Castle in the Sky

Pazu, an apprentice mechanic, lives in a small mining town where he raises pigeons, plays the trumpet, and dreams of flying marvelous winged machines. One day, a girl named Sheeta quite literally descends into his life—solemnly and sadly—floating down from the sky. Sheeta is the heir to an ancient bloodline and the bearer of a powerful amulet.

That amulet is being hunted by two groups: a band of airborne pirates led by a pink-braided elderly woman (far less dangerous than she first appears), and agents of a secretive government force led by a charming young man in glasses (far more dangerous than you’d expect). Both are after Laputa, a legendary floating island (a nod to Jonathan Swift), said to hold unimaginable treasures and vast arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky was the very first film Hayao Miyazaki made under his newly founded Studio Ghibli, and it’s already unmistakably “classic Miyazaki”—from its atmosphere to its recurring character types. Here you’ll find Victorian aesthetics, Jules Verne–style flying machines, and a cranky yet kind old lady in the vein of Yubaba from Spirited Away.