Ghibli Princess: Sheeta

Film: Laputa: Castle in the Sky (English title)
          Tenku-no Shiro Rapyuta (Japanese title)

Voices: Anna Paquin (English Disney dub)
               Lara Cody (Streamline English dub)
               Yokozawa Keiko (Japanese)

The Character

This may sound like a bizarre thing to say but when it comes to think about this character and writing down points about her, I found it really hard to express myself. In the end, I realised that one of the reasons is the way she is shown in the film. I have seen most of the Ghibli films out there (except for Ocean Waves and My Neighbours the Yamadas) and I think that in all the Ghibli films, the story is not centered on a particular person. There is always one or two main characters but they do not become the focus of the attention all the time. With Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, although the title character is the main character, she is not the main focus. There is a story going on around her and how she saves the day. With Princess Mononoke, the focus is not completely on San or the main Prince, Ashitaka. It’s about a war between Gods, beasts, demons and humans. San and Ashitaka have a hand in bringing things to a norm. But like Nausicaä, the film is not completely fixated on the title character and getting deep in her. Not everyone is chasing after her.

And yet, in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, it seems like every faction is after Sheeta. In the beginning, there is the Army and Mushka and then it’s Dola’s pirate gang. Then Pazu becomes fixated on her. Through the film until the battle at the castle, it seems like the focus is completely on this one character rather than a journey. To me, it has a Mary-Sue aroma around her.

Also, Sheeta has an inner complexity. Okay, most of the Ghibli characters has a complexity but nothing on Sheeta’s level. It seems like everyone in a Ghibli film has a purpose or a category to fall into. Not Sheeta. She doesn’t fall into one particular category.

Please let me assure readers I do not say this as a bad thing but let me explain. Sheeta is brave. She has got guts!! In the beginning, she whacks Mushka on the head and then to get away from Dola, gets out of the window and proceeds to walk along a narrow ledge on the ship to escape, regardless of the danger factor. And despite falling, later she will risk her life again climbing up a ship to get to Pazu, knowing she could slip and fall to the ground again.

 Despite that, she is not totally brave. She is kidnapped three times by Mushka (although technically the third time, she charges at Mushka to stop him from shooting Pazu). To be fair, she is only rescued once. The crystal saves her the first time when she falls and Dola saves her the second time. She saves herself the third time by putting her own life on the line by saying the final spell.

She also seems to wear her emotions on the sleeves and seems more succumbed to them more than other Ghibli Princesses. Despite not knowing him very long, she develops a bond with the lead, Pazu and would only give into Mushka’s demands when Pazu’s life is put in danger. I believe this could be that her only family was dead before the film starts. It is unknown how long she has been living in the mountains alone but it could have been long enough for her to understand loneliness and that she craved any sort of companionship.

Despite being seen as ‘weak’ for most of the film, she is anything but. One of my favourite moments is when she is put on kitchen duty on the pirate ship. After getting over the initial shock over the mess in the kitchen, she determinedly rolls up her sleeves to get to work and she does it in style.

Later, during the storm, she insists on being with Pazu in the kite, despite what Dola says and shows her quickness and smarts by calling Dola on the phone before Dola has even finished talking. In the words of Louise, “She is good.”

Like Nausicaä, she seems to be in touch with nature, most likely due to her upbringing in the mountains. This possibly explains her speech with Mushka when she is in the throne room. She understands Laputa more than Mushka ever could, especially why the city was left abandoned in the sky.

The throne room scene shows another significance in Sheeta’s development in the film. There are three stages to Sheeta when she encounters Mushka. In the first on the ship, she is a mute and eventually attacks him from behind. The second time shows him bowing to him in the room of the robot purely to save Pazu. The third is in the throne room where she stands her ground, stating he will never get the crystal and that they both die together. Shortly afterwards, Mushka shoots off her pigtails as if to scare her but there is some symbolism to this new “haircut”. Pigtails are associated with little girls and now they are cut off, it represents her journey into young womanhood and maturity.

 

The voices behind the character

I think what makes it hard to express Sheeta is the voices that portray her and I mean all three of them!!! To be fair, Laputa is one of the most hotly debated dubs in terms of the English dub but I think when it comes to Sheeta, with all three dubs, she is probably the reason, along with Pazu on why the English dub is weak.

However, all three dubs are weak when it comes to Sheeta. Yokozawa Keiko is pretty realistic when it comes to portraying Sheeta as a child except, like the Japanese dub, she is guilty of screaming a lot, particularly in the throne room but I will talk about that scene on its own. Cody tries to copy Keiko but instead, all we get is a whiny high pitched robot. Out fo the three dubs, she is by far the worst.

Now, for Anna Paquin, I can honestly see why some fans would be against her. I think when it came to Pazu and Sheeta, actors were chosen deliberately so they sounded more like in their mid teens rather than their mid-teens and in a way, some of the characters’ innocence is lost in that. Lets face it, pigtails are not that convincing on a teenager. However, this symbolism could actually be in her favour for that, despite her teenage years and her bravery and maturity, the pigtails still show that she is still a vulnerable child and the departure shows she has finally grown up.

Despite her maturity, Paquin brings a sweetness to Sheeta. However, she seems to switch accents, particularly to an over-the-top stereotypical British accent. However, she also shows vulnerability for the character as well as a strong head on her shoulders (and to be honest, she did a better job in that film than she did in Steamboy, a film I personally stopped watching after 30 minutes and have never gotten back to it because it is so atrocious).

