Princess Mononoke
![Princess Mononoke](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/princessmononoke1997.443775.jpg)
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Hayao Miyazaki
Billy Crudup
Billy Bob Thornton
Minnie Driver
Alex Fernandez
Patrick Fraley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A woman raised by wolves leads forest animals in a fight to save their homes.
Director
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/HayaoMiyazaki.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Hayao Miyazaki
Cast
Billy Crudup
Billy Bob Thornton
Minnie Driver
Alex Fernandez
Patrick Fraley
John Rafter Lee
Jada Pinkett Smith
Yuko Tanaka
Tsunehiko Kamijo
Hisaya Morishige
Kaori Kobayashi
Gillian Anderson
John Demita
Akihiro Miwa
Yuriko Ishida
John Dimaggio
Julia Demita
Micheal Mcshane
Dwight Schultz
Mitsuko Mori
Sherry Lynn
Pamela Adlon
Matt Miller
Adam Paul
Matt Mckenzie
Jack Fletcher
Marnie Mosiman
K T Vogt
Joe Hisaishi
Tara Charandoff
Tress Macneille
Claire Danes
Debi Derryberry
John Hostetter
Jessica Lynn
Masahiko Nishimura
Sumi Shimamoto
Yoji Matsuda
David Rasner
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/KeithDavid.44719.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Keith David
Corey Burton
Crew
Akihiko Adachi
Akiko Aihara
Sigeko Akanuma
Stephen M Alpert
Stephen M Alpert
Stephen M Alpert
Masahi Ando
Kaori Anmi
Naomi Anzai
Seiko Anzuma
Noritoshi Aoyagi
Sadayuki Arai
Shigeto Arai
Shokichi Arai
Koji Aritomi
Yoriko Asai
Tsutomu Asakura
Naomi Atsuta
Tsutomu Awada
Patti Awakuni
David B Baron
Laurie Bean
Benu Bhargara
Lisa Carlon
Jennifer Cihi
Reiko Daigo
Gerald Donlan
Denise Doyle
Dan Edelstein
David Encinas
Masaaki Endo
Roy Evans
Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher
Kiyomi Fujihashi
Kaori Fujii
Masayo Fujikura
Maya Fujimori
Sue Fujimoto
Eiko Fujitsu
Nozomi Fukada
Masahiro Fukuhara
Yoshikazu Fukutome
Ryoichi Fukuyama
Sachiko Funasaki
Kenji Furukawa
Hiromi Furuya
Sumiko Furuya
Makiko Futaki
Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Mimi Glaser
Keiko Goto
Keiji Hamada
Kiroko Hanamoto
Meiko Hara
Chiharu Haraguchi
Chie Harai
Tomoji Hashizume
Kimiko Hatano
Keiichiro Hattori
Yoshie Hayashi
Hiroaki Hirabayashi
Kazuhiro Hirabayshi
Sayaka Hirahara
Kazuko Hirai
Nobutaka Hirooka
Joe Hisaishi
Mari Hitokurai
Tomoki Horaguchi
Akio Ichmura
Yoshiko Igarashi
Natsuko Iimori
Kazuhiko Ikai
Tatsuya Ikeba
Kenji Imura
Ryoko Ina
Kazumi Inaki
Takeshi Inamura
Masafumi Inoue
Shuji Inoue
Mihoko Irie
Michiyo Iseda
Masayo Iseki
Kaori Ishidawa
Megumi Ishido
Shimuka Ishiguro
Hiroya Ishihara
Hiroaki Ishii
Leslie Ishii
Eriko Ishikawa
Noriko Ishimitsu
Takahisa Ishino
Masakatsu Ishizone
Keiichi Itagaki
Shin Itagaki
Hiroyuki Ito
Junko Ito
Kazuaki Ito
Michihiro Ito
Toshiko Iwakiri
Emiko Iwayanagi
Daisuke Kadoya
Yukiko Kakita
Tomoko Kamiya
Yoshinori Kanada
Junko Kanauchi
Mitsuharu Kanei
Naomi Kasugai
Mitsunori Kataama
Yuriko Katayama
Mariko Kato
Takao Kato
Mitsuyoshi Katsurada
Shozo Katsuta
Jay Kaufman
Toshiyuki Kawabata
Manabu Kawada
Megumi Kawaga
Toshio Kawaguchi
Hana Kikuchi
Yumiko Kimura
Skigeharu Kitamura
Yumiko Kitayima
Kazuo Kobayashi
Sachiko Kobayashi
