Castle in the Sky

Castle in the Sky (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta) is a full-length animated movie that was released by the very famous Studio Ghibli. It was released in 1986 and was written and directed by one of Studio Ghibli’s best, Hayao Miyazaki. It is a fantastic tale of magic and worlds that are beyond our eyes.

Synopsis

Pazu is a young boy who works in a mine. One day he is going to work when he sees a girl slowly falling from the sky. He manages to catch her and notices that she has a strange, glowing necklace on. The necklace stops glowing and instantly the girl becomes very heavy. He takes her to his home to take care of her. The next morning the girl awakens and tells him that her name is Sheeta. Pazu tries to use her pendant and winds up crashing through the roof and cellar. In Pazu’s home is a picture that his father took of a mystical land known as Laputa. It is a city that supposedly flies in the clouds. Sheets becomes entranced by it.

It turns out that Sheeta is being chased by pirates who want her pendant. Sheeta and Pazu run from them and wind up in a mine. The miner explains that the crystal that she carries must have come from Laputa, and that she must guard it. Sheeta and Puza wind up being caught by the government, who is trying to get to Laputa and believe they need Sheeta’s medallion to get there. She agrees to help them to save Puza’s life and Puza goes home. When he gets there, the pirates are there and they all realize that the government will probably kill Sheeta after she has led the way to Laputa. It turns out that Sheeta is actually the last guardian of Laputa. The pirates help Puza to find Sheeta, and they manage to rescue her.

They wind up in Laputa, which is an abandoned city with only one robot guarding it. The government has managed to find Laputa and means to destroy it. The robot saves Sheeta from the government and explains that it is hers to command. Sheeta and Puza decide that the only way that can save the city is to destroy it themselves. They plan to use the destruction spell that Sheeta’s grandmother has passed down, but the pirates come to the rescue again. They take Sheet and Pazu (as well as some of the city’s treasure) back to earth where they leave them to begin their lives.

Misc.

The first movie that Disney released from Studio Ghibli was Kiki’s Delivery Service. It did so well that they decided to release more of Studio Ghibli’s movies, but Castle In The Sky was low on their list of movies to release. It eventually was released on DVD in 2003 and ended up becoming the second best selling DVD from the Disney/Studio Ghibli deal.