Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Nausicaä films
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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Alternate titles Warriors of the Wind (1985) See alternate titles Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Producer Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Michitaka Kondo; Isao Takahata, et al. Written by Hayao Miyazaki Music by Joe Hisaishi Funded by Tokuma Shoten, Hakuhodo Production company Topcraft Distributor ToeiJP, New World PicturesUS Rating PGUS Budget $1 million Box office ¥1.48 billionJP $2,344,882 (foreign) $8,853,968 (total) Distributor rentals ¥742 million Running time 116 minutesJP (1 hour, 56 minutes) 95 minutesUS (1 hour, 35 minutes) Aspect ratio 1.85:1 Rate this film! 5.00 (12 votes)

“	A bird person who loves trees and talks with insects and winds. (木々を愛で 虫と語り 風をまねく鳥の人･･･)	„
	— Japanese tagline

“	She is a friend of the Earth. 1000 years from now...a time when evil overruns the world and our only hope for the future is in the hands of a Princess and those who follow her.	„
	— International tagline

“	The most fantastic family adventure in a world 1000 years from now! Heroes, demons, conquerors, creatures... and a band of young warriors on the wings of their greatest challenge!	„
	— American tagline

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ,   Kaze no Tani no Naushika) is a 1984 Japanese anime fantasy film directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki based on his 1982 manga of the same name. It is funded by Tokuma Shoten and Hakuhodo, with animation produced by Topcraft. It stars the voices of Sumi Shimamoto, Goro Naya, Yoji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Iemasa Kayumi, and Mahito Tsujimura. The film was released to Japanese theaters by Toei on March 11, 1984, while New World Pictures released a heavily re-edited version by Manson International titled Warriors of the Wind to American theaters on June 13, 1985.

Plot

A thousand years have passed after industrial civilization's collapse in the Seven Days of Fire, when the Giant God Warriors wiped out and reshaped the Earth's ecosystem. The Sea of Decay, a fungal toxic wasteland, has been expanding rapidly, consuming two more kingdoms to the south of the Valley of the Wind. One day, the Valley's Princess Nausicaä arrives in the wasteland jungle to collect specimens and takes the eye of a giant Ohmu's shell. When she hears gunfire, she investigates, finding a man with two horseclaws running from a raging giant Ohmu. She uses her glider-like craft known as a Mehve to intervene and soothe the Ohmu with flashbangs and an insect charm, then finds out the man is Lord Yupa, who gives her a fox squirrel he rescued from an insect, later named Teto, and they return to the Valley of the Wind. In the Valley, there is an ancient prophecy among the people of a blue-clad messianic figure who will stand in a golden field and restore humanity's connection with nature.

Early one morning, a Tolmekian airship is spotted flying erratically over the valley. Nausicaä notices that the front of the ship is covered in insects, and the ship crash-lands in the valley. In the wreckage, Nausicaä finds the dying Princess Lastelle of Pejite, its sole survivor who was a prisoner on board the ship. Lastelle, unaware the ship was already in flames, asks for the cargo to be burned as her last request before she dies in Nausicaä's arms. A flying Ushiabu insect has survived, panicking the others at the crash site. Nausicaä quiets the crowd, soothes and escorts the Ushiabu back to the Sea of the Decay, and in the distance notices a lone Ohmu watching her. Amongst the scorched jetsam from the crash is an enormous pulsating mass of living tissue, which survived the crash unscathed. After recalling a rumor that one was exhumed in Pejite, Lord Yupa realizes it is the embryo of a Giant God Warrior, and fears Tolmekian hostility.

