April 11, 2025 • 47 mins
A girl falls from the sky, a floating castle holds ancient power, and a 12-year-old boy with dreams of flight finds himself caught in an adventure beyond imagination. This magical collision of characters forms the heart of Studio Ghibli's 1986 masterpiece, Castle in the Sky.
When Sheeta literally drops into Pazu's life, neither could anticipate how their destinies would intertwine. As they evade both government agents and a comically inept band of air pirates, they discover their shared connection to Laputa—the legendary floating city that most believe is merely myth. What begins as Pazu's mission to prove his father wasn't lying about seeing the castle transforms into something far more profound when they learn of Sheeta's ancestral connection to this technological marvel.
What distinguishes Castle in the Sky from other animated adventures is its seamless blending of thrilling action with poignant themes about humanity's relationship with technology. The film presents us with Mark Hamill's brilliantly voiced villain Muska, who seeks Laputa's power for domination, contrasted against our young heroes who discover that the abandoned city's true marvel isn't its weapons but the massive tree growing at its center—nature reclaiming what humanity abandoned when they chose power over connection.
Director Hayao Miyazaki creates unforgettable moments that stay with viewers long after watching: pirates competing to help with household chores, grown men comically exploding their shirts to display their strength, and breathtaking flying sequences set to Joe Hisaishi's unforgettable score. These lighter moments balance perfectly against the film's deeper message that technology without human connection becomes meaningless—a theme that feels remarkably prescient in today's digital world.
Whether you're new to anime or a longtime Studio Ghibli fan, Castle in the Sky delivers that rare combination of adventure, heart, humor and thought-provoking themes that transcend both age and cultural boundaries. Watch it once for the adventure, then again to catch all the nuances you missed the first time around.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello and welcome to MovieRx, where I prescribe
entertainment one movie at atime.
I am your host, dr Benjamin,and I'm a doctor in the same way
as Dr Dre, because it's catchy.
Honestly, I don't know why theycall him Dr Dre, but I figure
if he can call himself a doctorand not get in trouble for it,
then I should be able to rightyeah, we'll see.
(00:44):
I should be able to right yeah,we'll see.
So today I have a returningguest, someone who's been on,
and we're kind of figuring outthat she's doing a sort of a
series of movies, the StudioGhibli series.
I guess we'll call it.
Welcome, chrissy.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Alrighty.
So today Chrissy's brought usanother conversation about
Studio Ghibli, because that'swhat we do, and today we're
talking about another one that Ikind of struggled a little bit
with, but not near as much asTotoro.
Today we're talking aboutCastle in the Sky.
So what made you pick this oneLike did you just recently watch
(01:27):
it and it kind of just becameyour new favorite, or?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So I went to the library to pick up Spirited Away
and they told me it's not inright now.
So it's like, okay, I'll lookfor another one.
Saw they had Castle in the Skyand it's like this is a good one
to try Pop it.
And I've noticed this withstudio ghibli movies.
I expect one thing out of themovie and get something
completely different.
(01:50):
That's even better.
And this movie flows in a waythat it satisfies me.
It's just a good movie.
It's.
It's a nice sit your butt downgreat music, great great
animation, great characters.
Sit down, watch it and enjoy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, and I mean, that's just what you get from
Studio Ghibli, like I mean.
Well, I mean, I suppose Ishould probably do the basic
movie info here.
We got the Studio Ghibli filmreleased in 1986.
This thing is only two yearsyounger than me, so this is a 38
old film.
(02:27):
Uh, written and directed by,again, the great Hayao Miyazaki.
Uh, miyazaki had help uh, inthe English dub version from
Jonathan Swift and we're doingthe English dub version today.
Um, the English version stars,uh, anna Paquin, or Anna Paquin
(02:49):
Paquin, I think.
Uh, she, I don't know if youwatched the X-Men movie.
She was rogue in the old X-Menmovies.
Uh, it also stars shit, it'sthe Dawson, james Van Der Beek
and, uh, and then also LukeSkywalker's in this movie, mark
(03:10):
Hamill.
So, yeah, I mean they kind oflike, I mean, especially for
that time, 1986, anna Paquin andJames Vanderbeek they were both
very young, uh, and Mark Hamill, uh, I'm I'm pretty sure Mark
Hamill will always be like achild at heart.
(03:34):
Uh, there's no way that you canplay that.
You can play, uh, you know, twocompletely different roles like
Luke Skywalker and the Joker,and then not be a child for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Um, I didn't realize this movie until I read which
character.
I couldn't even recognize hisvoice at the time.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, that's.
I mean he does a really greatjob with his voice, acting Like.
In a lot of the time it doesn't.
It's like he's not even tryingand he can.
He can just make the slightestchange to his voice and it and
it makes it just soundcompletely different.
Like I don't know, it's he's.
He's a very talented voiceactor.
(04:21):
I was really kind of surprisedthat he ended up being more into
voice acting than than regularmovies.
Um, but yeah, he's, he's justbad-ass.
Um, now the IMDB description onthis.
Let's see.
Uh, how do you think Jamie willfeel about this one?
Uh, Pazoo's life changes whenhe meets Sheetaeta, a girl whom
(04:45):
pirates are chasing for hercrystal amulet, which has the
potential to locate laputa.
A?
Uh, a legendary castle floatingin the sky that's about it yeah
, that's a pretty good, prettygood, uh brief description.
I think that that's not bad.
Uh, jamie wouldn't be happywith it, because Jamie
(05:06):
apparently needs them to readher the script before before
she's happy with the IMDbdescription.
Ha I, I, I think you need to.
I think you need to listen tomore episodes, chrissy, because
I pick on Jamie a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
How nice of you.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
It's fun, fun, it's so much fun.
So, um, so yeah, this movie, um, this one did kind of start off
a little difficult for me, uh,to to kind of begin with, um,
the as far as, as far ascharacters go in this movie,
(05:45):
that's, that's one of the thingsthat that that I think really
makes this movie.
Uh, is is the is the differentkinds of characters.
Um, I'm not going to lie, someof them are kind of ridiculous,
but some, I mean, it's okay,it's okay that they're a little
ridiculous, but, um, uh, butwe're, we're going to start with
a more obvious one Pazu.
(06:09):
Tell me what you think of Pazu.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
A kid trying to find his way through the world when
all of a sudden a girl fallsfrom the sky.
An angel from the heavens,practically.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
It's every high school boy's dream Just some
girl falling from the sky.
And yeah, yeah, I'll tell you.
What I first noticed about Pazuis that he's really smart.
Oh yeah, like he's super, supersmart, like I mean first off,
(06:41):
he's like an engineer'sassistant.
Mm-hmm, like I mean he, I meanfirst off he's.
He's like an engineer'sassistant.
Like I don't know how old he'ssupposed to be, but definitely
younger than I think anengineer's assistant should be.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I looked up their ages, Shita and Patsu's age.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Shita's 13.
Patsu is 12.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, see 12.
No there's no way that a 12year old is a is a.
Is that much that knowledgeablein engineering to be able to do
all those things with thosepipes and stuff that he was
doing for his boss, you know?
Running the um the lift yeah,running the lift and all of that
stuff, like fixing all thesteam, all the steam vents and
(07:22):
all of that stuff, like I meanhe knew what he was doing.
I mean maybe not so much withthe lift, but it also sounded
like he didn't really get to dothat much and he was distracted
because girls falling from thesky.
But he but yeah.
So not only that, but also hecatches this girl and he finds
(07:48):
out, like he figures out prettydamn quick, that her floating
down from the sky had somethingto do with that crystal.
He figured that out super quick, way quicker than I think a 12
year old character normallywould in a in an animated movie.
And he's, he's building afrigging, a freaking plane yeah
like this kid is smart, this kidis super, super smart.
(08:10):
So like, automatically, that'sall.
That's seriously going to be amajor leg up and making me like
this character, because he'she's just brilliant like super,
super intelligent.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
He does jump off the roof at one point too, though
well, except that's thebrilliant, like super, super
intelligent, he does jump offthe roof at one point too,
though.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Well, except that's the whole thing Like what is a
science minded kid going to dowhen he doesn't have a whole lot
of options?
He's going to say, okay, so Ithink this crystal makes people
float.
Can I borrow your crystal for asecond?
And then he jumps off the roof,like I mean, that seems like a
like a pretty sensible way totest it.
I mean, he didn't jump all theway off the roof, he just jumped
(08:48):
onto a lower section and crashlanded through it yeah, I mean
that it's for science yeah, fairenough, so at least it's a
crash pad though.
