From a katana sent in the mail as a low-key threat to 100,000
hand drawn images, there's a whole lot you probably don't know about "Princess Mononoke".
One of the most oft-repeated legends surrounding "Princess Mononoke" concerns the authorship of
the English translation. For years, it had been rumored that famed British author Neil
Gaiman wrote the English translation of the script — but his name wasn't in the credits,
so no one was really sure. Finally, in 2019, Gaiman took to Twitter to confirm
that the rumor was indeed true. He claimed that the reason his name wasn't there was
that when Studio Ghibli asked that some of the Miramax executives be removed from the credits,
they decided to remove Gaiman's name instead of removing their own.
Interestingly enough, Miramax had originally asked Quentin Tarantino to rewrite the script.
When Tarantino turned the job down, he recommended Gaiman instead. Gaiman's job would turn out to be
more difficult than one might imagine, as he had to deal with demands from several sides. First,
there were Hayao Miyazaki's demands for the script, then Miramax executives,
and finally, the specific demands of notorious Miramax head Harvey Weinstein.
As film producer Steve Alpert wrote in Polygon, the bigwigs at Miramax thought American audiences
wouldn't accept certain aspects of the film without significant changes. For example,
one Miramax executive thought audiences wouldn't believe Prince Ashitaka to be a prince at all,
because he doesn't have a palace or fancy clothes. However, Gaiman stuck to his guns
and wound up producing what's often considered one of the best translations of Miyazaki's work.
Although Studio Ghibli has been partnering with American studios like Disney and Miramax
for many years now, these relationships haven't always gone smoothly. For understandable reasons,
Hayao Miyazaki has often found himself butting heads with studio executives who want to change
his films significantly to satisfy the American market. In order to maintain the integrity of
"Princess Mononoke" as it went through the translation process, Miyazaki came up with
a list of demands that he thought needed to be included — or excluded — from the English script.
According to Steve Alpert, Miyazaki's suggestions were often about very specific ideas,
but he also dispensed advice about casting. Alpert said that some of Miyazaki's comments
were things like "no modern slang" and "choose good voices." He also wanted to make sure those
involved in producing the dub were aware of the cultural class distinctions present in the film,
such as the fact that Ashitaka is a prince and thus behaves in an old-fashioned manner.
Miyazaki was also adamant that the firearms used in the film never be called rifles — although
that instruction may have been lost in translation, judging by the final product.
"This is the latest rifle that I've asked these people to design. The
ones we've brought here have turned out to be too heavy."
There's a famous urban legend involving "Princess Mononoke"
and a sword — and it happens to be mostly true.
It's long been rumored that Hayao Miyazaki sent a katana to Harvey Weinstein as a threat
while the American dub was in production. The truth is that Miyazaki himself didn't
send Weinstein a threatening message — but his producer did. As the story goes,
Weinstein was sent a katana in the mail, and attached to the sword were two simple words:
"No cuts." This was a serious worry, as Weinstein was known in the industry
as "Harvey Scissorhands" because of how much he liked to cut from his productions.
While Miyazaki may not have sent the threat himself,
he did meet with the now-disgraced Weinstein to hear his demands. He told The Guardian,
"I did go to New York to meet this man, this Harvey Weinstein,
and I was bombarded with this aggressive attack, all these demands for cuts. I defeated him."
Though we wouldn't recommend sending swords through the post office,
it's certainly an effective way to get a message across to your enemies.
"Princess Mononoke" is an incredible feat of animation, and considering its lengthy runtime,
it's no surprise the film took years to complete. According to Miramax,
only about 10% of the film is computer animated, which means the rest was
drawn by hand. All in all, over 144,000 animation cels were created for the film.
One of the most impressive scenes from an animation standpoint comes near the beginning
of the movie. Ashitaka encounters a wild boar that's become infected by a curse known as the
Tatarigami, turning it into a terrifying being covered in hundreds of snake-like
tendrils. One fan of the movie took to Twitter to ask Studio Ghibli about the scene, writing —
"This has to be CG, right?"