Soon after, Princess Kushana's forces arrive and overrun the valley. King Jihl is assassinated by the Tolmekians, infuriating Nausicaä, who kills the soldiers responsible for her father's death, but Lord Yupa intervenes before Nausicaä can kill Kushana's guardsmen. Kushana tells the people of the Valley she is there to unite the kingdoms on the fringes of the wasteland, however, her true intent is to revive the God Warrior and use it to obliterate the Sea of Decay, in confidence out of personal vengeance against the insects for grave injuries she has sustained. Obaba, the matriarch of the Valley, objects, as every previous attempt to destroy the Sea of the Decay has resulted in catastrophe from the ensuing Ohmu stampedes, whose corpses eventually serve as hosts for the spores of the wasteland, expanding it further. Upon finding Teto scratching at a wall in Nausicaä's room, Lord Yupa pushes it open to a secret passage leading to a room where he finds Nausicaä, distraught from Jihl's death and her own killings. In order to find a cure for her father's illnesses, she has created a garden of plants from the Sea of Decay that aren't toxic, since they were grown in clean soil from deep underground, but with his death, she has cut off the water supply, killing them soon.

Kushana departs for Tolmekian-occupied Pejite with six hostages including Nausicaä, but the airship convoy is shot down over the Sea of Decay by a Pejite gunship. The surviving corvette retaliates and downs the gunship. At the same time, Nausicaä escapes with her retainer Mito and Kushana in the Valley's gunship, to save the other hostages who fell below the clouds in an unpowered barge. As the survivors splashdown on a lake in the jungle, Kushana attempts to re-assume command and fires her gun, drawing the attention of a nest of Ohmu below the surface. Allowing herself to be enveloped in their golden feelers, Nausicaä has a psychic conveyance with the Ohmu, triggering distant memories, and realizes the pilot of the Pejite gunship is still alive, as Royal Yanma sentries and other insects swarm to his location. Nausicaä flies on her Mehve into the jungle to rescue Lastelle's twin brother, Asbel from Landgrubs and a giant Hebikera adult. However, the pair crash and become trapped in quicksand, descending into a cavern of fossilized trees below the Sea of Decay. Instructed to leave if Nausicaä does not return, Mito and the others depart to the Valley with Kushana taken prisoner. In a dream, Nausicaä remembers when as a child, she tried to conceal and save a baby Ohmu from being harmed by the people of the Valley. Upon awakening, Nausicaä realizes the jungle plants ultimately neutralize the pollution in the earth and produce the clean water and soil she used for her garden, leaving hope for the future.

Asbel and Nausicaä travel to Pejite to discover it has been devastated by Ohmu. Nausicaä learns that the residents of Pejite lured the Ohmu to kill the Tolmekians and in turn plan to lure them to the Valley of the Wind in order to recapture the God Warrior. Nausicaä is then seized by Pejite soldiers and taken to their brig. During the flight to the Valley, a girl wears Nausicaä's clothes to trick a Pejite guard into believing she is Nausicaä with the help of Asbel's mother. As Nausicaä attempts to escape the brig on her Mehve, the Tolmekian corvette arrives and boards the ship and later pursues her, but Mito and Lord Yupa arrive in the Valley's gunship and shoot it down. Yupa stays to save the Pejites on the brig, while Mito and Nausicaä return swiftly to the Valley of the Wind. During this time, the Valley has revolted against the Tolmekians, but Kushana escapes her imprisonment and rallies her forces, cornering the people in an ancient shipwreck outside the valley. On the flight back, Nausicaä spots two men baiting the Ohmu into the Valley on a cauldronlike Pejite flying jar vehicle with a wounded baby Ohmu. They notice Nausicaä and start shooting at her, but she forces them to crash-land on an islet in an acidic lake that separates them from the horde of Ohmu.

