#movie # Castle in the Sky  [Watch_Date:: 2022-07-25] ## [Rating:: 100] It's a perfect score from me since it's one of my favorite movies of all time and it can do no wrong. Admittedly this is really biased, but to be objective all ones life is impractical because there will always be some human biases in life. I love this movie for its portrayal of its world and the wonder it presents, while also having a really fun, dynamic, and compelling cast of characters. The leads are fun, the Dola Gang is fun, Muska is a great antagonist, and I just really really really like the world they inhabit and how they interact. The movie's also fun and a great action and adventure story with pirates and floating warships and ancient treasures and a mystical magical force and high flying action and violence in a way that captures the terrible nature of war and the destruction it may bring. Definitely my favorite animated movie of all time, just barely edging out movies like [[The End of Evangelion]], [[Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse]] # Watch Notes My preferred version is the Buena Vista / Disney Dub with the added orchestration to certain scenes. However, I cannot deny that the other releases with a more restricted soundtrack are also neat and make the watching experience feel very different. But I mean, come on, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra led by Joe Hisaishi is always going to be the better than a synth midi. # My Thoughts ## The Mining Town is based on Wales Miyazaki went and explored the area to gain inspiration for the town and architecture in the space. Also the UK Coal Miner's Strike of 1984 and its eventual failures impacted Miyazaki to the point where Miyazaki lamented the significant impact the outcome had on the Welsh Coal Miners' way of life. > "I admired those men, I admired the way they battled to save their way of life, just as the coal miners in Japan did. Many people of my generation see the miners as a symbol; a dying breed of fighting men. Now they are gone." > -Hayao Miyazaki [^1] [^1]: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/sep/14/japan.awardsandprizes ## Laputa is so pretty, I have always wanted to explore it Ever since a kid, I've been fascinated by the world in this movie, and Laputa has always been the place I wanted to explore as a kid. I am, of course, afraid of hurtling to Earth, but the space feels like one big natural playground. ## Aircraft Design Love this stuff. It's so neat to hear that Hironobu Sakaguchi credits this movie as an inspiration for a lot of the airship design in the final fantasy series, especially in Final Fantasy XII ## War Machines, Laputa's Power, and Anti-War The escalation of war machines, from the initial Tiger Moth being little more than a boarding vessel, to the automaton guardian that fell to earth that was incapacitated to the Airship Goliath to literally Laputa itself, the escalation of warfare is very present through the movie and by the end, the protagonists end up destroying the biggest weapon out of a concern of their fellow human beings. While Laputa is a beautiful place where nature has flourished in the absence of human presence, it still maintains its power. When humans try to harness that power is when things begin to fall apart. Nature has an inherent power far greater than any humans can hope to ever obtain and operate in a meaningful way, and to attempt to do so would bring destruction upon both man and nature before the power could be used at all. It's hard not to see this as a potential allegory for nuclear weaponry to some degree, but I don't think that was the initial goal in mind, more that just nature will always find a way to check itself, and that its power will always be greater than anything humanity would be able to make. ## Disney Dub Voice Cast - Mark Hamill crushes it as Muska. Honestly, this was my first exposure to Hamill's Voice acting, and I think his acting in general since I didn't watch Star Wars until I was a little older. - Huh, Jimmy Neutron's voice actor plays Young Sheeta. neat. - # Favorite Moments / Memories - almost all of it hahahah - Erin got me the art book which also has the ADR Script in it. # What were you doing when not watching this? - Dad brought home the DVDs from his work place for the first time and we watched it so many times that he ended up buying a copy for us to keep. He did this as well with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke # Relevant Links *Links to associated media.*