Or something, or something.
I mean okay, so maybe he's notthat smart.
(09:08):
No, he's super smart.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
He is super smart and he just wanted to prove it and
I think he got a little carriedaway, being like I'm right, I'm
going to jump off this roofCrash.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Probably.
Oh, and he plays a hell of atrumpet too.
Oh, yes, he's a really goodtrumpet player.
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I don't know if he was supposed to be like the wake
up guy or something like that,but he did a good job, I mean
maybe he very well could be themorning alarm clock for
everybody, because he lives upon a hill and stands on the roof
with his doves or pigeons orwhatever they are, and starts
playing trumpet every morning.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yep, and, of course, like anything Miyazaki, a hell
of a tune.
It's catchy and something thatsticks in your head.
I watched that movie a secondtime this morning in preparation
for recording today, and thatsong has been playing in my head
(10:12):
all day.
Just really good stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I plan on watching this movie again sometime this
week.
It's so good.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Just to get it in one more time before you have to
take it back.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
I bought it on DVD.
Well, you have to take it back.
I bought it on DVD.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Well, you just went and bought it.
Okay, I bought it.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I borrowed it from the library.
It was like I like this movie,went to Amazon and bought it, so
now I have my own personal copy.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well, that's good.
Let's see here I mean Pazureally kind of stuck out for me
as a good character what's oneof your favorites?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I really like Sheeta.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
She just seems like such a simple character, with so
much more behind her, and she'svery caring.
She doesn't really put up afight.
She's not very like rebellious.
She wants to help people andplease people at some point.
But she's also very selfless.
She's like stay away, potsu,I'm gonna cause you danger, get
(11:17):
back.
You don't want to be near me?
Potsu's like, but I do, I wantto go with you.
And she's like's like no, no,I'm putting you in danger.
You have to go.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Like she cares more about patsu's safety than she
does her own right, yeah, that'suh well, and selfless
characters are kind of uh, thoseare, those are kind of a uh,
studio ghibli, um, like almost aguarantee.
Like there's usually a reallygood selfless character in each
(11:50):
of those movies and this oneit's definitely her.
The thing that I kind of likeabout her is the mystery that
surrounds her, you know, I meanright off the bat, at the
beginning of the movie.
You know she's in an airshipbeing attacked by pirates trying
to get this thing, you know,and she, you know, wallops a guy
(12:14):
upside the head with a with awine bottle and and takes a,
takes a crystal and jumps outthe side of the plane.
You know it's like uh, and thenshe floats.
Then she floats down to, youknow, to to the Dawson and uh,
you know, uh and and kicksthings off a little bit.
(12:36):
But she's, she's pretty much amystery pretty much throughout
the whole movie.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Um, uh, I mean until you really start getting into
the, into the thick of the endof the movie.
Um, but, uh, but yeah, likeshe's, she's almost.
The thing about Shida, though,I think, is that she's almost,
she's almost half a character,because her, her character in
(13:05):
tandem with Pazu is really kindof I mean that that is one
character right there.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Like they.
They are so much, so much apart of each other right from
the beginning, that that they're, that.
They really are just kind ofone, yeah, and it's not even in
a duality sort of way, becausesometimes you get that really
(13:37):
harsh, stern character, that'swith the really bubbly friendly
one or whatever, and they kindof show the duality in one
character or something like that.
But they're really not terriblydifferent.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
No, yeah, they have similarities At heart.
They have similarities, fewdifferences, but in a way they
are both very caring about eachother.
They want to put each otherfirst over themselves.
And yeah, I'd say Potsu is alittle more adventurous than
shida is.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, and that's kind of one of the ways they're
different yeah, now the uh uh,jumping into the talking points
here a little bit, uh, we, we'rekind of getting into another
character, or rather group ofcharacters, I suppose, um, the,
they don't start off this way,but you have the Dola and her
(14:30):
unthreatening band of pirates.
Um now they don't.
They don't start off asunthreatening.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Like that opening scene, you, you get the sense
that this is a formidable bandof of pirates that are about
ready to do like they're aboutready to pull some shit, you
know.
And then, as as the movie goeson, they start, you know,
putting on.
They start putting on likecostumes and things like that.
(14:59):
And let me, let me just tellyou the weirdness.
That is this one scene thatjust stuck with me and that is
the explode your shirt scene.
This beardly dude standingthere in his suit two beardly
dudes, and yeah.
And then he, like, flexes andblows his shirt up.
(15:22):
And then pazoo's boss isn't tobe outdone, so he does it too,
and his shirt explodes and hiswife and they're just both
standing there flexing, like youknow, and his wife's, like I'm
not fixing that, I'm not fixingthat shirt for you.
I'm not going to mend that shirtNow.
(15:46):
I'm just like that.
Now I laugh.
I laugh like a motherfucker atthat scene.
Like the first time I watchedit I was just like the fuck am I
watching Like this is sofucking weird.
But it's it now.
Now I just laugh.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Now, I'm just like it's great.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
I don't know, I get a kick out of it.
But the thing that I reallylike about that scene is that
that's really where you start toget the sense that the villains
in this movie are awful atbeing villains.
They are just bad, bad villains.
They, they don't not.
(16:29):
Not bad villains isn't like thekind of bad that you want a
villain to be yeah, they're justthey just suck at being bad
guys I think that's becausethey're not really bad guys like
they.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
they are kind of at the very beginning when they're
chasing Shida down, but thenthey turn to be like we're going
to help you.
You, you can come with us,we're going to help you.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Right, and like I mean cause they're, they're
chasing, they're chasing, uh,shida and and Pazu around, uh, I
mean everything from throughthe town to on the train and and
all of that stuff.
But it's like I mean I, I don'tknow man, like it's just so
weird that that their theirpersonalities, of course, I mean
(17:17):
the voice acting alone is justis ridiculous and very, very
commonplace for that time.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Um, uh, in in the mid eighties, voice acting for
anime was just outrageous, um,and, and it just lended.
It just lended more, uh, moregoofiness to this, to this band
of bad guys that wouldeventually become um, you know
(17:47):
not, it would eventually becomewhat you didn't expect they
would be um, because theirintentions and, and you know,
what they are after is not nearas um, as villainous as the real
villain ends up being.
So, yeah, it was just kind offun.
(18:11):
It almost ends up being almostlike in Moving Castle.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
How the Witch of the Waste was like.
You thought she was going to bethe big ugly baddie, but then
she ended up being a part of the, a part of the family yeah like
that kind of a unexpected twistsort of thing.
I don't know it, just kind of itcracks me up, um, uh.
So, uh, up here on your on, onyour talking points we have,
(18:43):
pazu has a connection with withLaputa.
Just like Sheeta, he wants tofind Laputa for his father.
So like Sheeta, I mean, well,we know that Pazu is looking for
Laputa because his dad had beenlooking for it and he found it
and he took a picture of it.
It wasn't a very good picture,but he found, he took a picture
(19:05):
of it and he made drawings andthings like that.
And well, ultimately peopledidn't believe him and it got
him killed.
So he's got skin in the game.
He's like I want to clear mydad's name, I want to make sure
(19:26):
that people know that he wasn'tlying, that he's not full of
shit and whatever.
What's Sheeta's connection withwith Laputa?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Shida's the princess.
She is the descendant of theoriginal rulers of Laputa.
Right Muska actually explainsthis to her.
Translate it for her.
Where her real name?
Uh, lushita, something,something.
Laputa, I forgot what it is.
Is actually um like Lushita,true, something.
Laputa, I forgot what it is.
Is actually um like Lushita,true.
(19:58):
Ruler of Laputa.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Right, which I mean she doesn't know that, uh, to
begin with, Um, she just, shejust knows that she wants to go
with Pazu to this place, Um, and, and she feels, she feels a
kind of drawing to it, Um,Pazu's also smart enough to
(20:21):
figure out that that, that thatstone that she's wearing has has
something to do with that place, and so, uh, so I mean they're,
they have all of these reasonswhy they should be going there
together that just kind of comeup, uh, throughout the story as
it goes, Um, I do think sheactually tells Patsu her real
(20:42):
name before they get capturedagain and before she finds out
what that means.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
She does tell him and then I think that's when they
get captured, right?