In my opinion, for all three, their crowning glory is the the throne room scene. Even though Lara Cody’s dub is the worst, this is her best moment, as well as Keiko and Paquin. However, Keiko and Paquin spoil the moment when Pazu enters. Keiko’s screaming at him to leave and Paquin doesn’t sound convincing enough to be desperate. Despite that, they rule over Cody anytime.

Ghibli Princess: Nausicaä

Film: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (English title)
          Kaze No Tano No Naushika (Japanese title)

Voice: Alison Lohman (English Disney dub)
           Sumi Shimamoto (Japanese)

The Character

After last night, I felt in the mood to analyse another character and in my heart, I felt there was only one I could write about; the Ghibli Princess that started off the studio’s success. Yes, I’m talking about Nausicaä. There has been some debate over whether she counts as part of the Studo Ghibli family. This is because Studio Ghibli did not exist as a formal company when Nausicaä was made, However, in recent DVD releases, it has the Ghibli logo on the cover and on the trailer of the Studio Ghibli film collection (a collection of quick trailers which I know appear on the UK releases), Nausicaä is a part of it. The film was also directed by Hayao Miyazaki. So, for argument’s sake, I am counting her as a Ghibli Princess and not a Honorary Princess. To learn a bit more about the debate, go here.

Although Nausicaä is my third favourite Ghibli film (and in particular my third favourite Miyazaki film), the character Nausicaä is my favourite “Princess”. The thing that gets me about Disney Princess is that they are mainly weak, rely purely on emotion and in some cases, although all the gals do fall in love, a good number fall in love at first sight. Of course, that never happens properly in real life and you can’t help but wonder that after the likes of Cinderella and Snow White were married, you’d know they’d be divorced uickly for they got married before knowing nothing about each other.

Nausicaä is a woman in her own right and is only one of three Studio Ghibli females to actually be called a Princess (the other two are San from Princess Mononoke and Sheeta from Laputa but them two are for another entry). She takes charge of her own life and for msot of the film, her mind is clear and focused. She is truely one of the best examples of an empowered female.

She is a quick and agile fighter, unafraid to take on several male Tolmekia soldiers (and even killing them) solo when her father is killed. She is feisty and adventorous, always finding an excuse to go into the deadly toxic jungle. She is unafraid to take risks either.

Nausicaä’s relationship with the male characters is an interesting one; she sees some as friends and two as father figures (Lord Yupa and her father, King/Lord Jihl). Even the only character that can be seen as a potential love interest (Prince Asbel) only comes as close as mere acquaintance. In fact, it is Nausicaä who saves Asbel when they first meet, rather than the other way round. In the case of all the male of the villagers, THEY look up to HER rather than the other way round.

However, although she represents traits of masculinity, she is not a butch female. She does girly things, such as naming her new fox-squirrel, Teto. She is giggly and unlike many other independent women, she is not one to hide her feelings under a cold, hard feelings. She says what she thinks and keeps her emotions under her sleeves. She is very emotional, thoughtful of others and most of all, she is a pacifist. She fights and does things in accordance by what is best for her village.

She also has an amazing gift. She is able to calm the ohmu and other beasts when they are enraged. She is also clever and is able, to learn via scientific experiments important secrets about the toxic jungle which leads her to be a middle-woman so to speak. She wants to protect her village and yet she wants to protect the beasts of the toxic jungle too. And who cannot love her Mehve (that’s the thing she flies on!) The funniest line is when she states that her father thinks she has a lot to learn……how many of us viewers disagreed with that? I wonder if that was put in so she could be seen to have a flaw and not seen as a complete Little Miss Perfect?

What I find interesting about Nausicaä is that she is not looked in the typical female manner, in which no-one looks at her. When it comes to many female characters in her status, she has to look good or she has to stimulate the male gaze. She is not made like that in which her body is always covered by even a large coat and beggy trosuers or a long sleepsuit. Her only show for typical femininity is that she wears earrings.

Speaking of clothes, there is a debate over whether she wears a short dress and no underwear. I myself have made the mistake. Basically, in earlier releases of the film, the colours were fainter and rather than showing she wears a blue coat and yellow trousers, it does look like she is nude under a short blue dress. The latter is not the case as stated here. 

 

The voices behind the character

Technically there are THREE versions of this film, one original Japanese and two English dubs. The first English dub was called “Warriors of the Wind” and if reviews and sources are correct, should NOT be watched by anyone who is a true fan. I have never seen it so cannot make a judgement but from what has been said, it should be sliced up and burnt! I mean, there is always a debate over the English dubs over Japanese originals but jeez, when one is universally disliked by everyone, you got a problem!

In my opinion with Alison Lohman and Sumi Shimamoto, it’s kinda hard to choose which one is better, although to be fair, Lohman does sound a bit robotic at the beginning. She does however become much more natural after that, especially when she has to show emotion. Sumi Shimamoto is brilliant although when it came to the crying scenes, I felt like she was a wee bit over the top. Despite that, they each give Nausicaä a girlish charm that adds to her feminity (and shows everyone that she is not a cold hard-ass feminist Miranda Priestly style bitch!)

What can I say, they’re both perfect in my heart. Can I just leave it at that? 🙂