When I was a girl there were fewheroines in animation with whom I could identify. Snow White and Cinderella were too good and unattainablybeautiful. I was a bit of a tomboy, so Irecall doing some Wonder Woman and She-Ra: Princess of Power role playing, butI found their sexy costumes a bit off putting. It is such a shame that Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ,1984) was not dubbed and released in North America in its original version, forI suspect my then ten-year-old self would have fallen in love with the gutsyyoung heroine Nausicaä.
My suspicions were confirmed when I watched the film onDVD with my two children. Both Lukas andAnna loved the film, but my young daughter really warmed to Nausicaä. Her heart melted in the scene where Nausicaäadopts her furry fox-squirrel companion Teto. She cheered during the fight scenes and both children were excited bythe dynamic animation of the scenes in which Nausicaä is flying her Mehve jetglider. They had no great love forKushana, the Princess of Tolmekia but warmed to the buffoonery of heraide-de-camp Kurotowa .
My children are also bothnature-lovers and Nausicaä appealed to their interest inthe environment. The environmentalistmessage of Nausicaä is even more importanttoday than it was in the 1980s, and is so well executed that it won the film theseal of approval of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Nausicaäis set in a future world in which is facing an environmental apocalypse. Humanity clings to survival on a planet thatis being taken over by the polluted “Sea of Corruption.” The few communities (the Valley of the Wind,the Pejite, the Tolmekia, and the Dorok) that are left have begun to fight eachother for the dwindling resources. Nausicaä is one of the few who recognizes that in order for people to survive, they need to find a way to live in harmony with the other creatures of the world suchas the Ohmu – giant crustaceans that resemble pillbugs – whereas others see violenceand warfare as their only means of survival.
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| Flashback sequence animated in a different style. |
This is not a film that one can just pop into a DVD player and leavekids to consume alone. There is a lot ofviolence, including the murder of innocents / the defenceless both human andnon-human, and challenging themes (senseless destruction of the environment, warfare,and so on). I think the part that upsetmy children the most was the cruel torture of the Ohmu by the Pejites. Although these are difficult topics, I foundthe film really invigorated my kids to talk about how the lessons of the filmcan be applied to their own everyday lives. From discouraging their friends from harming insects and other smallcreatures to the day-to-day things we can do to better the natural world aroundus, Nausicaä inspired my children tostand up for what they believe in.
In addition to being a terrific story, Nausicaä is also a fine example of animation. It won Miyazaki his second NoburoOfuji Award for innovation at the Mainichi Film Concours. Particularly notable are the exhilarating flying sequences with Nausicaä on the Mehve and the God Warrior sequence animated by Hideaki Anno (of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame). My favourite sequence was the flashback / dream sequence of Nausicaä's youth (image above), which was animated in a completely different style than the rest of the film.