So she knows that she has avery small connection, but she
doesn't know exactly what itmeans right, I mean just that it
like that it's a part of herfull name, um, the.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I wonder, though, I mean if that, if the assumption
would be, um, you know, becauseI mean that was something that,
that that was a way that peoplewould identify themselves, um,
you know, with a name ofwherever you know, um, like, uh,
like Robin hood, you know.
(21:28):
I don't know if you ever sawthe Robin hood movie.
Uh, he was Robin of Loxley, um,but uh, no, I mean, mean, I
mean just that kind of sort ofthing, though prince hans of the
southern isles right, you knowthe the various different things
, uh, the various different waysthat people would identify
(21:49):
themselves throughout history.
Where have some of them havebeen not very reliable.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
But um, and, and sometimes it just gets forgotten
, but uh, uh, as to theirorigins, but um, I wonder if
that's kind of what it was, forher was just that like that.
Just that was her last name.
She just didn't know why.
Um.
But uh, yeah, yeah, I don'tknow.
(22:20):
Um.
So this, this next one, pazou,standing up to the pirates in
the beginning Um, tell, tell mea little bit about why you put
this one on here.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
He's trying to be so brave.
Um, that's, that's the.
The shirt exploding scene again.
He's standing next to his boss,all big and tough.
He looks like he's fightingagainst a bear.
Some people say, if you makeyourself all big and tough,
stronger than the bear, then thebear will flee.
That's what it kind of lookslike.
(22:50):
He's like a little a little,just a little, a smaller
creature standing up to thesebig, mean bears, until he's, of
course, pulled away by, uh, hisboss's wife it's.
It's just funny to me the wayhe looks in that scene.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Just yeah, small little kid, yeah, just there,
well, and and I mean that that'skind of how he gets, ends up,
how he ends up getting away um,through.
All of that is is just, youknow it's, it's pretty easy for
us to just kind of set asidethose small, those small things,
(23:27):
like you know, we get.
We get involved in whatever itis that we're doing, and it's
real easy to lose track of alittle somebody you know, um,
but yeah, no, it's real easy tolose track of a little somebody
you know Um, but yeah, no, it'sI don't know.
Like I said, that scene justweirded me the fuck out before,
but, like, like, I don't know it, it it kind of became one of my
(23:48):
favorites, uh, uh, after, afterwatching it a couple of times,
to do this episode.
So Now, what's this next onehere?
Explain this next one to me.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
So when Hatsu gets, patsu gets pulled into his house
by the pirates and they tie himup.
Just before they leave, one ofthe pirates in the background
goes Patsu loves Shita.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And every time I hear that it makes me laugh, because
that's such a childish thing todo, that that's something that
we've all done you love him I'mtrying to remember who it was
that did that voice, um, butit's, it's, uh, it's a more, oh,
(24:35):
I, I'd have to look it up, um,but yeah, the you know what I
think?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I think I'm just gonna look it up because you,
just, you just hear that in thebackground and it's in this very
faint.
You kind of have to turn up thevolume, but just like, wow,
that's such a childish thing todo, you.
You really are not goodvillains.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Right, Well, and it's oh geez.
What's it trying to do here,God?
Now I'm getting messages allover the place the oh TopCast.
What was his name?
It was, oh, Louie, Louie.
That was Louie.
And an interesting bit ofinformation for anybody watching
(25:18):
this movie that is MandyPatinkin.
That does Louis' voice, MandyPatinkin.
I don't know if you know whothat is.
Chrissy, did you ever seePrincess Bride?
Yes, Mandy Patinkin was theSpaniard, If you know who that
is.
Chrissy, um, did you ever seeprincess bride?
Yes, mandy Patinkin was theSpaniard you killed my father
(25:41):
prepared to die.
That was Mandy Patinkin.
Um, uh, he was also.
He was also in Homeland.
He was in, uh, dick Tracy AlienNation.
He was in Dick Tracy AlienNation.
He was in a lot of movies butin a lot of TV shows.
(26:05):
But, yeah, so Louie was voicedby Mandy Patinkin, which I it
blew me away because it doesn'tsound anything like him.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
But super, super talented guy, um, yeah, anyway,
uh, but him doing that, that Pazwho loves Shida thing was just,
it was silly.
And I think what made it sofunny for me was was imagining
Mandy Patinkin doing it.
(26:34):
Um, yeah, uh, so uh, and, andwe kind of talked about.
We kind of talked about theyour, your next talking point,
the, the, how, how.
Dola's sons are just kind ofthe worst ever pirates.
They're just awful at beingpirates, um, but like, I think
(27:00):
they're only pirates bytechnicality yeah um, because,
like I don't, I don't think ithas anything to do with the fact
that they, that they want to doall of these piratey things.
I think that they just I thinkthat they're just going along
with what their mom wants to do.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
That's even what they say.
All good pirates do what theirmom says.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Do what their moms tell them to.
Yeah, and like, and so becauseof that, like them being silly
is is totally forgivable, likethe desserts thing of that like
them being silly is is totallyforgivable, like the desserts
thing, and and like and likeyou've got on here the that
they're kind of absent-mindedabsent-minded is is the softest
(27:48):
way to put that.
I mean, these guys are kind ofdumb I I like it when they all
have.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
They all want to go help cheetah.
They're like cheetah, you needsome help.
And then they see that theother brother's there and it's
like what are you doing here?
I thought you were sick.
And the other's like I wantedto help her.
I'm peeling potatoes for her,right, I'm gonna scrub some
dishes for her.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
They've all got their own stuff to do, but nah,
they'd rather help sheeta yeah,so, so, eventually, eventually,
we start to find out more aboutlapida.
Um, as they, as they get inthere and they start, um, they
start getting in into intolapida, they find, uh, like
(28:33):
you've got down here, they uhthe tree of lapida, uh, symbol
of life.
Um, tell me why you put thisdown the tree is huge.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
It it consumes a building.
You can see it spread over topthe building, up and out, and
even the roots themselves digdeep into Laputa's core and
surround the Ethereum crystalthat holds Laputa together, and
the way it thrives is it keepsgoing.
(29:07):
There's a robot that tends tothe animals, and the animals
call it home.
It gets bigger at home.
It's it just.
It gets bigger even thoughthere's nobody around truly
taking care of it other otherthan nature itself, maybe even
the ethereum crystal right justlives, yeah, and I don't know, I
(29:29):
guess, uh, I mean like, well,that kind of goes a little bit
into my active ingredients.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
So I might hold on to that little nugget for a little
bit.
The next talking point you hadwas the music.
What made you feel so muchdifferent about the music?
Because, like, you haven'treally talked about the music
much in these movies so far, inthe Studio Ghibli movies so far,
(29:58):
but this one you bring it upspecifically.
Why this time?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Every Studio Ghibli has amazing music.
This one in particular.
I don't know what it is aboutit, but that final song during
the credits, I want to learnthose words and sing that one
day.
It is one of those songs thatplays in my head.
I will hum it to myself, I will.
I will hear it in my head.
(30:26):
I I don't know why.
It just it fits the movie andsomething that studio ghibli
does with their uh music.
That music that I've noticed isthey entangle it throughout the
movie.
It's not one scene's music, itis the movie's music, and I
think that's another thing aboutmusic that sometimes just
(30:48):
doesn't work for movies Isthey're like this song there,
this song there, this song there.
No, I'm going to call it thesong of Laputa.
Essentially, it's everywhere.
It is a part of the story in away, and it's just written well.
It is catchy, it is sad in away, but it also got a bright
(31:16):
side to it.
It's, it's everything.
I love it so much.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
So so for for our listeners who aren't aware, mine
and Chrissy's dad is a musicteacher.
He was a music teacher for alot of a lot of years 24.
Chrissy for 24 years.
Do you know?
Do you know what that is called?
What when, when somebody has amusical theme that that reoccurs
(31:46):
throughout a story dad said itbefore, but I can't remember
what it's called it's calledlight motif there it is okay, a
motif.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, yep, it's called light motif.
There it is Okay, a motif.
Yeah, yep, it's called a lightmotif, okay, yep, um.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
And then uh, uh, and ask him, ask him, uh, a really
good story about, uh, chris,stelling and light motifs?
He'll tell you a good, a good,funny one, about something that
that Chris had said in class.
Anyway, Uh, so, um.
So we we get into now.
(32:25):
Now we're getting into someinto some fun talking points
here about um, about actuallylike finding more about the
actual um, the danger in thismovie, the real danger, um,
muska.
Muska is the real bad guy here.
Yes, um, and and he is he.
(32:50):
He is every bit of villain, asas any good Disney movie would
have Um, but but with with more,with more of the anime swagger,
that a that a villain shouldhave.
