What Everyone Misses About Princess Mononoke

My entry for the Pause and Select NOVID 2021 challenge.
Exploring the unseen structural elements of Princess Mononoke, and why so many people seem to miss them.
Chapters:
00:00-01:40 Intro
01:41-06:24 Feminism
06:25-13:19 Disneyfication
13:20-17:48 Universality
17:49-24:39 The Prince saves the Princess
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Literature Review:
• How Princess Mononoke ... : “How Princess Mononoke is a Feminist Film.” Felicity M. December 8, 2019.
• Princess Mononoke (199... : “Princess Mononoke.” Movies with Mikey. March 6, 2017.
• The Universal Appeal o... : “The Universal Appeal of Princess Mononoke.” Dean Hughes. April 14, 2018.
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Footnotes:
1. Hoff-Kraemer, C. 2000.
2. For example, in Rayna Denison’s Princess Mononoke, a full third of the text is given to feminist readings of the film, but the feminist readings bleed into the other sections of the text; whereas environmental themes are localized to a single article in part one. See: Denison, R. 2018.
3. Napier, S. 2018. Pg. 322.
4. Jang Yue, A. 2019. Pg. 5.
5. This quote and associated memes has been widely shared, but the words are misattributed, as they are not Miyazaki’s. The text comes from a comic made by Ashley Allis, where she paraphrased and compiled the text through her own interpretations of his body of work. See Allis, 2012.
6. Miyazaki, H. 2021. Pg. 72.
7. It will be worth noting that this video will be focusing primarily on Princess Mononoke, and Neil Gaiman’s script which was used for the English Dub. The reason for this is that this was the primary way that Mononokehime was experienced by Western audiences, and so too is reflected in the three video essays selected as part of the “literature review.” I will be referencing some of the arguments put forward by Western academics about the signification of the differences between mononokehime and Princess Mononoke later in the video, but for an excellent exploration of these differences, see: Nicholson, J. 2018.
8. Carter, L. 2018. Pg. 157.
9. Napier, S. 2018. Pg. 320.
10. Alpert, S., 2021. Pg. 209/257 [pdf]
11. Pett, E. 2018. Pg. 178.
12. Movies with Mikey, 2017.
13. Nicholson, J. 2018. Pg. 135.
14. Friday, K. 1997. Pg. 5.
15. Dundes, A., 1997. Pg. 197.
16. See Dundes, A. 1997 for a concise overview of the major criticisms of the Motif-Index.
17. San’s mask and appearance are from Jomon period artefacts (Niskanen, 2018. Pg 50.) ; the production of nodachi reached its apex during the earliest period of the Muromachi era, the so called two courts period, so its inclusion here makes perfect sense; firearms were not introduced into Japan until 1543, albeit these are supposed to be reflective of the fire lances of the Song dynasty in China (circa 12th century CE), albeit there is scant evidence to show that they saw use in Japan; Miyazaki has remarked that Eboshi is (in spirit) a 20th century woman, and not of this age (Miyazaki, 2021. Pg. 66.)
18. Napier, 2018. Pg. 324.
19. Miyazaki, H. 2021. Pg. 99.
20. Miyazaki, H. 2021. Pg. 99.
21. For more on this as it relates to Miyazaki and Ghibli, see Lamarre, T. 2009. Chapter 8.
22. Thompson, S. 1955-58. Pg. 503.D5.
23. Thompson, S. 1955-58. Pg. 584.D791.2.1
24. It will be worth noting that in the Japanese audio, the line is “Ashitaka, can you save San?”, but the sentiment remains clear within the broader context of the film.
25. Miyazaki, H. 2014. Pg. 16.
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Sources Can be found in this Google Doc: docs.google.com/document/d/1m...
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Music:
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[@danielcalabrese5769]

Lextorias sent me to your channel to watch kill la kill but I looked at your videos and saved a few to my watch later list and wow this is a great video and it sucks that you haven't got more recognition, I subbed straight away as soon as the video finished and I'm looking forward to your other work as well.

[@StudyofSwords]

Lextorias video is the gift that keeps on giving. Appreciate the sub. It's been a while since I uploaded but I have a video in the pipeline so hopefully it'll be out soon.