Kushana awakens the God Warrior prematurely to defeat the Ohmu, now heading towards them. The God Warrior melts and dies after firing its proton beam twice, killing several Ohmu. Using the flying jar, Nausicaä lands in front of the remaining raging Ohmu with the baby Ohmu, but is sent hurtling into the air by the stampede. After falling from the sky, Nausicaä lays before the horde of Ohmu that has now calmed, causing the residents of the Valley to believe she has died. However, the Ohmu release their tentacles, lifting and reviving her. As she stands atop their golden feelers in a dress stained blue with the blood of the baby Ohmu, Obaba realizes Nausicaä has fulfilled the prophecy. Below the Sea of Decay, a seed has sprouted aside Nausicaä's flight goggles.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

• Directed by   Hayao Miyazaki
• Animation director   Kazuo Komatsubara
• Written by   Hayao Miyazaki
• Based on a story by   Hayao Miyazaki
• Planned by   Tatsumi Yamashita
• Executive producers   Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Michitaka Kondo
• Co-executive producer   Takashi Shoji
• Associate executive producer   Toru Hara
• Produced by   Isao Takahata
• Chief producer   Hideo Ogata
• Associate producers   Atsushi Okumoto, Hiroshi Morie
• Music by   Joe Hisaishi
• Cinematography by   Koji Shiragami, Yasuhiro Shimizu, Mamoru Sugiura, Yukitomo Shudo
• Edited by   Tomoko Kida, Naoko Kaneko, Masatsugu Sakai
• Production design by   Mitsuki Nakamura
• Assistant directors   Takashi Tanazawa, Kazuyoshi Katayama

Warriors of the Wind

• Creative consultation by   David Schmoeller
• Produced by   Riley Jackson

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right. Sumi Shimamoto   as   Princess Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Goro Naya   as   Lord Yupa Miralda Yoji Matsuda   as   Prince Asbel of Pejite Yoshiko Sakakibara   as   Princess Kushana of Tolmekia Iemasa Kayumi   as   Kurotowa, general of the Tolmekian frontier forces Mahito Tsujimura   as   King Jihl of the Valley of the Wind Ichiro Nagai   as   Mito, castle steward of the Valley of the Wind Hisako Kyoda   as   Obaba Miina Tominaga   as   Princess Lastelle of Pejite Rihoko Yoshida   as   Teto, fox-squirrel Warriors of the Wind Susan Davis   as   Zandra Hal Smith   as   Lord Yupa / Axel / narrator Cam Clarke   as   Milo Linda Gary   as   Queen Selina / old woman Peter Cullen   as   General Alvy Moore   as   King Zeal Robbie Lee   as   Lastelle Buena Vista Sound Services English dub Alison Lohman   as   Nausicaä Patrick Stewart   as   Lord Yupa Shia LaBeouf   as   Asbel Uma Thurman   as   Kushana Chris Sarandon   as   Kurotowa Mark Silverman   as   King Jihl / Niga Edward James Olmos   as   Mito Tress MacNeille   as   Obaba Emily Bauer   as   Lastelle Mark Hamill   as   mayor of Pejite Frank Welker   as   Gol

1987 Italian dub Paola Del Bosco   as   Nausicaä Gioacchino Maniscalco   as   Lord Yupa Vittorio Guerrieri   as   Asbel Romano Malaspina   as   King Jihl Piero Leri   as   Mito 2015 Italian dub Letizia Ciampa   as   Nausicaä Angelo Nicotra   as   Lord Yupa Alessio De Filippis   as   Asbel Laura Romano   as   Kushana Pino Insegno   as   Kurotowa Luciano De Ambrosis   as   King Jihl Gerolamo Alchieri   as   Mito 1988 Cantonese dub Priscilla Chan   as   Windy Mulan James Wong Jim   as   Uncle Loner Teddy Robin   as   "Mud" Mark Penny Yuen   as   Kushana David Wu   as   Invincible John Shum   as   One-Eye Lydia Shum   as   Grandma Fatty

Appearances

Monsters Ohmu Baby Ohmu Giant God Warrior Fox-squirrel Teto Horseclaw Kai Kui Ushiabu Hebikera Landgrubs Royal Yanma Various unidentified fauna

Weapons, vehicles, and races Mehve Tolmekian airships Tolmekian corvette Tolmekian tanks Pejite gunship Valley gunship Pejite brig Pejite flying jar

Production

At the suggestion of Toshio Suzuki, Hayao Miyazaki began serializing a manga for a new film after scrapping an animated adaptation of Richard Corben's Rowlf at Animage's editorial department. In addition to adding a science fiction-like Rotting Sea idea to the Rowlf concept, Miyazaki came up with a brand new one which he titled Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Animage published the first issue of his serialization in February 1982. In November 1982, Miyazaki left Telecom Animation Film, which had previously produced his directorial debut The Castle of Cagliostro in 1979, to become a freelance director.

