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The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun | HearLore
Common questions
When was The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun released and how long was its initial theatrical run?
The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun was released in 1968 and received a mere ten-day theatrical run. This short duration was a decision by Toei executives that many historians believe was a punitive measure against union organizers who fought for better working conditions at the studio.
Who directed The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun and who were the key collaborators?
The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun was directed by Isao Takahata and featured the first major collaboration between Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. The core production team also included animation director Yasuo Otsuka, Yasuji Mori, Reiko Okuyama, and Yoichi Kotabe.
What is the setting and main plot of The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun?
The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun unfolds in an unspecified northern kingdom in ancient Norway and follows a young boy named Horus who seeks to avenge his village. Horus must defeat the ice devil Grunwald and his silver wolves while uniting villagers to reforge the Sword of the Sun.
How did The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun influence the future of anime and Studio Ghibli?
The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun marked the beginning of a 50-year partnership between Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki that would define the next half-century of anime history. The film introduced complex character designs and socialist ideals that established new standards for character complexity and collective effort in animation.
The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun
In 1968, a film was released that would fundamentally alter the trajectory of Japanese animation, yet it was treated as a commercial failure by its own studio. The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun was the directorial debut of Isao Takahata, a man who would go on to co-found Studio Ghibli, and it featured the first major collaboration between Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, a partnership that would define the next half-century of anime history. Despite its critical acclaim and the sheer ambition of its production, the film was given a mere ten-day theatrical run, a decision that many historians believe was a punitive measure against the union organizers who had fought for better working conditions at Toei Animation. The film was not merely a children's story; it was a complex, dark, and visually revolutionary work that challenged the very definition of what animation could be, blending socialist ideals with a coming-of-age narrative that was intended for adults rather than children. The production budget, which exceeded 100 million yen, made it the most expensive anime film of its time, a financial risk that Toei executives seemed to regret the moment the film opened its doors to the public.
The Northern Kingdom and The Ice Devil
The story unfolds in an unspecified northern kingdom in ancient Norway, a setting chosen to distance the narrative from its Ainu roots while retaining the core themes of indigenous struggle and survival. The film opens with a young boy named Horus, also known as Hols, attempting to fight off a pack of silver wolves, a scene that accidentally awakens an ancient stone giant named Mogue. Horus succeeds in pulling a splinter from the giant's shoulder, which turns out to be a rusty and ancient sword, the Sword of the Sun. The giant proclaims that when the sword is reforged, Horus will be called the Prince of the Sun. Horus' father, on his deathbed, reveals that their family came from a northern seaside village that was devastated by the terrifying ice devil Grunwald, leaving them as the only survivors. Before dying, Horus' father urges his son to return to the land of his birth and avenge the village. On his journey, Horus and his companion, a bear named Koro, are soon confronted by Grunwald, who plunges the boy from a cliff when Horus refuses to serve him. Horus survives the fall and is rescued by the inhabitants of a nearby village, where he becomes a heroic figure by killing an enormous pike that had been threatening the lives and livelihoods of the fishing community.
The Betrayal and The Enchanted Wood
The pike was a ploy of Grunwald's, who then sends the silver wolves to attack the village instead. In the battle that follows, Horus and Koro chase the wolves to a deserted village, where he meets a mysterious young girl named Hilda. Horus takes Hilda back to his village, where her beautiful singing is welcomed by the villagers, with the exception of the chief, who is increasingly resentful of Horus' popularity, and his deputy, Drago. Hilda, who is actually Grunwald's sister and under his evil influence, later collaborates with Drago and sends a swarm of rats to attack the village. In the original Japanese version, Grunwald wanted Horus to be his brother before he plunged Horus down the cliff, which ties in with Horus' first encounter with Hilda and her comment on how they both share the same fate that they're like twins. Drago frames Horus for his own failed attempt to assassinate the chief, and the villagers banish Horus. Horus sets out in search of Grunwald, but is confronted by Hilda, and the owl who acts as a messenger between Hilda and Grunwald. With her true identity revealed, Hilda reluctantly attacks Horus, who falls into a chasm and becomes trapped in an enchanted wood, where he is haunted by visions of the villagers and his father. Grunwald then sends Hilda, against her wishes, to kill Horus, and makes his own attack on the village, together with his wolves and a giant ice mammoth.
When was The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun released on DVD and Blu-ray in Northern America?
Discotek Media released The Great Adventure of Horus Prince of the Sun on DVD for Northern America on the 23rd of December 2014 and on Blu-ray Disc on the 28th of March 2017. These releases included new English-language subtitles and audio options that were not present on previous versions.