Shigeru Kobayashi
Atsushi Kodama
Masamune Kogei
Tamaki Kojo
Shogo Komagata
Rie Kondo
Yoshifumi Kondo
Kenichi Konishi
Kitaro Kosaka
Michiyo Koyanagi
Yuriko Kudo
Hiroshi Kumagai
Misuku Kurata
Satoshi Kuroda
Kazuko Kurosawa
Ikuo Kuwana
Sasha Lazard
Eric Anthony Lewis
Geof Liptman
Ian Macdougall
Kinuyo Maehara
Kiyoko Makita
Kaoru Mano
Reiko Mano
Scott Martin
Megumi Matsuo
Masaru Matsuse
Atsuko Matsushita
Kei Mayama
Mary E Mcglynn
Michio Mihara
Hiroko Minowa
Junko Miyakawa
Chiemi Miyamoto
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
Kyoko Mizuta
Yuichiro Mochizuki
Yoshiyuki Momose
Naomi Mori
Shinobu Mori
Makoto Morimoto
Chiyomi Morisawa
Kaoru Morita
Noriko Moritomo
Kanako Moriya
Haruyo Moriyoshi
Haruyo Moriyoshi
Emiko Motohashi
Masahiro Murakami
Mamoru Murao
Yuki Murata
Minoru Muroi
Hisashi Nabetani
Kyoko Naganawa
Junko Nagaoka
Yoshiko Nagasaki
Minako Nagasawa
Sayuri Nagashima
Yoko Nagashima
Kaoru Nakagama
Rei Nakagome
Keiko Nakaji
Natsutoshi Nakamura
Daisuke Nakayama
Yutaka Narita
Reii Nidome
Sumie Nishido
Tomoaki Nishigiri
Rie Nishijima
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
Princess Mononoke
Ashitaka tries to find a way for humanity and nature to coexist in Miyazaki's story which is heavily influenced by Japanese folklore and history. In Japan, a mononoke translates to "spirit of a thing," a kind of ghost held responsible for everything from natural disasters to aches and pains.
But Japanese culture was not the only influence on Miyazaki's story. In the late Seventies Miyazaki made sketches involving a beautiful princess living in the forest with a beast in a storyline reminiscent of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Ashitaka's quest, which takes him far from home, also echoes the classic novel Pilgrim's Progress and the ancient fable Gilgamesh. Drawing from a diverse narrative tradition, Miyazaki has also acknowledged the influence of contemporary life on his work, even seeing in Ashitaka's injury from the boar demon, a parallel to the modern scourge of AIDS, which also infects contemporary children with a curse and potential death sentence.
Princess Mononoke (1997) became the highest grossing Japanese film in that country's history, an honor previously held by E.T. (1982) until the release of James Cameron's Titanic (1997) unseated Miyazaki's status as the most successful film in that country. Princess Mononoke was later usurped as the country's second highest grossing Japanese Film by Miyazaki's Spirited Away (2001).
Princess Mononoke was acquired by Disney/Miramax for U.S. distribution and the contract specified that Disney could not make any changes to the film other than dubbing it. The script was rewritten by Neil Gaiman, to make its Japanese dialogue comprehensible to an English-speaking audience. The film was dubbed with the voices of famous English-speaking actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Billy Crudup. Ironically enough, Miyazaki has said that he does not like Disney movies - "I can't help but feel that it looks down on the audience."
"I think that a popular movie has to be full of true emotion, even if it's frivolous."