Daiei Film, a subsidiary of Nausicaä production company Tokuma Shoten, was originally intended to produce the film's animation, but it lacked the expertise. Bandai offered to create a joint investment company in order to facilitate the project, but the investment never came to fruition. Ultimately, Miyazaki and producer Isao Takahata decided to entrust Topcraft with the film's animation.

Gallery

Main article: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind/Soundtrack.

Alternate titles

• Nausicaä (English Japanese title; early international title)
• Warriors of the Wind (United States; United Kingdom; Australia; Guerreros del viento: Spain, Mexico, Argentina; Vindens krigare: Sweden; A szél harcosai: Hungary; Οι Μαχητές του Ανέμου: Greece)
• Star Warriors: Warriors of the Wind (Sternenkrieger - Warriors of the Wind: West German video title)
• The Princess of the Stars (La Princesse des étoiles: French video title)
• The Phantom Ship (Le vaisseau fantôme: French video title)
• Nausicaä: Warriors of the Wind (Nausicaä: Guerreros del viento: Spanish DVD title; Nauszika - A szél harcosai: Hungarian DVD title)
• Valley of the Wind (风之谷, Fēng zhī gǔ: China; 風之谷, Fēng zhī gǔ: Taiwan; 風之谷, Fung1 zi1 guk1: Hong Kong)

Theatrical releases

• Japan - March 11, 1984;  [view poster] November 2003 (Tokyo International Film Festival)
• United States - June 13, 1985  [view poster]
• Hungary - November 19, 1987  [view poster]
• Hong Kong - February 12, 1988
• Spain - October 6, 2015 (limited)
• France - August 23, 2006
• Turkey - July 6, 2007
• Russia - July 26, 2007 (limited); February 28, 2019 (re-release)

Foreign releases

U.S. release

U.S. Warriors of the Wind poster

An edited English version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, re-titled Warriors of the Wind, was prepared by Manson International for international distribution with Riley Jackson producing and creative consultation by David Schmoeller. Jackson had previously worked on the American English-language versions of several Toho tokusatsu films, including Invasion of Astro-Monster, The War of the Gargantuas, King Kong Escapes, and All Monsters Attack. Warriors of the Wind premiered at the MIFED international film and multimedia market in Milan, Italy on October 29, 1984, and was released theatrically by New World Pictures on June 13, 1985. Among the alterations made for the North American theatrical release are:

