Taiyô no ôji: Horusu no daibôken

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.

The influence of Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968) cannot be overstated. It is not only the feature debut of the legendary Isao Takahata or a precursor of Studio Ghibli; it changed the face of Japanese animation forever, pushing aside the notion that all animation must be for children, that all animation must fit in the Disney musical mold.

I don't feel I need to go into the film's notoriously troubled production; other reviewers have done so with skill. But let me stress to you that if you consider yourself a fan of animation at all, you owe it to yourself to view Horus. Its musical numbers and talking animals are belied by psychological realism, a gritty sensibility, and political commentary. This isn't just a dark family film in the mode of Disney's Pinocchio (1940) or Bluth's The Secret of NIMH (1982), nor is it an "edgy" adult animation which mistakes crudity for maturity.

The film was a disappointment when first released, but its fan base grew quickly with re-releases, many of these fans being high school and college aged students who connected with the struggles of the protagonists, Horus and Hilda. In the United States, we have no equivalent to Horus as of this writing. We are still trapped by the Snow White and Toy Story model. I earnestly pray an American Takahata will one day give us a film such as this and change our animation landscape too.

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.

Although it was made in 1968, this fascinating animated film feels more like it came out a few years before Nausicaa in the early 1980s; fans of Studio Ghibli will recognize all of its distinctive calling cards. One of these calling cards is the feeling of being totally immersed in an alternate world, which, in this case, is achieved through cultural ambiguity. The odd title, Horus: Prince of the Sun, suggests a pseudo-Egyptian setting, but that couldn't be further from the truth: it is instead vaguely Scandinavian, with its focus on northern villages, but drawing on the culture and mythology of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, Japan's northern island. There are relatively few people, and they are barely surviving given the harsh environment and the evil demon Grunwald, who wants to eliminate humanity; in fact, the isolated village recalls in many ways the post-apocalyptic world of Nausicaa.

While this movie is usually heralded as an auspicious beginning for Japanese anime and Studio Ghibli, I noticed the strong influence of one of its forebears: Lev Atamanov's Snow Queen. In particular, the dark and cold Grunwald is very much like a male version of the Snow Queen, including his appearance. Horus and Hilda recall Kay and Gerda, except that here it is Hilda who is under the spell of the Snow (King). Hilda, like Gerda, is guided by a bird, this time an evil owl. I could go on, but the influence is real, and significant, as acknowledged by Miyazaki. The major difference is that, unlike the later Ghibli films (and Atamanov's Snow Queen, for example), it is the male rather than the female who is the lead.

Before My Neighbors the Yamadas, before Pom Poko, before Only Yesterday, and before Grave of the Fireflies. There was Little Prince Horus(USA Title). This was the first Movie Isao Takahata directed.

He and legendary Anime maker Hayao Miyazaki and some other animators who were still in their early years in animation industries made this film possible.

It's nothing like Isao Takahata's other works. This one is about an Alternate Viking/Scandinavian Time Period about a boy named Horus who receives a sword from some Earth God, and is sent on a quest to defeat an Ice Demon(who's pretty cool looking) meets a group of village locals and a mysterious Girl who has the key to restoring peace to the land.

It took 3 years for this film to be made. Animation is well done even if this was made 38 years ago. Back when Anime was still primitive. It's interesting to watch. Too bad it didn't do well when it was in Japanese Theatures. But what's cool about it is it became known as the earliest forms of modern anime.

In other words it's anime that doesn't have to be made for kids to watch.

I'm not sure when it'll get licensed to get it's own English Debut. But worth seeing for those who are interested in Animes that broke the rules. I'd recommend this film for Ages 12 and up contains cartoon violence and a split second of nudity.