Usually they start with something simple like the outline of a spaceship, then they add all sorts of cool stuff like guns, blasters, thrusters, and windows. Watching the countless airships, each one crazier than the last, reminded me of watching a young kid drawing.

It doesn't really matter that many of the airships look rather cumbersome and inefficient, it's the outlandish designs that are so fun to look at. As these gigantic dirigibles with their numerous propellers and rotors, glide through the clouds it's hard to not be awed. Sheeta and Pazu live in an imaginary world full of complicated flying machines. Sheeta soon escapes the clutches of the military and finds a new friend in Pazu (James Van Der Beek) who is a miner in a small town. Everyone wants to get their hands on the powerful stone. She's being hunted by pirates and the military. Sheeta (voiced by Anna Paquin in the English dub) is a young girl who has come into possession of a crystal necklace that is said to hold very special powers.

'Castle in the Sky' is an imaginative, whimsical tale about two kids who quickly find themselves on a journey that will change their lives forever. Even though 'Castle in the Sky' might not be one of Hayao Miyazaki's most put together films in terms of tight narrative (it's not often you see an animated movie top out at just over two hours) or deeply emotional resonance, it certainly set the stage for the future of Miyazaki's long and illustrious career as one of the great animators/directors of cinema.

Castle in the sky characters