• Dialogue was dubbed at Showmen Inc. While the film's overall plot was left intact, many deletions and alterations were made, such as the renaming of the majority of characters and locations; Princess Nausicaä, the title character of the original version, was renamed, Zandra. Her father, King Jihl, was alternatively anglicized as Zeal. Asbel was renamed, Milo. Mito, Nausicaä's retainer, was renamed, Axel. Princess Kushana was renamed Queen Selina. Teto was renamed Foxy. Nausicaä's Mehve was renamed the Cloud Climber. The Sea of Decay was localized as the Toxic Jungle, a name already used in English material for the Japanese release. The Ohmu were renamed the Gorgons. The nameless grub-like insects that assail the Tolmekian airship are referred to as Loki Bloodsuckers. The Ushiabu were localized as the Gadflies, an equivalent translation of their Japanese name also used in English Japanese materials. The Giant God Warriors were renamed the Fire Demons. The territories of Tolmekia and Pejite were renamed Temecula, and Placeda, respectively. Although Lord Yupa's name was unchanged, it is stressed with the short U sound instead of the long U. Kurotowa's name is not uttered in the dialogue and he is generically referred to by characters as the General.
• Altered: The expository text explaining the time and setting in the original version was replaced with a simple title reading "Somewhere in the world, one thousand years from now..."
• Deleted: The opening credits over a tapestry of the history of the world prior to and after the Seven Days of Fire, showing how the Giant God Warriors were manufactured, in flashbacks their destruction of industrialized civilization, and the emergence of the new ecosystem. Finally, people are shown gazing up to a winged amalgamation of Nausicaä and her Mehve, as the tapestry fades to the skies over the Sea of Decay.
• Altered: The remainder of the original opening credits sequence has been left textless with two shots rearranged, while narration establishes the setting and the character of Princess Zandra (Nausicaä). New music and sound effects have been added to the soundtrack for the sequence.
• Added: A credit for Manson International between the fade out of the original credits sequence and the fade into the sequence of Zandra exploring the Toxic Jungle (Sea of Decay).
• Altered: The title card of the film and a swell of the main theme from the ending credits of the original version have been overlaid on the initial establishing shot of the interior of the jungle.
• Shortened: Zandra investigating the giant Gorgon (Ohmu) shell has been drastically shortened to remove several lingering establishing shots, Zandra testing the hardness of the shell with her zircon ceramic knife, and using the gunpowder of one of her siren shells to create a ring around the eye to loosen it. In the edited sequence, she simply climbs the shell and removes the eye with little resistance.
• Deleted: Nausicaä observing the Mushigo Palm fungi releasing their spores, finding ironic beauty in the deadly rain of particles that could kill her in minutes if she was unmasked.
• Added: Zandra's Cloud Climber (Mehve) throughout the film is accompanied by added engine sound effects.
• Altered: Yupa's relationship with Zandra is changed from teacher to uncle, but whether he is truly a relative or that "uncle" merely refers to a fictive kinship between the two is left unspecified.
• Altered: Zandra is merely enthusiastic about hearing of Yupa's travels, whereas in the original she tells Yupa about the secret room she's created.
• Deleted: Nausicaä asks Lord Yupa to be the godfather of a newborn baby as the villagers discuss the discovery of the Ohmu shell. Mito jokes that he'd trade a thousand Ohmu shells for the peace of mind of Nausicaä not risking her life in the Sea of Decay.
• Deleted: Villagers in the fields exterminating the spores that entered the Valley via the crash of the Tolmekian airship.
• Altered: Selina (Kushana) explains to the General (Kurotowa) that she is returning home instead of Placeda (Pejite).
• Deleted: Yupa explains to Mito his plan to leave the Valley and ensure dormancy of the Giant God Warrior when the time is right.
• Deleted: Yupa discovering Nausicaä's secret garden of plants from the Sea of Decay. Nausicaä explains that the plants themselves are harmless when grown with pure water and soil, and the toxins they expel are concentrated in the earth itself. Nausicaä breaks down in tears in Yupa's arms, appalled at the heretofore unknown rage inside her that drove her to kill.
• Deleted: Three children bringing Nausicaä a small bag of Chiko nuts they gathered for her journey. As they cry in her arms, Nausicaä assures them she will return.
• Deleted: Nausicaä's mask and flight suit are pulled away as she sees visions of a golden field and a great tree in her encounter with the Ohmu.
• Deleted: Nausicaä's dream of remembering her childhood attempt at saving a baby Ohmu from the Valley villagers and her father, who impresses upon her that humans and insects cannot coexist in the world together. Nausicaä awakens with Teto by her side.
• Deleted: A medium close-up of Nausicaä rising from her rest with Teto on her shoulder.
• Deleted: Several establishing shots of the fossilized forest.
• Added: A voice-over from Zandra as she thinks about the ironies of life while exploring the fossilized forest.
• Deleted: Nausicaä realizes that the trees of the Sea of Decay fossilize to produce clean sand. Asbel finds Nausicaä collapsed on the ground, tearfully overcome with joy and relief that the world is healing itself. Nausicaä and Asbel discuss Lastelle's death and the whereabouts of the God Warrior. Asbel regrets that he shot down the airship Nausicaä was on since she was there to comfort his twin sister in death (part of this exchange is used as the basis in the above voice-over). Asbel tries some of Nausicaä's Chiko nuts and grimaces at the taste in spite of their supposed health benefits. Later, the two discuss the evolutionary origins of the jungle and the insect ecosystem that guards it. Asbel is doubtful humanity will be able to survive the insects and the jungle in the many thousands of years the remainder of the purification will take, and is concerned with stopping the spread of the jungle. Nausicaä replies he sounds no different from Kushana as she falls asleep.
• Deleted: An establishing shot of the Valley's castle, as steam from the revival process of the Giant God Warrior emanates from it.
• Added: Four opening notes from the cue The Annihilation of Pejite were added to the beginning of the scene where Yupa, Axel (Mito) and the others attempt to negotiate with the imprisoned Selina.
• Deleted: The villagers discover the entire forest that surrounds the Valley reservoir has become infected with spores. Obaba urges the villagers to burn down the entire forest to prevent the Sea of Decay from engulfing the Valley, and they reluctantly agree. Gol and the other former hostages observe the burning and agree to return to the Valley.
• Deleted: Nausicaä trying to reason with the mayor of Pejite about the true nature of the Sea of Decay. He urges that the Tolmekians must be stopped, but Nausicaä scorns the Pejites for excavating the God Warrior in the first place.
• Deleted: Nausicaä thanking the women of Pejite for freeing her as she and Asbel take a secret passage to the hold where the Mehve is kept.
• Deleted: Kurotowa discusses the ancient shipwreck with Kushana, speculating it may have even been an interstellar vessel. Kushana urges Gol and the other hijackers of the tank to tell the people to surrender, but they refuse and discuss Kushana and Nausicaä's opposing ideologies. Kushana then orders her forces to attack the entrenched villagers in an hour. Gol notices the wind has stopped blowing, and Obaba and the three children hear an earsplitting ringing in the air. Obaba has a premonition of a great amount of rage from the Earth itself.
• Deleted: The ending credits sequence where the Ohmu and the Tolmekians withdraw, the Pejites settle in the Valley, and Yupa and Asbel depart to explore the Sea of Decay.
• Added: Ending credits over a black screen scored with the background music from the deleted dream sequence.