Hayao Miyazaki's film is anything but frivolous, containing a message of environmentalism and humanism within its engrossing action-adventure plot line. Princess Mononoke was the first of Miyazaki's films to utilize computer generated animation, in 15 minutes worth of the film's total 133 minute running time. Ten of those minutes were comprised of digital painting, but the bulk of the film is drawn by hand. The film boasts an unprecedented five art directors.
A perfectionist with an unusual degree of involvement in his films, Miyazaki personally checked all the animation in the film and redrew cels he was dissatisfied with, work generally left to a technical director. But Miyazaki has said his hands and eyes no longer allow him to work in this detailed a manner and that Princess Mononoke will be the last film he does under such rigorous scrutiny.
Themes of love, nature, the struggle of the weak against the strong are all recurring themes in Miyazaki's work and especially evident in Princess Mononoke. For Miyazaki, the Muromachi Period (1392-1573) in which the film is set marked a turning point in Japan's history, when instead of revering and worshiping nature, the Japanese began to exploit it, mining and clearing primeval forest land. In many ways the upheaval and confusion of that period echoes the similar tumult of our own age.
One of the key animators along with Isao Takahata, at the Japanese film Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki eventually became one of the Japanese film industry's greatest international successes and animation's heir to renowned directors like Akira Kurosawa. He has said he makes his films strictly with a Japanese audience in mind. As he told Newsweek, "Of course, I'm delighted that people from other countries also enjoy my films. But I try not to think of this as an international business."
PRINCESS MONONOKE (JAPANESE VERSION)
Producer: Yutaka Narita, Seiji Okuda, Toshio Suzuki, Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Seiichiro Ujiie
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki
Cinematography: Atsushi Okui
Film Editing: Hayao Miyazaki, Takeshi Seyama
Art Direction: Satoshi Kuroda, Kazuo Oga, Yoji Takeshige, Naoya Tanaka, Nizou Yamamoto
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Cast: Yoji Matsuda (Ashitaka), Yuriko Ishida (San), Yuko Tanaka (Eboshi-gozen), Kaoru Kobayashi (Jiko-bo), Masahiko Nishimura (Kouroku), Tsunehiko Kamijo (Gonza).
C-134m. Letterboxed.
PRINCESS MONONOKE (ENGLISH VERSION)
Producer: Scott Martin, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki, Neil Gaiman
Cinematography: Atsushi Okui
Film Editing: Hayao Miyazaki, Takeshi Seyama
Art Direction: Satoshi Kuroda, Kazuo Oga, Yoji Takeshige, Naoya Tanaka, Nizou Yamamoto.
by Felicia Feaster
![Princess Mononoke](https://prod-images.tcm.com/img/film-participant-detail/Featured-Artilce_Placeholder.png)
Princess Mononoke
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Awarded Japan's 1997 Academy prize for best film.
Released in United States Fall October 29, 1999
Limited Release in United States October 29, 1999
Expanded Release in United States November 5, 1999
Released in United States on Video August 8, 2000
Released in United States November 1997
Released in United States February 1998
Released in United States 1999
Released in United States September 1999
Released in United States October 1999
Shown at Tokyo International Film Festival November 1-10, 1997.
Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 11-22, 1998.
Shown at New York Film Festival (Special Event) September 24 - October 10, 1999.
Broadcast in Japan over Nippon Television Network January 22, 1999.
Currently, "Princess Mononoke" is Japan's all-time box office success with grosses surpassing $150 million.
Vistavision
dubbed English
Released in United States Fall October 29, 1999
Limited Release in United States October 29, 1999 (dubbed version)
Expanded Release in United States November 5, 1999 (dubbed version)
Released in United States on Video August 8, 2000
Released in United States November 1997 (Shown at Tokyo International Film Festival November 1-10, 1997.)
Released in United States February 1998 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 11-22, 1998.)
Released in United States 1999 (Shown at New York Film Festival (Special Event) September 24 - October 10, 1999.)
Released in United States September 1999 (Shown at Telluride Film Festival September 3-6, 1999.)
Released in United States October 1999 (Shown at AFI/Los Angeles International Film Festival (Special Presentations - Screenings) October 21-29, 1999.)