Um, luca is a great, greatvillain, and I'm not just saying
(33:15):
that because he's voiced byluke skywalker.
Uh, muska is just a great,great villain.
And, uh, now your, your talkingpoint here talks about um,
about his downfall.
Oh, how, how did he fall?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
He literally fell.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Right.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
He did.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
But Sheeta and Patsu Say the spell of destruction
which starts to break apartLaputa.
But they they would have falleninto the sea if not for the
roots of the tree and theAetherium crystal that carry
them to safety, where theyeventually meet up with Dola,
(34:03):
who also survived.
Muska, however, in an earlierscene, is seen ripping the tree
roots apart.
He's trying to get to theAetherium crystal.
He's tearing them apart,disrespecting them, not giving
any acknowledgement to the treeitself and eventually he dies.
(34:25):
It almost feels like Shida andPotsu respected the tree,
respected what it was and leftit alone, and Musu's like I'm
gonna burn these roots.
And the tree respected what itwas and left it alone, and
musu's like I'm gonna burn theseroots and the tree made him
lose his life instead kind offeels like karma like the tree's
(34:46):
, like fuck y'all like youasshole.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, yeah, the I, I can go along with that.
He, he, uh, uh, I mean thethat's a, that's a, uh, that's.
It's kind of kind of a commontheme in in studio Ghibli films.
Um, respect for nature kind ofthing, uh, is is pretty common
(35:17):
throughout a lot of their films.
Um, but this, I, I, this oneand one other are the only ones
that I can really think of justhow direct they are.
Um, and I mean I don't know ifyou have you, have you seen
princess Mononoke at all, orjust seen previews or anything
(35:40):
like that.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
I got up to the part where the main character is in
the fort.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah Well, so you, you got a little bit of a flavor
of what it was about.
Uh, as far as their, uh, themessage, uh, respect for nature,
and things like that, thatmovie winds up being similar in
to this one where it is.
It is not a subtle message thatif you, just if you,
(36:12):
metaphorically, um, you fuckwith nature and eventually it
will turn against you, um and uh, I mean you being humanity that
kind of thing Um but uh, butyeah, I think I think that
really Musco was, I think,representative of of something a
(36:37):
little bit more industrious.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, Um.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
I mean, I mean, that's what he was there for.
He was there for the technology, he was there for the power, he
was there for all of those bigflashy things that, yeah, that
that Lapida had to offer, but hedidn't have the respect for
(37:03):
nature required to harness it.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
And so nature, just kind of you know, fuck off, go
away, we don't want you.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Yeah, so yeah, no, that's no, no, I'm, I'm, I'm on,
I'm on a level with you there.
Uh, the disrespect to the tree,uh, to the tree of Lapida, I
think, is really kind of kind ofthe turning point for him as
far as where, where his downfallcomes from.
Um, now, uh, we, we did hadkind of talked aboutida caring
(37:36):
more about everyone else thanher own safety and things like
that.
I mean, that's part of whatmakes her such a great character
.
But I mean, at this point, thecrystal has been kind of her
focal point throughout the movieand now suddenly she's willing
(38:02):
to part with it.
On behalf of Pazu.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
Everyone actually.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
So well, yeah.
I mean well, really, yeah,everyone actually.
So well, yeah, I mean well,really, yeah, but but yeah, I
mean that's, that's just kind ofa crazy cool thing as far as.
As far as I'm concerned, isthat like the, the perceived
selflessness, uh, or I guessrather the selflessness uh over
(38:34):
the um, you know, the, thewhatever was perceived to be
more important, um it, it kindof also, it kind of brings up
that that flavor of the um, theSpock thing, the needs of the
many outweigh the needs of thefew, sort of thing, um, in a
(38:54):
different sort of way I guess.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
But that scene where she steals the crystal from
muska and runs, is one of myfavorites, because you just see
muska walking at one point totry and catch up to her and
she's just booking it.
And here's patsu, and that'swhen she reaches through to give
him the crystal and it's liketake it, just take it.
And Potsu's like no, I want tohelp you.
(39:19):
And she's like go, he's coming.
And then she gives him thecrystal and darts off before
Muska tries to shoot him andwarns Potsu that if you don't
give me the crystal, sheeta'sgoing to die that if you don't
give me the crystal, she isgonna die right, yeah, and yeah,
yeah and then they go to thethrone room or what used to be,
(39:42):
and she goes this is not athrone room, this is a tomb for
you and I right, well, and Imean luckily luckily, we don't
really feel like it.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
It goes that way for them.
Uh, I mean when, when all issaid and done it, it feels very
much like they might've might'vehad an opportunity at that,
happily ever after, sort ofthing.
Yeah, you know very quietlywhich I mean.
(40:16):
I don't know that this storywould be.
It's predictable, but how else,how else do you want it to end?
You know, like I mean, we don't,we don't want either of them to
die.
No, I mean, that's, that'sawful to hope that a 12 or a 13
year old dies, but but I meanhonestly, what other, what other
(40:37):
change are you going to have inthis movie?
Um, I mean, with it being anime, I suppose she could turn into
a tree or something.
But like we don't want to get,we don't want to retroactively
give uh miyazaki any, any ideasI think the the best ending to
the movie is the one you expect.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
You don't want something so far left.
You don't want them to justdrop oh yeah, she's been ill
this whole time and to be likewhy, why, you gotta do this.
You can't just take my favoritecharacter away, right, I like
it when they give you the endingyou expect, because then you
feel satisfied right you have, Imean if you want to give it to
(41:20):
me in a different way, thenthat's fine.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
You know, uh, but no, I I dig um.
So.
So tell me what's your activeingredient for this movie.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Honestly friendship, kind of Friendship and
connection.
We see Shida and Potsu makefriends with each other and
eventually friends with thepeople who were originally
enemies, the Dola Gang.
We see them not.
Potsu doesn't view the Dolagang as a threat anymore.
(41:55):
He goes let me join you.
If you're going to go get Shida, I want to come with you, I
want to be there.
And Dola's like okay, showingthat there are friends
everywhere and you might notknow it and all you have to do
is take the first step.
It's a two-way.
(42:16):
It's history, like if you makethe first step then the other
person might, and in that momentDola made that second step to
help get the two back together.
And even at the end we seeSheeta's connection with Dola.
She's kind of like shut up,I'll get you a new ship to her
husband.
(42:36):
And then to Shida she's like no, not your pigtails.
What a tragedy having yourpigtails shot off.
Right, oh yeah, that's good,gives me the warm fuzzies every
time I hear that Just like.
Oh, it almost feels like amother and daughter relationship
.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Yeah, hear that just like.
Oh, it almost feels like amother and daughter relationship
.
Yeah, no, I can, I can, I meanmine, mine is a little bit.
It has a little bit to do withthe human connection thing.
Um, ultimately, ultimately,what I, what I took from this
movie was the themes um oftechnology and power and, uh,
(43:19):
and the importance of of humanconnections.
Um, you have this advancedtechnological powerhouse city
yeah.
Laputa, you know, floating, uh,floating makes it Um, which is
kind of a message of itself.
You know, I mean the, theisolation that comes with power
(43:43):
and technology, uh, is just apart of what it is, um, and I
don't know if that wasMiyazaki's intention back in
1986 when he wrote it, but butthat's just kind of how it felt
to me, um, and it speaks volumesto human isolation because of
technology today.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Um Lapida is empty and overgrown, um, and to me
that kind of showed thattechnology is kind of useless
without human connection.
Um, uh, it, it, it loses itspurpose.
Um and Shida and Patsu um, they, they kind of represent the
(44:30):
importance of humanrelationships, um and and its
effect and its effect aroundtechnology.
So really I think what I takeaway is that despite, despite
our technology, we need toremember to stay connected with
each other yeah um, now I'm I'mnot saying to go get rid of your
(44:51):
stuff, uh Cause that's dumb.
I mean, we live in the age thatwe live in.
Technology is a part of it andwe need to accept that, but it
doesn't.
But we still need to make aneffort in people.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, technology shouldn't be a replacement for
people.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Right.
You have to go, and that's kindof what I took from it.
So, yeah, thank you.
Thank you for bringing me thisone.
It was difficult, butultimately I did really enjoy it
.
So thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Yeah, uh, thanks for coming on.
Yeah, yeah, and uh, we'll,we'll look forward to having you
on for for another couple of uhGhibli films later on, so Round
three.
