This was the first Studio Ghibli film in the United States to be rated PG-13 by the MPA. The film was released in Japan on July 12, 1997, by Toho, and in the United States on October 29, 1999. The film deals with themes of Shinto and environmentalism. The story follows a young Emishi prince named Ashitaka, and his involvement in a struggle between the gods ( kami) of a forest and the humans who consume its resources. Princess Mononoke is set in the late Muromachi period of Japan (approximately 1336 to 1573 AD) and includes fantasy elements. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijo, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, and Hisaya Morishige. Princess Mononoke ( Japanese: もののけ姫, Hepburn: Mononoke- hime) is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu.
