Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke)

Mononoke Hime wa koushite umareta (How Mononoke Hime Was Born): Table of Contents

Mononoke Hime wa koushite umareta (How Mononoke Hime Was Born), also known as The Making of Mononoke Hime, is a three-tape VHS video boxed set (total length 6 hours 40 minutes) released in Japan at the end of 1997.  Please see the Mononoke Availability page for information on how to order the video.  We provide this extended summary in English for the benefit of the many non-Japanese-speaking viewers who are interested in the genesis of the film.

Note:  Numbers within brackets represent the approximate time index of a topic within the respective tape, expressed as [Hours:Minutes:Seconds].

click here for larger image		Part 1 - Kami no ue no dorama (A Drama On Paper) (Length: 132 minutes) [0:00:30] Introduction [0:02:30] "A movie gropes for something, and so does a documentary" [0:05:25] Project Planning and Idea: A Long Journey [0:09:30] Shuna no tabi and Mononoke Hime: A comparison [0:10:15] Mononoke Hime begins to take shape [0:13:20] A Master Plan On Paper: Continuity Drawings [0:15:45] Studio Ghibli at work on Mononoke Hime [0:26:30] Miyazaki's Work Style [0:27:45] The animation process... Studio Ghibli style [0:29:30] Miyazaki at work... the details [0:33:45] Andou and Miyazaki: collaboration and commentary [0:40:45] Creation Passages Of Hayao MIYAZAKI: He Reads The "Wind Of The Age" [0:47:00] Suzuki tries to understand: Mamoru-beki mono (person who must protect) [0:48:20] Miyazaki and Suzuki show NHK documentary at Studio Ghibli [0:53:45] Miyazaki works on strategy of final battle and Ishibiya details [1:00:00] Studio Ghibli celebrates the arrival of Spring [1:01:30] Miyazaki and Kondou work with the staff [1:06:45] Creation Passages Of Hayao MIYAZAKI: The Living Climate [1:10:00] Miyazaki and staff journey to Yakushima Island for inspiration [1:15:15] Miyazaki talks about medieval Japanese agriculture and plants based on Sasaki KOMEI's book [1:21:00] Camera Movements: Ways of Grasping Time and Air [1:25:45] Miyazaki on manga and anime [1:26:20] Cel compositing and the multiplane camera [1:27:40] Miyazaki criticizes film rushes [1:31:00] Miyazaki works with Kousaka on Genga of wolves [1:33:10] Creation Passages Of Hayao MIYAZAKI: Childhood Experiences [1:38:30] The origins of Tatara-Ba [1:43:40] Creation Passages Of Hayao MIYAZAKI: The Power Of Memory And Wild Fancy [1:45:45] Discussion Meeting For Planning "Kill Gonta!" [1:48:30] Expanding His Wild Imagination [1:50:30] Miyazaki checks background art of Shishigami's forest [1:52:30] Newcomers at final practice study [1:55:00] Miyazaki announces dinnertime [1:56:15] Genga test [2:04:20] Miyazaki, Andou, and Kondou discuss the test results [2:06:00] Ashitaka Fell Down [2:10:30] Anxiety - Miyazaki works on E-konte [2:12:20] Anxiety - Suzuki ponders the looming deadline
		Part 2 - Inochi ga fukikomareta (Life Has Been Breathed Into It) Summary in progress - please watch this space!
		Part 3 - (The Day The Record Was Broken) Summary in progress - please watch this space!

Summary by Mikiyo HATTORI and Tom WILKES; HTML design by Marc GREGORY

Disclaimer:
©1997 Nibariki, TNDG, and/or other appropriate copyright holders.
Translated and summarized without permission for personal entertainment purposes only.  The quotations contained in this summary are not, by any means, accurate word for word translations, and the translators are solely responsible for any mistranslation or misunderstanding.