From the creator of the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away, a legend of the days of the first flying machines, where fantastic adventure takes to the air in search of the Castle in the Sky! Pirates greedy for treasure and secret agents hungry for power are both chasing Sheeta, a young girl who wears a mysterious blue stone around her neck. The stone’s power makes Sheeta defy gravity—and float down into the life of Pazu, a tough young orphan boy inventor. What ancient secrets link Sheeta’s stone to the incredible dangers and mysteries of the Castle in the Sky?
Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan’s most beloved animation directors. His first feature,
The Castle of Cagliostro, was released in 1979. His film
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, based on his own manga, was released in 1984. In 1985, Miyazaki cofounded Studio Ghibli, through which he directed the box office smashes
Princess Mononoke (1997) and
Spirited Away (2001), which won the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) received the Osella Award for technical achievement at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival. In 2005, VIFF awarded Miyazaki the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement.
His other acclaimed films include
My Neighbor Totoro,
Kiki’s Delivery Service and
Ponyo. Miyazaki’s essays, interviews and memoirs have been collected in
Starting Point: 1979–1996 and
Turning Point: 1997–2008. His final film,
The Wind Rises, was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award®. In November 2014, Miyazaki received an honorary Academy Award® at the academy’s sixth annual Governor’s Awards. Presenter and Pixar head John Lassetter declared Miyazaki “the most original filmmaker to ever work in our medium.”