Princess Mononoke: The Art and Making of Japan's Most Popular Film of All Time

by Mark Schilling (Translator)

This gorgeously animated film is the brainchild of Hayao Miyazaki, one of Japans most acclaimed directors, and is Japans most successful film ever, breaking the attendance records previously set by E.T. This lavishly illustrated volume tells the story behind the making of the film, and reveals the secrets behind anim, the popular Japanese animation technique. Set in the remote forests of northern Japan, The Princess Mononoke is an eco-fable of medieval times in which industry and civilization struggle against nature and humanity. Hailed as one of the best animated features ever made, The Princess Mononoke is certain to enthrall audiences across the country.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Japan, Manga

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 1999

About the author

Born in Zanesville, Ohio in 1949, Mark Schilling arrived in Tokyo in 1975 and has lived there ever since. He has been reviewing Japanese films for The Japan Times since 1989 and reported on the Japanese film industry for Screen International, a British film trade magazine, from 1990 to 2005. He is currently Japan correspondent for Variety. His articles on Japanese culture and society have appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Asian Wall Street Journal, the Japan edition of Newsweek, USA Today, Interview, Winds, The Japan Quarterly and Kinema Junpo.

In 1997 Schilling published The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture and in 1999 Contemporary Japanese Film, both with Weatherhill. In 2003 he published The Yakuza Movie Book -- A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films with Stone Bridge Press.

He has contributed to several other books, including Japan Pop! (M.E. Sharpe, 2000), Ichikawa Kon (Cinematheque Ontario, 2001) and Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture (Routledge, 2002), as well as translating and writing the introduction for Princess Mononoke -- The Art and Making of Japan's Most Popular Film of All Time (Hyperion, 1999).

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Compared to Art of Castle in the Sky, there's almost no articles or insight into the creation process except the technical process of using CG in the back. If it was just sold a picture book, that would be fine, but that's not really why I was interested in it.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

Technically, the title of the book should be Princess Mononoke The Art and Making of Japan's Most Popular Film of All Time.

The poems right at the beginning sets the mood immediately: This is going to be a magical film.

This book is generous with concept art, movie stills, paintings, storyboards, layout drawings and a few computer animation tutorials. They are presented chronologically based on the progress of the movie. Captions for the art pieces explain the scenes instead of the concept behind it. In a way, they help relate back to the film.

The environment paintings are fantastic. The richness in details tries, successfully, in creating a world that looks as if it really exist. There's a certain sense of peace in each of them. Character designs are done in water colour, and a delight to look at.

The 3 computer graphics tutorials covers the making of 3D images, multilayer compositing and digital painting. The technology behind the movie's creation process is explained clearly.

This version of book I'm reviewing is published by Miramax Books, Hyperion in 1999. It's pretty much out of print and hard to find. So if you can locate it, you should really buy it. Fans will be jealous of you.

This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.

[Diana Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

This behind-the-scenes deep dive into the creation of one of my all-time favorite films was INCREDIBLE. I feel like I learned so much that made me enjoy this movie even more, for the phenomenal amount of work that the team at Studio Ghibli was able to accomplish in order to make this masterpiece. Highly recommend this to anyone who is a diehard Ghibli fan and would like to see more detail of what goes into the making of this particular animated movie, from the combination of cel drawings and 3D paintings (with notes by Hayao Miyazaki!) to the completely new software they created JUST to ensure their unique artistic style merged well with CGI inside many key scenes in the movie. I was blown away by the detail, talent, and passion that brought this work of art together. Truly a gift to get this glimpse behind the curtain of the making of Princess Mononoke.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

And now I want to re-watch the movie again, which is really as good a result as I would have hoped for. I think Mononoke was more complicated than I think of it as being. I think it had multiple sides, and mostly good guys all around but they were in conflict anyway. The sections on CGI and other digital tech used in the making of the movie was a little boring. But the art plus the cells were certainly cool. Basically the whole movie is retold using bits of the art, both pre and from the movie.

[Sherbert Says · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Miyazaki wanted to paint pretty landscapes and had to fill it with a story against his will.... still a master piece tho.

[Matisse710 · Rating 5 out of 5]

crazy awesome character after he was possessed by the demon thing. He shot of some guys head when he shot him with the arrow.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love movie, so naturally I love this book. The artwork is breathtaking. Reading this was like seeing the movie for the first time -- again.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Mononoke is a very strong movie about humans vs. the environment and the old forms that live there. This book has photos and information from and about the movie.