Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed Castle in the Sky in 1986, and it was the first film animated by Studio Ghibli. The movie runs 125 minutes and follows two orphans, Sheeta and Pazu, as they run from a government agent, the army and a gang of air pirates who all want Sheeta’s crystal necklace — the key to Laputa, a legendary flying castle full of advanced technology.
Trailer, via Crunchyroll Store Australia.
Sheeta Falls, Pazu Catches
An airship carrying Sheeta — abducted by the agent Muska — is attacked by Dola and her pirates. Sheeta falls, and the crystal lowers her gently to the ground. Pazu, a mechanic in a 19th-century mining town, catches her and takes her home.
The next morning he shows her a photograph his father took of Laputa, the castle he hopes to find. Then Dola’s gang and Muska’s soldiers arrive, and the chase begins.
Down a mine shaft, the crystal saves them again. In the tunnels they meet Uncle Pom, who shows them deposits of Aetherium, the same glowing mineral as Sheeta’s necklace. Sheeta tells Pazu her secret name, the one that ties her to Laputa, confirming to him that the legend is true.
Muska, the Robot and Titus Fort
The army captures the pair and holds them in Titus Fort. There Muska shows Sheeta a deactivated robot bearing the same insignia as her crystal, and tells her she is heir to the Laputan throne. He releases Pazu in exchange for her help finding Laputa.
Pazu goes home and is captured by Dola’s gang, who want the crystal. He joins them to rescue Sheeta. At the fort, Sheeta recites an ancient phrase her grandmother taught her, and the crystal wakes the robot. It protects her, devastates the fort, and is destroyed by the military airship Goliath. Pazu and Dola get Sheeta out. Muska keeps the crystal, and it guides him toward Laputa.
The Cast Behind the Voices
Auditions started in May 1986, led by Miyazaki, producer Isao Takahata and sound director Shigeharu Shiba. Pazu was meant to be voiced by a young boy, but the auditions were unsatisfactory, so Shiba recommended Mayumi Tanaka, known for playing children. For Sheeta, Miyazaki asked for someone other than Sumi Shimamoto, who had voiced the leads of his two previous films; the part went to Keiko Yokozawa.
- Mayumi Tanaka as Pazu
- Keiko Yokozawa as Sheeta
- Minori Terada as Muska
- Kotoe Hatsui as Dola
- Fujio Tokita as Uncle Pomme
Terada and Hatsui were unusual picks because both were known for live-action work. Shiba said Terada was chosen partly for a voice like the actor Jinpachi Nezu’s, and partly for his work on the Japanese dub of Blade Runner. Shiba thought about casting a Kansai comedian as Dola, but Miyazaki disliked that dialect. He saw Hatsui on a television program talking about her past, liked her voice and personality, and gave her the role.
Wales, Aetherium and the Machines
The film was partly inspired by Miyazaki’s trips to Wales, where he saw the aftermath of the 1984–1985 coal miners’ strike. Laputa carries the theme of environmentalism, working through the ties between humanity, nature and technology. Miyazaki wanted to show what he called “the honesty and goodness of children in [his] work,” which is why the young leads see the story differently than the adults chasing them.
| Element | In Castle in the Sky |
|---|---|
| Sheeta’s crystal | Key to Laputa; same mineral as Aetherium |
| Laputa | Flying castle holding advanced technology |
| The robots | Bear the crystal’s insignia; one devastates Titus Fort |
| The machines | Retrofuturistic, drawn from 19th-century designs |
The flying machines pulled from nineteenth-century approaches gave Castle in the Sky its reputation in the modern steampunk genre.
The middle section sags. Titus Fort runs long. What holds is the crystal, the robot and Laputa itself. Miyazaki ties the fantasy to a real place and a real strike, and the film is better for it. The environmental theme never turns into a lecture. The children carry it.
The published critical score is 7.8/10, with a Metacritic average of 78/100. Castle in the Sky is not Miyazaki’s tightest film, but the production team behind it — Miyazaki’s longtime collaborators — stayed with Studio Ghibli for the next three decades.
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