Warriors of the Wind was released on VHS by New World Video in the United States later in 1985. It was re-released in 1990 by StarMaker Entertainment. Anchor Bay Entertainment, StarMaker's successor and a holder of much of New World's catalog by the early 2000s, had planned to release Warriors of the Wind and possibly the original version on DVD in the U.S., in December 2000, but these plans were never realized.

An uncut English dub of the film written by Cindy and Don Hewitt was recorded in 2003 under the direction of Rick Dempsey for Walt Disney Home Entertainment at Buena Vista Sound Services, featuring many noteworthy voice talents such as Patrick Stewart as Lord Yupa, Uma Thurman as Kushana, and Mark Hamil as the Mayor of Peijite. It was released on DVD by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on February 22, 2005, and has been used on English-language releases of the film since. It is much more faithful to the original Japanese script than Warriors of the Wind and retains the original character names, though the Sea of Decay remained localized as the Toxic Jungle in the script, Nausicaä's Mehve is only referred to generically as a glider, and the Ohmu were romanized as Ohm instead.

Fathom Events and GKIDS have included Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in their theatrical Studio Ghibli Fest series in 2017 and 2019, and will do so again in 2023.

United Kingdom release

Manson International's Warriors of the Wind version was released in the UK on VHS by Vestron Video International in 1986, and reissued by First Independent Video in 1993. Optimum Home Entertainment released the uncut version of the film with Japanese and English audio options on DVD on September 26, 2005.

