Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968)

Having seen Isao Takahata's Ghibli films I was interested to see this much earlier work so when it was on television I couldn't not watch it. Not surprisingly it feels much older than his later work but it didn't feel out dated.The story opens with a boy called Horusu fighting off a pack of wolves. They fighting awakens a strange rock giant who is bothered by a thorn in his shoulder, much to the giants surprise Horusu extracts the thorn which turns out to be an ancient sword. He returns with the sword to his dying father who tells him that their family came from a village in the North that had been devastated by an evil sorcerer called Grunwald. When his father dies he heads North where he meets Grunwald who casts him from a mountain and believes him to be dead. Of course he survives though as is found by a child who takes him back to a village. The people there are being tormented because a giant pike is eating all the fish in the river. Horusu sets off and after a struggle manages to kill the creature and the fish return to the river, this leads to him being hailed as a hero. Later in an almost deserted village Horusu meets a girl called Hilda who he invites back to the village where to locals are enchanted by her beautiful singing. At least most of them are, the mayor is clearly upset that Horusu and now Hilda are so popular and his deputy who is an agent of Grunwald. I won't say more about the plot as I wouldn't want to spoil the ending.I really enjoyed this even though it if fairly different, it certainly felt like it was targeted at a younger audience than his later works, I was surprised for example when characters had conversations with their pets. The animation was good, especially considering its age. If you've enjoyed Studio Ghibli films I'd certainly recommend this film.These comments were based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

I first saw this film in the mid-1970's and I really enjoyed it. It came at the time I was first introduced to such Japanese exports as Speed Racer and Kimba, as well as all the Godzilla films. The thing that really made me enjoy it was the story about the young protagonist's quest to free the village of his birth from the evil wizard and his love for the young girl that turned out to be the wizard's daughter. It is just too bad that this film has never been released on DVD. Not only would I enjoy watching it once again, but I think that this film would be enjoyed by younger kids as well. In fact, this film is probably a good introduction for younger viewers to the world of Japanese anime.

I can only imagine how hard it was to do an animation such as this in 1968. At the time Disney was doing Mickey Mouse animation (the squeaky voice ones) and Yellow Submarine was released.However, as in most Isao Takahata animes the focus is not on the animation, but on the script. People battle against the forces of evil using their most powerful weapon: will power. Evil comes in the form of bad luck, misfortune, direct attacks and sneaky social manipulation. Good's champion is a boy that has come to fulfill his dying father's last wish. You can find love, betrayal, anger, violence, marital ceremonies, friendship, all the hallmarks of good Japanese anime.OK, the animation is not great. There are whole scenes of static images that are filmed , for example. Also, there is a plague that Disney is just now getting rid of, the plague of group songs in the middle of the film. But there are a lot of good things that overcome by far the bad parts. It's like a battle of good versus evil in its own :)Doesn't hurt to mention Hayao Miyazaki, which is humbly placed somewhere in the middle of the crew list, as an animator and scene designer. As far as I know this is his first work, but you already find a lot of elements that will appear in all his work from then on.Any anime fanatic must watch this. Children or very young people might get slightly bored.

With so much anime coming to the States in DVD, I don't know why this great film (possibly my first animated foreign film) hasn't recieved greater acclaim.I love the music to this film, I love the storyline, and the multi-faceted characters. I wish some studio would get on the ball, and get this a bit more attention.It's a great film. And a great intro to anime before there was "anime." Sincerely,JThree [email protected]