Round uh, round four.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Round four, that's true.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Yeah, Cause.
Now, what have we done?
Now?
We've done um owls owls Totoro,totoro and Castle in the Sky
and Castle in the Sky.
I gotta remember when I'mreleasing these, to put Castle
in the Sky out after the the cator after Totoro.
Now, if you have a movie that'sbeen medicine for you and has
(46:11):
influenced you in some way andyou'd like to be on the show,
just let me know and we can haveyou on.
Uh, you can email me at contactat movie dash rx, or you can
text or leave a voicemail at402-519-5790.
If you have anxiety about beingon a microphone, that's okay.
Uh, I get it.
You can send me an email ortext message with a movie and
(46:34):
how it is medicine for you and Ican talk about it on an episode
with somebody.
Remember, this movie is notintended to treat, cure or
prevent any disease and we'llsee you at the next appointment.
Outro Music.
Hello and welcome to MovieRx, where I prescribe
entertainment one movie at atime.
I am your host, dr Benjamin,and I'm a doctor in the same way
as Dr Dre, because it's catchy.
Honestly, I don't know why theycall him Dr Dre, but I figure
if he can call himself a doctorand not get in trouble for it,
then I should be able to rightyeah, we'll see.
(00:44):
I should be able to right yeah,we'll see.
So today I have a returningguest, someone who's been on,
and we're kind of figuring outthat she's doing a sort of a
series of movies, the StudioGhibli series.
I guess we'll call it.
Welcome, chrissy.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Alrighty.
So today Chrissy's brought usanother conversation about
Studio Ghibli, because that'swhat we do, and today we're
talking about another one that Ikind of struggled a little bit
with, but not near as much asTotoro.
Today we're talking aboutCastle in the Sky.
So what made you pick this oneLike did you just recently watch
(01:27):
it and it kind of just becameyour new favorite, or?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So I went to the library to pick up Spirited Away
and they told me it's not inright now.
So it's like, okay, I'll lookfor another one.
Saw they had Castle in the Skyand it's like this is a good one
to try Pop it.
And I've noticed this withstudio ghibli movies.
I expect one thing out of themovie and get something
completely different.
(01:50):
That's even better.
And this movie flows in a waythat it satisfies me.
It's just a good movie.
It's.
It's a nice sit your butt downgreat music, great great
animation, great characters.
Sit down, watch it and enjoy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Right, and I mean, that's just what you get from
Studio Ghibli, like I mean.
Well, I mean, I suppose Ishould probably do the basic
movie info here.
We got the Studio Ghibli filmreleased in 1986.
This thing is only two yearsyounger than me, so this is a 38
old film.
(02:27):
Uh, written and directed by,again, the great Hayao Miyazaki.
Uh, miyazaki had help uh, inthe English dub version from
Jonathan Swift and we're doingthe English dub version today.
Um, the English version stars,uh, anna Paquin, or Anna Paquin
(02:49):
Paquin, I think.
Uh, she, I don't know if youwatched the X-Men movie.
She was rogue in the old X-Menmovies.
Uh, it also stars shit, it'sthe Dawson, james Van Der Beek
and, uh, and then also LukeSkywalker's in this movie, mark
(03:10):
Hamill.
So, yeah, I mean they kind oflike, I mean, especially for
that time, 1986, anna Paquin andJames Vanderbeek they were both
very young, uh, and Mark Hamill, uh, I'm I'm pretty sure Mark
Hamill will always be like achild at heart.
(03:34):
Uh, there's no way that you canplay that.
You can play, uh, you know, twocompletely different roles like
Luke Skywalker and the Joker,and then not be a child for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Um, I didn't realize this movie until I read which
character.
I couldn't even recognize hisvoice at the time.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, that's.
I mean he does a really greatjob with his voice, acting Like.
In a lot of the time it doesn't.
It's like he's not even tryingand he can.
He can just make the slightestchange to his voice and it and
it makes it just soundcompletely different.
Like I don't know, it's he's.
He's a very talented voiceactor.
(04:21):
I was really kind of surprisedthat he ended up being more into
voice acting than than regularmovies.
Um, but yeah, he's, he's justbad-ass.
Um, now the IMDB description onthis.
Let's see.
Uh, how do you think Jamie willfeel about this one?
Uh, Pazoo's life changes whenhe meets Sheetaeta, a girl whom
(04:45):
pirates are chasing for hercrystal amulet, which has the
potential to locate laputa.
A?
Uh, a legendary castle floatingin the sky that's about it yeah
, that's a pretty good, prettygood, uh brief description.
I think that that's not bad.
Uh, jamie wouldn't be happywith it, because Jamie
(05:06):
apparently needs them to readher the script before before
she's happy with the IMDbdescription.
Ha I, I, I think you need to.
I think you need to listen tomore episodes, chrissy, because
I pick on Jamie a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
How nice of you.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
It's fun, fun, it's so much fun.
So, um, so yeah, this movie, um, this one did kind of start off
a little difficult for me, uh,to to kind of begin with, um,
the as far as, as far ascharacters go in this movie,
(05:45):
that's, that's one of the thingsthat that that I think really
makes this movie.
Uh, is is the is the differentkinds of characters.
Um, I'm not going to lie, someof them are kind of ridiculous,
but some, I mean, it's okay,it's okay that they're a little
ridiculous, but, um, uh, butwe're, we're going to start with
a more obvious one Pazu.
(06:09):
Tell me what you think of Pazu.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
A kid trying to find his way through the world when
all of a sudden a girl fallsfrom the sky.
An angel from the heavens,practically.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
It's every high school boy's dream Just some
girl falling from the sky.
And yeah, yeah, I'll tell you.
What I first noticed about Pazuis that he's really smart.
Oh yeah, like he's super, supersmart, like I mean first off,
(06:41):
he's like an engineer'sassistant.
Mm-hmm, like I mean he, I meanfirst off he's.
He's like an engineer'sassistant.
Like I don't know how old he'ssupposed to be, but definitely
younger than I think anengineer's assistant should be.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I looked up their ages, Shita and Patsu's age.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Shita's 13.
Patsu is 12.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, see 12.
No there's no way that a 12year old is a is a.
Is that much that knowledgeablein engineering to be able to do
all those things with thosepipes and stuff that he was
doing for his boss, you know?
Running the um the lift yeah,running the lift and all of that
stuff, like fixing all thesteam, all the steam vents and
(07:22):
all of that stuff, like I meanhe knew what he was doing.
I mean maybe not so much withthe lift, but it also sounded
like he didn't really get to dothat much and he was distracted
because girls falling from thesky.
But he but yeah.
So not only that, but also hecatches this girl and he finds
(07:48):
out, like he figures out prettydamn quick, that her floating
down from the sky had somethingto do with that crystal.
He figured that out super quick, way quicker than I think a 12
year old character normallywould in a in an animated movie.
And he's, he's building afrigging, a freaking plane yeah
like this kid is smart, this kidis super, super smart.
(08:10):
So like, automatically, that'sall.
That's seriously going to be amajor leg up and making me like
this character, because he'she's just brilliant like super,
super intelligent.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
He does jump off the roof at one point too, though
well, except that's thebrilliant, like super, super
intelligent, he does jump offthe roof at one point too,
though.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Well, except that's the whole thing Like what is a
science minded kid going to dowhen he doesn't have a whole lot
of options?
He's going to say, okay, so Ithink this crystal makes people
float.
Can I borrow your crystal for asecond?
And then he jumps off the roof,like I mean, that seems like a
like a pretty sensible way totest it.
I mean, he didn't jump all theway off the roof, he just jumped
(08:48):
onto a lower section and crashlanded through it yeah, I mean
that it's for science yeah, fairenough, so at least it's a
crash pad though.
Or something, or something.
I mean okay, so maybe he's notthat smart.
(09:08):
No, he's super smart.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
He is super smart and he just wanted to prove it and
I think he got a little carriedaway, being like I'm right, I'm
going to jump off this roofCrash.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Probably.
Oh, and he plays a hell of atrumpet too.
Oh, yes, he's a really goodtrumpet player.
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I don't know if he was supposed to be like the wake
up guy or something like that,but he did a good job, I mean
maybe he very well could be themorning alarm clock for
everybody, because he lives upon a hill and stands on the roof
with his doves or pigeons orwhatever they are, and starts
playing trumpet every morning.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yep, and, of course, like anything Miyazaki, a hell
of a tune.
It's catchy and something thatsticks in your head.