Horus is able to escape from the enchanted forest when he realizes that the sword must be reforged as a collective effort and that the villagers must unite in order to defeat Grunwald. After a brief fight with Hilda, who is thoroughly remorseful about her involvement in Grunwald's plan, Horus rejoins the villagers in their battle and uses the raging fires they ignited in their defense to reforge the sword. With the Sword of the Sun reforged, he is soon joined by the stone giant Mogue. Together they defeat and destroy Grunwald. Hilda, who had given her magical Medal of Life to aid Horus, finds that she is still alive without it, and rejoins Horus and the villagers. The film's climax is not a solitary hero's triumph but a communal effort, reflecting the socialist ideals that Takahata and Miyazaki sought to portray. The villagers, who had previously been divided and fearful, come together to fight their oppressor, demonstrating that personal growth and societal improvement are inextricably linked. The film's ending is a testament to the power of unity and the idea that true strength comes from the collective, not the individual.
The Animation That Changed Everything
The production of Horus, Prince of the Sun started in autumn 1965 and lasted until March 1968, a lengthy process compared to other feature-length animated films at Toei, which were made in approximately 8 to 10 months. The focus at the company was also shifting towards production of television animation, but Takahata and animation director Yasuo Otsuka approached the process in an egalitarian manner and invited input from the entire team for storyboard and planning meetings. This method opened the door for Miyazaki to contribute significantly to the development of the story and animation, marking the beginning of their 50-year partnership. The core production team included Takahata, Otsuka, Miyazaki, Yasuji Mori, Reiko Okuyama, and Yoichi Kotabe, all of whom contributed to designs, story ideas, and storyboards. The sequence in which Horus fights the giant fish has been referenced as a pivotal moment in the evolution of the medium and as a scene which had a profound impact on the animation works later produced at Studio Ghibli. Yasuo Otsuka's clean and simple character design for Hilda allowed for considerable emotional depth and flexibility, and this style remained a powerful influence on the works of Takahata and Miyazaki throughout their animation careers.
The Critical Reappraisal and Legacy
As quoted in The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture by Mark Schilling, a reviewer for Hakubunkan's monthly magazine commented, in 1968, that in one corner of the world there now exists a commercial animation that has surpassed Disney and started to make rapid advances, after seeing Horus and The Jungle Book. Despite its critical and popular success, the film had only a brief theatrical release, and in 2001, the Japanese magazine Animage elected Horus, Prince of the Sun the third best anime production of all time. In his book Anime Explosion, Patrick Drazen mentions the film as a pivotal work in the evolution of animation and writes that the 10-day theatrical showing was either a sign that Toei studio executives were unable to recognize quality or a ploy to get back at Union organizers like Miyazaki and Takahata, who didn't direct for the company again. The ending scenes in the film were thinly disguised rallying cries for the union and student movements of the time, by whom the film was well received. The depiction of Hilda as a conflicted heroine, working sometimes for good and sometimes for evil, has been seen as the first in a long line of multidimensional heroines in Takahata's and Miyazaki's later works, establishing a new standard for character complexity in anime.
The Home Video Journey and Rediscovery
In 2005, Optimum Releasing released the film as The Little Norse Prince on DVD for the UK and Ireland, under its Optimum Asia label. The DVD includes English-language subtitles but no extra features other than the 1968 Japanese trailer, and is locked to region 2. The subtitles were criticized for being incomplete, often skipping dialog and completely omitting the songs, but they do refer to the title character as Hols, and the video presentation was criticized for the presence of ghosting artifacts as a result of being converted from 60 Hz to 50 Hz for compatibility with European TVs and players. However, this release was the first time that the film had ever been widely available with its original audio and English subtitles at all, and was for almost a decade the only way of viewing the film as such. In 2013, the film was released in Japan on Blu-ray Disc by Toei, but the version of the film on this release was discovered to be not sourced from a new, high-definition restoration but upscaled from the existing, standard-definition transfer that dates back to the film's release on LaserDisc by CAV and which was the source of Toei's and all other existing releases of the film on DVD. No English language subtitles are present on this release.
The Final Restoration and Global Recognition
On the 23rd of December 2014, Discotek Media released the film as Horus, Prince of the Sun on DVD for Northern America. This release features a new English-language subtitle translation, which is more complete and more accurate than the subtitles on the Optimum release, except that they refer to the title character as Horus, two audio commentaries, video interviews with Isao Takahata and Yoichi Kotabe, four written essays, production galleries, and the 1968 trailer with new subtitles. It is stated to be locked to region 1 on its packaging and Discotek's website, but was discovered to be compatible with all regions. This is the first U.S. release of the movie in its original Japanese version, and the first release of its English dub on disc. Unlike the Optimum DVD release, it has not been converted to 50 Hz, so does not suffer from ghosting. On the 28th of March 2017, Discotek Media released the film as Horus, Prince of the Sun on Blu-ray Disc for Northern America, which includes the original Japanese audio and the AIP English dub as well as commentaries, interviews and trailers and is locked to region A. The AIP library was eventually purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which had aired the film as Little Norse Prince on U.S. television, and the uncut English dub made for Little Norse Prince has been licensed out as an audio option on the Discotek Media DVD and BD releases, and the AIP version has been available on many video streaming websites in North America including Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video as of 2015.