoke and began development on an English-language dub of the film.