I watched that movie a secondtime this morning in preparation
for recording today, and thatsong has been playing in my head
(10:12):
all day.
Just really good stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I plan on watching this movie again sometime this
week.
It's so good.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Just to get it in one more time before you have to
take it back.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
I bought it on DVD.
Well, you have to take it back.
I bought it on DVD.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Well, you just went and bought it.
Okay, I bought it.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I borrowed it from the library.
It was like I like this movie,went to Amazon and bought it, so
now I have my own personal copy.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well, that's good.
Let's see here I mean Pazureally kind of stuck out for me
as a good character what's oneof your favorites?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I really like Sheeta.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
She just seems like such a simple character, with so
much more behind her, and she'svery caring.
She doesn't really put up afight.
She's not very like rebellious.
She wants to help people andplease people at some point.
But she's also very selfless.
She's like stay away, potsu,I'm gonna cause you danger, get
(11:17):
back.
You don't want to be near me?
Potsu's like, but I do, I wantto go with you.
And she's like's like no, no,I'm putting you in danger.
You have to go.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Like she cares more about patsu's safety than she
does her own right, yeah, that'suh well, and selfless
characters are kind of uh, thoseare, those are kind of a uh,
studio ghibli, um, like almost aguarantee.
Like there's usually a reallygood selfless character in each
(11:50):
of those movies and this oneit's definitely her.
The thing that I kind of likeabout her is the mystery that
surrounds her, you know, I meanright off the bat, at the
beginning of the movie.
You know she's in an airshipbeing attacked by pirates trying
to get this thing, you know,and she, you know, wallops a guy
(12:14):
upside the head with a with awine bottle and and takes a,
takes a crystal and jumps outthe side of the plane.
You know it's like uh, and thenshe floats.
Then she floats down to, youknow, to to the Dawson and uh,
you know, uh and and kicksthings off a little bit.
(12:36):
But she's, she's pretty much amystery pretty much throughout
the whole movie.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Um, uh, I mean until you really start getting into
the, into the thick of the endof the movie.
Um, but, uh, but yeah, likeshe's, she's almost.
The thing about Shida, though,I think, is that she's almost,
she's almost half a character,because her, her character in
(13:05):
tandem with Pazu is really kindof I mean that that is one
character right there.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Like they.
They are so much, so much apart of each other right from
the beginning, that that they're, that.
They really are just kind ofone, yeah, and it's not even in
a duality sort of way, becausesometimes you get that really
(13:37):
harsh, stern character, that'swith the really bubbly friendly
one or whatever, and they kindof show the duality in one
character or something like that.
But they're really not terriblydifferent.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
No, yeah, they have similarities At heart.
They have similarities, fewdifferences, but in a way they
are both very caring about eachother.
They want to put each otherfirst over themselves.
And yeah, I'd say Potsu is alittle more adventurous than
shida is.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, and that's kind of one of the ways they're
different yeah, now the uh uh,jumping into the talking points
here a little bit, uh, we, we'rekind of getting into another
character, or rather group ofcharacters, I suppose, um, the,
they don't start off this way,but you have the Dola and her
(14:30):
unthreatening band of pirates.
Um now they don't.
They don't start off asunthreatening.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Like that opening scene, you, you get the sense
that this is a formidable bandof of pirates that are about
ready to do like they're aboutready to pull some shit, you
know.
And then, as as the movie goeson, they start, you know,
putting on.
They start putting on likecostumes and things like that.
(14:59):
And let me, let me just tellyou the weirdness.
That is this one scene thatjust stuck with me and that is
the explode your shirt scene.
This beardly dude standingthere in his suit two beardly
dudes, and yeah.
And then he, like, flexes andblows his shirt up.
(15:22):
And then pazoo's boss isn't tobe outdone, so he does it too,
and his shirt explodes and hiswife and they're just both
standing there flexing, like youknow, and his wife's, like I'm
not fixing that, I'm not fixingthat shirt for you.
I'm not going to mend that shirtNow.
(15:46):
I'm just like that.
Now I laugh.
I laugh like a motherfucker atthat scene.
Like the first time I watchedit I was just like the fuck am I
watching Like this is sofucking weird.
But it's it now.
Now I just laugh.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Now, I'm just like it's great.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
I don't know, I get a kick out of it.
But the thing that I reallylike about that scene is that
that's really where you start toget the sense that the villains
in this movie are awful atbeing villains.
They are just bad, bad villains.
They, they don't not.
(16:29):
Not bad villains isn't like thekind of bad that you want a
villain to be yeah, they're justthey just suck at being bad
guys I think that's becausethey're not really bad guys like
they.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
they are kind of at the very beginning when they're
chasing Shida down, but thenthey turn to be like we're going
to help you.
You, you can come with us,we're going to help you.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Right, and like I mean cause they're, they're
chasing, they're chasing, uh,shida and and Pazu around, uh, I
mean everything from throughthe town to on the train and and
all of that stuff.
But it's like I mean I, I don'tknow man, like it's just so
weird that that their theirpersonalities, of course, I mean
(17:17):
the voice acting alone is justis ridiculous and very, very
commonplace for that time.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Um, uh, in in the mid eighties, voice acting for
anime was just outrageous, um,and, and it just lended.
It just lended more, uh, moregoofiness to this, to this band
of bad guys that wouldeventually become um, you know
(17:47):
not, it would eventually becomewhat you didn't expect they
would be um, because theirintentions and, and you know,
what they are after is not nearas um, as villainous as the real
villain ends up being.
So, yeah, it was just kind offun.
(18:11):
It almost ends up being almostlike in Moving Castle.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
How the Witch of the Waste was like.
You thought she was going to bethe big ugly baddie, but then
she ended up being a part of the, a part of the family yeah like
that kind of a unexpected twistsort of thing.
I don't know it, just kind of itcracks me up, um, uh.
So, uh, up here on your on, onyour talking points we have,
(18:43):
pazu has a connection with withLaputa.
Just like Sheeta, he wants tofind Laputa for his father.
So like Sheeta, I mean, well,we know that Pazu is looking for
Laputa because his dad had beenlooking for it and he found it
and he took a picture of it.
It wasn't a very good picture,but he found, he took a picture
(19:05):
of it and he made drawings andthings like that.
And well, ultimately peopledidn't believe him and it got
him killed.
So he's got skin in the game.
He's like I want to clear mydad's name, I want to make sure
(19:26):
that people know that he wasn'tlying, that he's not full of
shit and whatever.
What's Sheeta's connection withwith Laputa?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Shida's the princess.
She is the descendant of theoriginal rulers of Laputa.
Right Muska actually explainsthis to her.
Translate it for her.
Where her real name?
Uh, lushita, something,something.
Laputa, I forgot what it is.
Is actually um like Lushita,true, something.
Laputa, I forgot what it is.
Is actually um like Lushita,true.
(19:58):
Ruler of Laputa.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Right, which I mean she doesn't know that, uh, to
begin with, Um, she just, shejust knows that she wants to go
with Pazu to this place, Um, and, and she feels, she feels a
kind of drawing to it, Um,Pazu's also smart enough to
(20:21):
figure out that that, that thatstone that she's wearing has has
something to do with that place, and so, uh, so I mean they're,
they have all of these reasonswhy they should be going there
together that just kind of comeup, uh, throughout the story as
it goes, Um, I do think sheactually tells Patsu her real
(20:42):
name before they get capturedagain and before she finds out
what that means.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
She does tell him and then I think that's when they
get captured, right?
So she knows that she has avery small connection, but she
doesn't know exactly what itmeans right, I mean just that it
like that it's a part of herfull name, um, the.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I wonder, though, I mean if that, if the assumption
would be, um, you know, becauseI mean that was something that,
that that was a way that peoplewould identify themselves, um,
you know, with a name ofwherever you know, um, like, uh,
like Robin hood, you know.
(21:28):
I don't know if you ever sawthe Robin hood movie.
Uh, he was Robin of Loxley, um,but uh, no, I mean, mean, I
mean just that kind of sort ofthing, though prince hans of the
southern isles right, you knowthe the various different things
, uh, the various different waysthat people would identify
(21:49):
themselves throughout history.
Where have some of them havebeen not very reliable.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
But um, and, and sometimes it just gets forgotten
, but uh, uh, as to theirorigins, but um, I wonder if
that's kind of what it was, forher was just that like that.
Just that was her last name.
She just didn't know why.
Um.
But uh, yeah, yeah, I don'tknow.
(22:20):
Um.