West German release

Warriors of the Wind was released on VHS in West Germany by UFA in December, 1986. In the German dubbing, many character and location names were again changed; Zandra was transliterated as Sandra. Lord Yupa was renamed Rocca. Axel was renamed Axa. Queen Selina was renamed Seline. King Zeal was renamed Radam. Asbel was renamed Nadier. Lastelle was renamed Sada. Foxy was renamed Lepri. Obaba, Kurotowa and Gol, characters who were unnamed in the English version, were named Atta, Garon and Valor, respectively. The mayor of Pejite and Lastelle's mother, who are not named in either the Japanese or English versions, were named Jazib and Asuhaha, respectively. The kingdom of Temecula was renamed Dragulia.

Hong Kong release

Hong Kong Valley of the Wind advert

An edited Cantonese-language version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was released in Hong Kong by Edko Films Ltd. on February 12, 1988, under the title Valley of the Wind (風之谷, Fung1 zi1 guk1). Funded by Tsui Hark as a lighthearted Chinese New Years' Eve film in response to the success of Edko's previous 1987 release of Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky, the Cantonese dubbing, featuring prolific Hong Kong singers and comedians such as Priscilla Chan and Lydia Shum, was overseen by Gordon Chan, whose tensions with Hark during production served as a catalyst for his departure from Hark's Film Workshop. The Cantonese dubbing, while praised for its cast and performances, remains infamous among Hong Kong viewers for its largely unfaithful and at times anachronistic dialogue, which contains a large amount of vulgar Cantonese slang and contemporary pop cultural references. The ending titles are accompanied by Green Water, Pure Breeze (綠水清風, Luk6 seoi2 cing1 fung1), a Cantopop arrangement of Joe Hisaishi's main theme by Chris Babida with lyrics by James Wong Jim and vocals by Sandy Lam. The inaccurate Cantonese dialogue's script was again used as a basis for a later home video dub released on VCD and DVD. A third Cantonese dub faithful to the Japanese script was produced in the 2010s.

Reception

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind received positive reviews from Japanese critics upon its release and has since been regarded as one of the greatest anime films of all time. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an average rating of 8.10/0 based on 19 reviews, with 89% of reviewers giving it a Fresh rating.

In retrospective appraisals by scholars and critics, the U.S. version, Warriors of the Wind, has been criticized for downplaying the film's pacifistic and environmentalist themes, though these elements remain in part nonetheless.

Awards

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
39th Mainichi Film Awards	Ofuji Noburo Award	Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind	Won
58th Kinema Junpo Awards	Reader Selection Japan Film Director Award	Hayao Miyazaki	Won
7th Monthly Animage Anime Grand Prix for Best Picture	Anime Grand Prix	Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind	Won

Video releases

Animage VHS (1984)

• Region: NTSC
• Tapes: 1
• Audio: Japanese (Mono, linear audio)
• Notes: Also issued in as a clamshell rental tape with hi-fi audio and improved picture. Out of print. Contains a transfer of the film with the entire image area shown, revealing light leaks in certain effects shots.

Animage LaserDisc (1984)

• Region: NTSC
• Discs: 1 (CLV, 2 sides)
• Audio: Japanese (Mono)

New World Video VHS (1985)

• Region: NTSC
• Tapes: 1
• Audio: English (Mono, hi-fi audio)

Vestron Video International VHS (1986)

• Region: PAL
• Tapes: 1
• Audio: English (Mono, hi-fi audio)

StarMaker Entertainment VHS (1990)

• Region: NTSC
• Tapes: 1
• Audio: English (Mono, hi-fi audio)

First Independent Video VHS (1993)

• Region: PAL
• Tapes: 1
• Audio: English (Mono, hi-fi audio)

Tokuma Shoten LaserDisc (1996) [Ghibli Complete Collection: Studio Ghibli Complete LD Collection]

• Region: NTSC
• Discs: 13 (CLV, 26 sides)
• Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono)
• Special features: Liner notes
• Notes: Mastered in HD. Packaged with the Studio Ghibli films Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves, Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, and the shorts On Your Mark, The Sky-Colored Seed and What is It?. Out of print.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan DVD (2003)

