If you’ve been a Geekscape reader/listener/follower for at least a month then you no doubt know about my endless love for all things Studio Ghibli. It started in the mid-90s while I was a high school student. I would attend Friday night Anime Club screenings at the University of Texas, where I discovered my love for movies like Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Plus, I thought it was cool to be hanging out with college students years before I went on to college (where I shamefully would never attend a single Anime Club screening or meeting at my own alma mater).
In 1997, Studio Ghibli released Princess Mononoke, one of their most successful films of all time. It followed a wild, forest spirit of a princess as she rode a giant wolf and engaged the human forces that encroached on the natural world and upset the forest gods. It stands as one of Studio Ghibli’s greatest accomplishments and if you’re going to start exploring their library (what’s been keeping you?!?), Princess Mononoke is a great place to start. I’ve loved the film since I first saw it on the big screen.
Which is why it’s amazing to learn that the Princess Mononoke that I know and love is not the original version… by a wide shot. Just take a look at this:
In 1980, 17 years before the film’s release, Hayao Miyazaki envisioned a much different story for Princess Mononoke, and now it’s being detailed in a book from Viz Media entitled Princess Mononoke: The First Story. The book sounds about as epic as the movie too. According to the press release:
The oversized (11¾ x 11¾ inch) hardcover release is published under the Studio Ghibli Library imprint and carries an MSRP of $34.99 U.S. / $39.99 CAN. The beautifully illustrated storybook features Hayao Miyazaki’s original watercolor artwork, which complements his thoughtfully written fable about man’s need to maintain ecological balance with nature that became the origin for the 1997 feature film. An afterward written by Miyazaki lends further context and insights to the Mononoke story and its deep and lasting impact upon the director.
This is the original Princess Mononoke story, created by Hayao Miyazaki in 1980 while he was first conceptualizing the landmark animated film that would be released to universal acclaim seventeen years later. As an initial version of the tale, it offers a new and significantly different perspective from the final version presented in the film. After a long, exhausting war, a samurai lost in a forest encounters a giant wildcat – a mononoke. The beast saves his life, but at the price of his daughter’s hand in marriage…
“Princess Mononoke was a historic release for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli and propelled the animation auteur to an entirely new level of international fame,” says Masumi Washington, Senior Editorial Director. “But few know of THE FIRST STORY, the imaginative fable that was the genesis for his groundbreaking film. This premium storybook fittingly presents it for the very first time in English and prominently displays his expressive watercolor characters and landscapes. We look forward to readers discovering Princess Mononoke in a whole new way in this unique release!”
Um, a giant wildcat?!? Just look at that picture! He’s riding a unicycle with strings attached to mice pulling him and a princess on his back. This is like getting a completely different story! And seeing as Hayao Miyazaki has officially retired (again!), it’s worth picking up this book just to get yet another story from this living legend!
I’m excited to receive my copy. Viz does a great job with their Studio Ghibli line of releases. The editions that they put out for My Neighbor Totoro are incredibly well done, with really handsome presentations and a print and binding quality deserving of Studio Ghibli’s level of excellence. But this one might just top all that. A giant wildcat riding a unicycle being pulled by mice on string.
Princess Mononoke: The First Story is currently available so go out and pick up your copy or visit www.VIZ.com for more info!