It's a fair assumption, but it's totally wrong. Studio Ghibli responded to the tweet, explaining —
"The part where the snakes move sluggishly was so difficult that — even though the
scene is only a couple of minutes long — it took one year and seven months to finish!"
They noted that it apparently took 5,300 drawings to complete,
and one of the Ghibli artists said it got more and more confusing to draw as
it went on. That painstaking effort definitely helped make the scene as breathtaking as it is.
The idea for the Tatarigami didn't come from nowhere. In an interview with Roger Ebert,
Hayao Miyazaki described how the boar monster was meant to
represent the universal human emotion of rage. He revealed —
"I'm a very emotional person, and when I get enraged or furious,
I feel like black insects crawl out of my pores. My staff are more peaceful, so it
was difficult for them to imagine what it feels like to be taken over by uncontrollable rage."
When Ebert asked if the creature was based on his own personal rage,
Miyazaki conceded that it may be, but he also explained that he thinks rage
and violence are deep-rooted desires that all human beings possess. The director continued —
"The issue we confront as human beings is how to control and manage that impulse."
Though some might want to shield children from these impulses, Miyazaki has maintained
that it's important that they face this reality, as it's a part of all our lives.
"O nameless god of rage and hate: I bow before you."
"Princess Mononoke" contains many diverse characters and thematic elements, so it's only
fitting that Miyazaki took inspiration from numerous sources. According to the official
"Princess Mononoke" website, Miyazaki is a huge fan of the American director John Ford, who was
primarily known for making Westerns. Many of John Ford's films — such as "My Darling Clementine" —
take place in frontier towns, something Miyazaki paid homage to with the settlement of Irontown.
Irontown is filled with outcasts and outlaws who have the strength to survive the tough
environment of the frontier — much like in your standard Western. Of course,
"Princess Mononoke" also points out that this strength and ambitious mastery over
one's domain spells disaster and destruction for the environment,
which is exactly what Lady Eboshi's hunt for the forest spirit represents.
Compared to his previous movies like "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "My Neighbor Totoro,"
"Princess Mononoke" is a strikingly dark and serious film for Hayao Miyazaki. Speaking with
Empire, the director described how risky the project was, especially considering his prior
films. He explained that, while working on "Porco Rosso," he learned of the war in former
Yugoslavia, and was disappointed that humanity kept repeating the same mistakes. He explained —
"After that, we couldn't go back and make some film like 'Kiki's Delivery
Service.' It felt like children were being born to this world
without being blessed. How could we pretend to them that we're happy?"
Miyazaki has admitted that he exhausted the animation team with the making of "Mononoke,"
which he expected would happen. But even once the film was completed,
he wasn't sure about who the audience was. He continued —
"At first I decided, 'This is something children shouldn't see,' but in the end I
realized, 'No, this is something that children must see,' because adults,
they didn't get it — children understood it."
Once Miyazaki realized the importance of the film he made,
he felt inspired to keep making movies again.
"Life is suffering. It is hard. The world is cursed,
but still, you find reasons to keep living."
In his list of requirements for the English dub of the film, Hayao Miyazaki implored the executives
at Miramax to "choose good voices." Luckily, casting directors heeded Miyazaki's advice,
as the English-speaking voice cast for the film is filled with sultry-voiced superstars.
Billy Crudup voices Ashitaka, Claire Danes voices San, Minnie Driver voices Lady Eboshi,
Billy Bob Thornton voices Jiko-bô, and Gillian Anderson voices Moro.
Anderson was an especially big get for the film, as she was at the height of her
"X-Files" fame when the English dub premiered in 1999. At the film's premiere, Anderson was
asked by Hollywood.com about her familiarity with Miyazaki's films prior to starring in "Princess
Mononoke," to which she explained that she'd been a fan of his movies for years, saying —
"His films are very spiritual and very beautiful and very reverent."