So this, this next one, pazou,standing up to the pirates in
the beginning Um, tell, tell mea little bit about why you put
this one on here.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
He's trying to be so brave.
Um, that's, that's the.
The shirt exploding scene again.
He's standing next to his boss,all big and tough.
He looks like he's fightingagainst a bear.
Some people say, if you makeyourself all big and tough,
stronger than the bear, then thebear will flee.
That's what it kind of lookslike.
(22:50):
He's like a little a little,just a little, a smaller
creature standing up to thesebig, mean bears, until he's, of
course, pulled away by, uh, hisboss's wife it's.
It's just funny to me the wayhe looks in that scene.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Just yeah, small little kid, yeah, just there,
well, and and I mean that that'skind of how he gets, ends up,
how he ends up getting away um,through.
All of that is is just, youknow it's, it's pretty easy for
us to just kind of set asidethose small, those small things,
(23:27):
like you know, we get.
We get involved in whatever itis that we're doing, and it's
real easy to lose track of alittle somebody you know, um,
but yeah, no, it's real easy tolose track of a little somebody
you know Um, but yeah, no, it'sI don't know.
Like I said, that scene justweirded me the fuck out before,
but, like, like, I don't know it, it it kind of became one of my
(23:48):
favorites, uh, uh, after, afterwatching it a couple of times,
to do this episode.
So Now, what's this next onehere?
Explain this next one to me.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
So when Hatsu gets, patsu gets pulled into his house
by the pirates and they tie himup.
Just before they leave, one ofthe pirates in the background
goes Patsu loves Shita.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
And every time I hear that it makes me laugh, because
that's such a childish thing todo, that that's something that
we've all done you love him I'mtrying to remember who it was
that did that voice, um, butit's, it's, uh, it's a more, oh,
(24:35):
I, I'd have to look it up, um,but yeah, the you know what I
think?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I think I'm just gonna look it up because you,
just, you just hear that in thebackground and it's in this very
faint.
You kind of have to turn up thevolume, but just like, wow,
that's such a childish thing todo, you.
You really are not goodvillains.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Right, Well, and it's oh geez.
What's it trying to do here,God?
Now I'm getting messages allover the place the oh TopCast.
What was his name?
It was, oh, Louie, Louie.
That was Louie.
And an interesting bit ofinformation for anybody watching
(25:18):
this movie that is MandyPatinkin.
That does Louis' voice, MandyPatinkin.
I don't know if you know whothat is.
Chrissy, did you ever seePrincess Bride?
Yes, Mandy Patinkin was theSpaniard, If you know who that
is.
Chrissy, um, did you ever seeprincess bride?
Yes, mandy Patinkin was theSpaniard you killed my father
(25:41):
prepared to die.
That was Mandy Patinkin.
Um, uh, he was also.
He was also in Homeland.
He was in, uh, dick Tracy AlienNation.
He was in Dick Tracy AlienNation.
He was in a lot of movies butin a lot of TV shows.
(26:05):
But, yeah, so Louie was voicedby Mandy Patinkin, which I it
blew me away because it doesn'tsound anything like him.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
But super, super talented guy, um, yeah, anyway,
uh, but him doing that, that Pazwho loves Shida thing was just,
it was silly.
And I think what made it sofunny for me was was imagining
Mandy Patinkin doing it.
(26:34):
Um, yeah, uh, so uh, and, andwe kind of talked about.
We kind of talked about theyour, your next talking point,
the, the, how, how.
Dola's sons are just kind ofthe worst ever pirates.
They're just awful at beingpirates, um, but like, I think
(27:00):
they're only pirates bytechnicality yeah um, because,
like I don't, I don't think ithas anything to do with the fact
that they, that they want to doall of these piratey things.
I think that they just I thinkthat they're just going along
with what their mom wants to do.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
That's even what they say.
All good pirates do what theirmom says.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Do what their moms tell them to.
Yeah, and like, and so becauseof that, like them being silly
is is totally forgivable, likethe desserts thing of that like
them being silly is is totallyforgivable, like the desserts
thing, and and like and likeyou've got on here the that
they're kind of absent-mindedabsent-minded is is the softest
(27:48):
way to put that.
I mean, these guys are kind ofdumb I I like it when they all
have.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
They all want to go help cheetah.
They're like cheetah, you needsome help.
And then they see that theother brother's there and it's
like what are you doing here?
I thought you were sick.
And the other's like I wantedto help her.
I'm peeling potatoes for her,right, I'm gonna scrub some
dishes for her.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
They've all got their own stuff to do, but nah,
they'd rather help sheeta yeah,so, so, eventually, eventually,
we start to find out more aboutlapida.
Um, as they, as they get inthere and they start, um, they
start getting in into intolapida, they find, uh, like
(28:33):
you've got down here, they uhthe tree of lapida, uh, symbol
of life.
Um, tell me why you put thisdown the tree is huge.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
It it consumes a building.
You can see it spread over topthe building, up and out, and
even the roots themselves digdeep into Laputa's core and
surround the Ethereum crystalthat holds Laputa together, and
the way it thrives is it keepsgoing.
(29:07):
There's a robot that tends tothe animals, and the animals
call it home.
It gets bigger at home.
It's it just.
It gets bigger even thoughthere's nobody around truly
taking care of it other otherthan nature itself, maybe even
the ethereum crystal right justlives, yeah, and I don't know, I
(29:29):
guess, uh, I mean like, well,that kind of goes a little bit
into my active ingredients.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
So I might hold on to that little nugget for a little
bit.
The next talking point you hadwas the music.
What made you feel so muchdifferent about the music?
Because, like, you haven'treally talked about the music
much in these movies so far, inthe Studio Ghibli movies so far,
(29:58):
but this one you bring it upspecifically.
Why this time?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Every Studio Ghibli has amazing music.
This one in particular.
I don't know what it is aboutit, but that final song during
the credits, I want to learnthose words and sing that one
day.
It is one of those songs thatplays in my head.
I will hum it to myself, I will.
I will hear it in my head.
(30:26):
I I don't know why.
It just it fits the movie andsomething that studio ghibli
does with their uh music.
That music that I've noticed isthey entangle it throughout the
movie.
It's not one scene's music, itis the movie's music, and I
think that's another thing aboutmusic that sometimes just
(30:48):
doesn't work for movies Isthey're like this song there,
this song there, this song there.
No, I'm going to call it thesong of Laputa.
Essentially, it's everywhere.
It is a part of the story in away, and it's just written well.
It is catchy, it is sad in away, but it also got a bright
(31:16):
side to it.
It's, it's everything.
I love it so much.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
So so for for our listeners who aren't aware, mine
and Chrissy's dad is a musicteacher.
He was a music teacher for alot of a lot of years 24.
Chrissy for 24 years.
Do you know?
Do you know what that is called?
What when, when somebody has amusical theme that that reoccurs
(31:46):
throughout a story dad said itbefore, but I can't remember
what it's called it's calledlight motif there it is okay, a
motif.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, yep, it's called light motif.
There it is Okay, a motif.
Yeah, yep, it's called a lightmotif, okay, yep, um.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
And then uh, uh, and ask him, ask him, uh, a really
good story about, uh, chris,stelling and light motifs?
He'll tell you a good, a good,funny one, about something that
that Chris had said in class.
Anyway, Uh, so, um.
So we we get into now.
(32:25):
Now we're getting into someinto some fun talking points
here about um, about actuallylike finding more about the
actual um, the danger in thismovie, the real danger, um,
muska.
Muska is the real bad guy here.
Yes, um, and and he is he.
(32:50):
He is every bit of villain, asas any good Disney movie would
have Um, but but with with more,with more of the anime swagger,
that a that a villain shouldhave.
Um, luca is a great, greatvillain, and I'm not just saying
(33:15):
that because he's voiced byluke skywalker.
Uh, muska is just a great,great villain.
And, uh, now your, your talkingpoint here talks about um,
about his downfall.
Oh, how, how did he fall?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
He literally fell.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Right.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
He did.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
But Sheeta and Patsu Say the spell of destruction
which starts to break apartLaputa.
But they they would have falleninto the sea if not for the
roots of the tree and theAetherium crystal that carry
them to safety, where theyeventually meet up with Dola,
(34:03):
who also survived.
Muska, however, in an earlierscene, is seen ripping the tree
roots apart.
He's trying to get to theAetherium crystal.
He's tearing them apart,disrespecting them, not giving
any acknowledgement to the treeitself and eventually he dies.
