Let's get the obvious question out of the way first: Why the hell
would I subject myself to a Japanese children's cartoon from the 60s?
Isn't that a bit unnecessary, possibly masochistic, even for a
devoted anime fan? It turns out those questions become irrelevant
roughly two seconds into Horus: Prince of the Sun, when we're
treated to our hero having a sickass fight with a pack of wolves.
A little background. Horus was the 1968 debut of Isao
Takahata, known most recently for The Tale of Princess Kaguya
but best known for Grave of the Fireflies. Created during
brutal labor disputes at Toei, this film went way over budget, was
pulled from theaters after just ten days by the studio itself, and
killed Takahata's career at said studio. This is a movie with
stories behind it that I could go into, but won't because they aren't
what initially impressed me. What's happening onscreen is impressive
enough.
If I were to describe the appeal of Horus in a sentence, I'd
say it takes your typical epic, fantasy-based adventure and populates
it with unusually human characters. Sure, there's the evil wizard
Grunwald who must be stopped. A handful of magical creatures must
be defeated before the final battle can occur. There's no shortage
of well-animated action scenes in this film, except for a few battles
consisting of still frames even an inflated budget couldn't support.
Even so, dynamic camera movement and some great art convey the scope
of such scenes.
But it's the internal wars which keep Horus from being just
an animator's playhouse. The title character must not simply work to
defeat Grunwald, but to keep a town full of essentially good people
from destroying itself through selfish fear. Grunwald himself
betrays desperation and a strange loneliness at times. Hilda, the
most interesting character by far, is constantly beset by inner
turmoil. She practically hijacks the movie despite not appearing
until the halfway point; it's pretty clear to see where the future
tradition of strong, self-reliant, yet conflicted Ghibli heroines
came from.
Sure, Horus: Prince of the Sun is pretty darn old at this
point, but it still deserves more recognition today. Every aspect of
the film just oozes ambition, meaning it's still impressive decades
later. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when blind-buying the
disc, but found myself
a lot richer after the viewing. Do yourself a
favor and give it a shot.
And if you're still not convinced, Grunwald rides an ice elephant
into battle at the end.
Yeah.
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