• Region: 2
• Discs: 2
• Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: Japanese, English
• Special features: Audio commentary by Hideaki Anno and Kazuyoshi Katayama, storyboards, original theatrical trailers

Walt Disney Home Entertainment DVD (2005)

• Region: 1
• Discs: 2
• Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Special features: "Behind the Microphone" featurette about the film's second English dub, "The Birth of Studio Ghibli" (28 minutes), Japanese trailers and TV spots, feature-length storyboards

Madman Entertainment DVD (2005)

• Region: 4
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English
• Special features: "Complete Storyboards: Get An Insider's Look At The Film's Artistry" featurette, "The Birth Story Of Studio Ghibli" featurette, original Japanese trailer

Madman Entertainment Blu-ray (2010)

• Region: B
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English
• Special features: Audio commentary by Hideaki Anno and Kazuyoshi Katayama, "Nausicaä and Evangelion! The Whereabouts of the Giant Warrior?" featurette, "Behind the mike" featurette, "Get An Insider’s Look At The Film’s Artistry" featurette, "The Birth Story Of Studio Ghibli" featurette, original 5 Japanese theatrical trailers

Shout! Factory DVD/Blu-ray (2017)

• Region: 1
• Discs: 1
• Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Special features: Audio commentary by Anno and Katayama, interview with Anno and Toshio Suzuki (42:32), "Behind the Microphone" featurette (7:46), "Behind the Studio Creating Nausicaä" featurette (11:32), 12-page booklet, original theatrical trailers and TV spots (8:16), feature-length storyboards
• Notes: Reissued as a SteelBook in 2020.

Legacy

Proposed sequels and remakes

After watching a preview of Hayao Miyazaki's next film Castle in the Sky in 1986, executive producer Yasuyoshi Tokuma approached Miyazaki about making a sequel to Nausicaä. Miyazaki was uninterested, however, and told Tokuma the project wouldn't meet his expectations. Nevertheless, Tokuma was eager to convince Miyazaki to create a sequel and would write him several letters regarding the proposal thereafter. Following the completion of the Nausicaä manga series in 1994, Studio Ghibli attempted to produce a sequel to the film, but it was scrapped when Miyazaki once again refused to take on the project.

In 2008, filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki, best known for directing the Always: Sunset on Third Street trilogy, told Kadokawa Shoten that he intended to direct a remake of the film. According to Toshio Suzuki, the co-founder and former president of Studio Ghibli, Yamazaki has requested to direct a live-action remake several times, but Suzuki has always rejected. Suzuki also stated that the film's key animator Hideaki Anno, responsible for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise and the Shin series, has also expressed interest in directing a live-action remake.

Prequel

Main article: Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo.

In 2012, Studio Ghibli produced a short live-action prequel to Nausicaä entitled Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo, about the Giant God Warriors' destruction of industrial civilization in the modern day. Directed by Shinji Higuchi and written, planned, and co-produced by Anno, the short was created for the "Director Hideaki Anno Special Effects Museum" exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, where it was screened from July 10 to October 8, 2012. It later received a theatrical release in Japan on November 17, 2012, playing before Anno's Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo.

Videos

Trailers

Japanese theatrical trailer Japanese newsflash/special announcement #1 Japanese newsflash/special announcement #2 Japanese TV spot Warriors of the Wind international trailer Warriors of the Wind American trailer Warriors of the Wind American TV spot #1 Warriors of the Wind American TV spot #2 Warriors of the Wind West German trailer Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - 35th Anniversary - Studio Ghibli Fest 2019 Trailer

Trivia

• The fox-squirrels from this movie later made a brief cameo in Hayao Miyazaki's 1986 film Castle in the Sky.

References

This is a list of references for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

Bibliography

• Ogata, Hideo (1 November 2004). Shoot that Flag! Animage Blood Wind Record. Oakla Publishing. ISBN 978-4775504802.CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

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