As for whether she would show the film to her children, Anderson wasn't sure at the time,
noting that "Princess Mononoke" was much more intense than his previous movies.
Lady Eboshi may be the most interesting character in "Princess Mononoke," as she's
a very complicated woman who's neither all good nor all bad. She's employed a group of former
sex workers and given them important roles in the continued functioning of Irontown,
and she provides a space for lepers who would be turned away elsewhere. At the same time,
she's intent on furthering industrialization at the expense of the environment,
and she has no qualms about killing the holy forest spirit.
"When the forest has been cleared and the wolves wiped out,
this desolate place will be the richest land in the world."
In a Twitter Q&A with fans, Studio Ghibli answered a question about the
character's backstory. The folks at Ghibli revealed —
"Miyazaki has said that Eboshi was sold as a slave and became the wife of the
leader of a band of Japanese pirates. After she became a skilled fighter,
she killed him, stole his treasure, and returned to mainland Japan."
This backstory explains how Lady Eboshi came to be the confident, competent woman that
she is — and why she has such a fondness for the former sex workers employed in Irontown. Several
commenters on Twitter noted what an interesting character Lady Eboshi is, with one fan noting —
"She's exactly like a modern person. She knows exactly what she has to
do to achieve her goals and has no qualms about taking those actions."
Studio Ghibli fans are often keen to draw connections between Hayao Miyazaki's many films,
and there's been a persistent rumor that one such connection exists between "Princess Mononoke" and
his 1988 movie "My Neighbor Totoro." As the story goes, the last remaining tree spirit
at the end of "Princess Mononoke" goes on to become one of the Totoros in the 1988 film.
Although "Totoro" came out before "Mononoke," it takes place several hundred years later.
One fan asked Studio Ghibli whether or not this rumor is true on Twitter,
and the studio answered —
"During production, it seems that Miyazaki said something along those lines to the staff."
While it may not be a categorical "yes," it does seem like there's a good chance that Miyazaki
did make the connection between the two films himself at one point. Either way, it's fun to
think about all of Miyazaki's movies existing in the same universe, or on the same timeline.
While fans of "Princess Mononoke" might spend much of their viewing time marveling at the
film's magnificent animation, there are other elements of the film that deserve
plenty of attention too. Sound design is an important part of all filmmaking,
and Studio Ghibli revealed a few fascinating tidbits about this component of the film
during their Twitter Q&A. Ghibli revealed that the distinctive noise the tree spirits
make was created using wooden castanets, as producers thought the spirits should
have a wood-like quality about them due to their connection with nature.
[Clicking, rattling]
Producer Toshio Suzuki revealed that one sound design element he's proud of can be found during
the fight between San and Lady Eboshi. According to Suzuki, they spent a lot of time making sure
Lady Eboshi's metal sword had a distinct sound that was different from San's dagger, which was
made from bone. This makes for an excellent scene with some incredibly dynamic audio.
In many reviews of the film, critics have praised "Princess Mononoke" for the way it
doesn't include an overly simplistic happy ending. In reference to the film's somewhat
ambiguous conclusion, an American journalist asked Hayao Miyazaki if he thought of San
and Ashitaka as a tragic couple because they can't be together. In response, Miyazaki said,
"They remain involved. I'm sure that they maintain a good relationship."
So it seems they aren't really the tragic duo some perceive them to be.
Even though they keep in touch, Miyazaki imagined that the future will not be easy for either
of them. He explained that Ashitaka will help San stay alive, but that he will also dedicate
himself to helping the people of Iron Town — and therein lies the difficulty. He continued —
"And this will tear Ashitaka apart, but this won't stop him. Because he treasures both."
Miyazaki went on to say that this difficulty is exactly the kind of
lesson that contemporary viewers can take from the story. It may not be a sappy happy ending,
but according to the creator himself, life indeed does go on.