(34:25):
It almost feels like Shida andPotsu respected the tree,
respected what it was and leftit alone, and Musu's like I'm
gonna burn these roots.
And the tree respected what itwas and left it alone, and
musu's like I'm gonna burn theseroots and the tree made him
lose his life instead kind offeels like karma like the tree's
(34:46):
, like fuck y'all like youasshole.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, yeah, the I, I can go along with that.
He, he, uh, uh, I mean thethat's a, that's a, uh, that's.
It's kind of kind of a commontheme in in studio Ghibli films.
Um, respect for nature kind ofthing, uh, is is pretty common
(35:17):
throughout a lot of their films.
Um, but this, I, I, this oneand one other are the only ones
that I can really think of justhow direct they are.
Um, and I mean I don't know ifyou have you, have you seen
princess Mononoke at all, orjust seen previews or anything
(35:40):
like that.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
I got up to the part where the main character is in
the fort.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah Well, so you, you got a little bit of a flavor
of what it was about.
Uh, as far as their, uh, themessage, uh, respect for nature,
and things like that, thatmovie winds up being similar in
to this one where it is.
It is not a subtle message thatif you, just if you,
(36:12):
metaphorically, um, you fuckwith nature and eventually it
will turn against you, um and uh, I mean you being humanity that
kind of thing Um but uh, butyeah, I think I think that
really Musco was, I think,representative of of something a
(36:37):
little bit more industrious.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, Um.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
I mean, I mean, that's what he was there for.
He was there for the technology, he was there for the power, he
was there for all of those bigflashy things that, yeah, that
that Lapida had to offer, but hedidn't have the respect for
(37:03):
nature required to harness it.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
And so nature, just kind of you know, fuck off, go
away, we don't want you.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Yeah, so yeah, no, that's no, no, I'm, I'm, I'm on,
I'm on a level with you there.
Uh, the disrespect to the tree,uh, to the tree of Lapida, I
think, is really kind of kind ofthe turning point for him as
far as where, where his downfallcomes from.
Um, now, uh, we, we did hadkind of talked aboutida caring
(37:36):
more about everyone else thanher own safety and things like
that.
I mean, that's part of whatmakes her such a great character
.
But I mean, at this point, thecrystal has been kind of her
focal point throughout the movieand now suddenly she's willing
(38:02):
to part with it.
On behalf of Pazu.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
Everyone actually.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
So well, yeah.
I mean well, really, yeah,everyone actually.
So well, yeah, I mean well,really, yeah, but but yeah, I
mean that's, that's just kind ofa crazy cool thing as far as.
As far as I'm concerned, isthat like the, the perceived
selflessness, uh, or I guessrather the selflessness uh over
(38:34):
the um, you know, the, thewhatever was perceived to be
more important, um it, it kindof also, it kind of brings up
that that flavor of the um, theSpock thing, the needs of the
many outweigh the needs of thefew, sort of thing, um, in a
(38:54):
different sort of way I guess.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
But that scene where she steals the crystal from
muska and runs, is one of myfavorites, because you just see
muska walking at one point totry and catch up to her and
she's just booking it.
And here's patsu, and that'swhen she reaches through to give
him the crystal and it's liketake it, just take it.
And Potsu's like no, I want tohelp you.
(39:19):
And she's like go, he's coming.
And then she gives him thecrystal and darts off before
Muska tries to shoot him andwarns Potsu that if you don't
give me the crystal, sheeta'sgoing to die that if you don't
give me the crystal, she isgonna die right, yeah, and yeah,
yeah and then they go to thethrone room or what used to be,
(39:42):
and she goes this is not athrone room, this is a tomb for
you and I right, well, and Imean luckily luckily, we don't
really feel like it.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
It goes that way for them.
Uh, I mean when, when all issaid and done it, it feels very
much like they might've might'vehad an opportunity at that,
happily ever after, sort ofthing.
Yeah, you know very quietlywhich I mean.
(40:16):
I don't know that this storywould be.
It's predictable, but how else,how else do you want it to end?
You know, like I mean, we don't,we don't want either of them to
die.
No, I mean, that's, that'sawful to hope that a 12 or a 13
year old dies, but but I meanhonestly, what other, what other
(40:37):
change are you going to have inthis movie?
Um, I mean, with it being anime, I suppose she could turn into
a tree or something.
But like we don't want to get,we don't want to retroactively
give uh miyazaki any, any ideasI think the the best ending to
the movie is the one you expect.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
You don't want something so far left.
You don't want them to justdrop oh yeah, she's been ill
this whole time and to be likewhy, why, you gotta do this.
You can't just take my favoritecharacter away, right, I like
it when they give you the endingyou expect, because then you
feel satisfied right you have, Imean if you want to give it to
(41:20):
me in a different way, thenthat's fine.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
You know, uh, but no, I I dig um.
So.
So tell me what's your activeingredient for this movie.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Honestly friendship, kind of Friendship and
connection.
We see Shida and Potsu makefriends with each other and
eventually friends with thepeople who were originally
enemies, the Dola Gang.
We see them not.
Potsu doesn't view the Dolagang as a threat anymore.
(41:55):
He goes let me join you.
If you're going to go get Shida, I want to come with you, I
want to be there.
And Dola's like okay, showingthat there are friends
everywhere and you might notknow it and all you have to do
is take the first step.
It's a two-way.
(42:16):
It's history, like if you makethe first step then the other
person might, and in that momentDola made that second step to
help get the two back together.
And even at the end we seeSheeta's connection with Dola.
She's kind of like shut up,I'll get you a new ship to her
husband.
(42:36):
And then to Shida she's like no, not your pigtails.
What a tragedy having yourpigtails shot off.
Right, oh yeah, that's good,gives me the warm fuzzies every
time I hear that Just like.
Oh, it almost feels like amother and daughter relationship
.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Yeah, hear that just like.
Oh, it almost feels like amother and daughter relationship
.
Yeah, no, I can, I can, I meanmine, mine is a little bit.
It has a little bit to do withthe human connection thing.
Um, ultimately, ultimately,what I, what I took from this
movie was the themes um oftechnology and power and, uh,
(43:19):
and the importance of of humanconnections.
Um, you have this advancedtechnological powerhouse city
yeah.
Laputa, you know, floating, uh,floating makes it Um, which is
kind of a message of itself.
You know, I mean the, theisolation that comes with power
(43:43):
and technology, uh, is just apart of what it is, um, and I
don't know if that wasMiyazaki's intention back in
1986 when he wrote it, but butthat's just kind of how it felt
to me, um, and it speaks volumesto human isolation because of
technology today.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Um Lapida is empty and overgrown, um, and to me
that kind of showed thattechnology is kind of useless
without human connection.
Um, uh, it, it, it loses itspurpose.
Um and Shida and Patsu um, they, they kind of represent the
(44:30):
importance of humanrelationships, um and and its
effect and its effect aroundtechnology.
So really I think what I takeaway is that despite, despite
our technology, we need toremember to stay connected with
each other yeah um, now I'm I'mnot saying to go get rid of your
(44:51):
stuff, uh Cause that's dumb.
I mean, we live in the age thatwe live in.
Technology is a part of it andwe need to accept that, but it
doesn't.
But we still need to make aneffort in people.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, technology shouldn't be a replacement for
people.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Right.
You have to go, and that's kindof what I took from it.
So, yeah, thank you.
Thank you for bringing me thisone.
It was difficult, butultimately I did really enjoy it
.
So thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Yeah, uh, thanks for coming on.
Yeah, yeah, and uh, we'll,we'll look forward to having you
on for for another couple of uhGhibli films later on, so Round
three.
Round uh, round four.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Round four, that's true.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Yeah, Cause.
Now, what have we done?
Now?
We've done um owls owls Totoro,totoro and Castle in the Sky
and Castle in the Sky.
I gotta remember when I'mreleasing these, to put Castle
in the Sky out after the the cator after Totoro.
Now, if you have a movie that'sbeen medicine for you and has
(46:11):
influenced you in some way andyou'd like to be on the show,
just let me know and we can haveyou on.
Uh, you can email me at contactat movie dash rx, or you can
text or leave a voicemail at402-519-5790.
If you have anxiety about beingon a microphone, that's okay.
Uh, I get it.
You can send me an email ortext message with a movie and
(46:34):
how it is medicine for you and Ican talk about it on an episode
with somebody.
Remember, this movie is notintended to treat, cure or
prevent any disease and we'llsee you at the next appointment.
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