“The earth has music for those who listen.”

This rewatch pretty much solidified Castle in the Sky as one of my favorite pure adventure movies of all-time. This film is filled with such a whimsical and fun feeling that’s hard to describe, but there really aren’t many other movies that make you feel the way this one does. I’m not trying to sound pretentious, but I couldn’t come up with a different way to phrase it.

This is technically the first Studio Ghibli movie. I know many consider that to be Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which is also really good and you should definitely check that one out if you haven’t already, but that movie was made when the studio hadn’t officialized yet. Hayao Miyazaki had already proven himself as a top tier animation writer and director with movies like Lupin the Third (which I still need to watch) and Nausicaä, but Castle in the Sky solidified straight out of the gate that Studio Ghibli wasn’t just an ordinary animation studio.

Like I said, this film has such a different feel to it that is really hard to compare to any other movies I’ve seen. As basic as it may sound, it’s just so much fun all the way through and makes you feel happy and inspired by the end of it. The main adventure itself is interesting, about a boy and his friend on the search for an island in the sky (hence the title) that many believe is just a myth, while being chased down by both a group of pirates who may or may not have ill intent. Along with that, a secret government agency that definitely has ill intent has plans of their own as well.

The thing that I love most about this movie is the relationship between Pazu and Sheeta. Pazu right away establishes himself as an ambitious young boy who just wants to find the legend his father had been searching for for so long, while Sheeta is a young and innocent girl who finds herself tangled up in a mysterious plot where she is the important piece of the puzzle, though she doesn’t deserve it or want to be any part of it. Both characters have tremendous chemistry with one another. It sort of borders on being a young romance, but I think it is definitely more of a friendship. There are definitely scenes that would hint otherwise, specifically just the sheer amount of dependency but also care Sheeta has for Patzu, but nothing explicitly makes it anything more than just two young characters who find themselves on a fantastical journey and form a strong bond from it.

What really made this film make Studio Ghibli stand out at the time, which definitely was a reoccurrence with their later films, was the animation. It’s absolutely incredible and timeless to this day. I’m going to make a very controversial statement and say that this film, as well as later Studio Ghibli films, looks far better than anything Disney was doing at the same time. I know they were both focused on fully hand-drawn movies around then, and trust me I really do think the Disney films around this era were great (obviously more of the 90s stuff), but somehow Studio Ghibli just had a much more personal style and feel to it back then. Even if that weren’t true then, it certainly is now.

The score is incredible too. Whether you’re looking for something adventurous, emotional, exciting, peaceful, inspirational, or really anything to be honest, this whole soundtrack has you covered. Oh yeah, and every single piece sounds amazing as well. On top of the animation and feeling of the movie, the score adds even more to the scenes, and each scene gives off the feeling and impact that it should because of that. The main theme is one of Ghibli’s best too in my opinion.

When it comes to criticisms, I really only have two. The first one is that the villain, Muska, despite being played by the amazing voice talent of Mark Hamill, is quite a shallow and boring character overall. His motivations are strictly government related. He never really has any motives of his own other than just being evil. Some characters can get away with this, such as Emperor Palpatine from Return of the Jedi, a film I just recently watched. Palpatine though also a presence and intimidation factor to him which is what makes him interesting. Muska unfortunately doesn’t have any of that.

The other criticism I have, which is probably the bigger one, is the runtime. At two hours in length, this is certainly a longer animated movie, especially for the time. While I personally never got bored with it, it certainly could have been trimmed down quite a bit. If I had to cut some stuff out, it would most certainly be several of the scenes involving the pirates. Not all of them, of course, as they do have a pivotal role at points in the story, but they do have several scenes that don’t advance the plot and kind of make the pacing stall for a bit. There is some somewhat meaningful time spent with Patzu and Sheeta during some of these scenes so I could see why they were here, but they probably could have been cut. There are plenty of other scenes with Patzu and Sheeta that do the same thing and have the same impact.

Really other than those two criticisms though, there isn’t anything else to really complain about. If you’re looking for a feel good film (keep in mind some emotional moments), full of action and adventure, check this one out. It’s one of my favorites in those genres (action and adventure), and is definitely towards the top of my Ghibli list.