[@TheCynicClinic]

You forgot the part where people say it's the second and better draft of Nausicaa. OTL Fanatstic video brethren.

[@StudyofSwords]

Many thanks. But there's only so many sacred cows one can take on at a time.

[@snakeeyedreams8181]

Aw ye, good to see you back for this year's NOVID! I like how you break down the "Princess Mononoke" title and how interpreting the work to narrowly through "Disneyfication" can really skew a perspective and limit our understanding of the movie. Your footnotes are meticulous and awesome. You did a LOT for this in one month! :0

[@StudyofSwords]

Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it!

[@hocuskrocus602]

Excellent Essay! What a refreshing new perspective and lens in which to study this complex and beautiful film. As someone who enjoys studying the motifs and structure of fairytales, as well as a passionate fan of Ghibli and Miyazaki, this was really eye-opening!😍

[@StudyofSwords]

Well I'm very glad you enjoyed it and got something out of it.

[@Miraihi]

Wow, that editing is next level!

[@StudyofSwords]

Thanks, as always. I actually wasn't able to do as much as I would have liked with the editing given the time constraints of the challenge and some technical issues which came up at the last minute.

[@rutsugo]

great video as always! thank you

[@StudyofSwords]

Glad you liked it!

[@gustavohernandeza.890]

Excellent video. Well done!

[@StudyofSwords]

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it!

[@derrickskipx]

This was a great video. I found you through your thread on Twitter. I can't wait to see more from you.

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey glad you enjoyed it! I don't tweet much and don't tend towards hot takes x but hey guess it panned out this time.

[@brreezy421]

Goat movie

[@StudyofSwords]

It really is

[@mauricesteel4995]

Many reviewers got ironically blinded by their own interpretation and missed the entire point. it is almost as funny as it is tragic, isn't it? "You must see with eyes unclouded by hate"

[@alhesiad]

All right subbed. Also: your point stands, but the dubbed scene where San princess status is mentiones is a bit different in the subbed versions.

[@StudyofSwords]

I'll be honest, I have no idea how to interpret this - so I will assume you enjoyed the video.

[@alhesiad]

@@StudyofSwords oh I did, I edited the comment anyway

[@StudyofSwords]

Oh yeah. There's actually some really interesting differences between the original Japanese dub, the Ghibli sub and the Miramax dub. One of the sources I referenced does a pretty thorough job of exploring some of these more differences. Glad you like the video, and thanks for the sub!

[@Kuudere-Kun]

Miyazaki is in fact the only Anime director that the people at Disney with their narrow ideology of what Animation should be Respect. It is Osamu Dezaki and his legacy who is the true antithesis of Disney.

[@JFHomehr]

Oh wow, thank you very much for this video. I just fpund your channel, I don't have anything constructive to say, but this was very good :D

[@StudyofSwords]

Hey, thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Stevem]

its back ??

[@StudyofSwords]

I'm just as confused.

[@Stevem]

@@StudyofSwords record time damn has ghibli actually started toning it down

[@unbreakable.3132]

I'm a bit confused about what's the conclusion here! Hasn't Disney already overkilled us with feminism? Princess Mononoke had strong female characters but it was earned, they were more than just an embodiment, they had complex characteristics which makes it perfect. But it wasn't the main focus of the movie so that's why it worked! Sorry if I'm missing a point here, but it "seems" like you're taking only the feminist aspect of it, and it's frustrating.

[@StudyofSwords]

So this video explores how the tendency of western anime fans to juxtapose the films of Studio Ghibli with those of Disney (and the cultural implications this entails) can lead to ideological assumptions which hamper critical analysis. But your comment about Disney overkillng "us" with feminism is really interesting. Circa 2000 (when the film was released in NA) that idea would be absurd, and again served as a significant point of differentiation from commentators at the time. But even monolithic cultural signifiers like "Disney" remain historically contingent. That the development of discourse about a film that was celebrated by feminist commentators as being an ideal example of positive female representation can now be understood to be "how to do strong female characters without being 'feminist.' " based primarily around the cultural signification of "Disney" is really fascinating, don't you think?