Cartoon Network will host a tribute to acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki during its Toonami Saturday night action block starting this month. Consecutive Saturday screenings will begin on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. with the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, and will continue with Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky and Nausica’ of the Valley of the Wind.
Winner of the Best Animated Feature Academy Award for 2002, Spirited Away follows the adventures of Chihiro, a young girl who wanders into the spirit world and struggles to release her parents from the spell of a powerful overlord. Contributing to the English-language voiceovers are Daveigh Chase (The Ring) Michael Chiklis (TV’s The Shield) and Lauren Holly (TV’s NAVY NCIS).
In Princess Mononoke, a prince in search of an antidote to an incurable disease inflicted on him by a boar god finds himself in the middle of a battle when he meets a young princess fighting to protect the forest from being overtaken by an iron mining town. English dubs are provided by the likes of Claire Danes (Shopgirl), Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), Billy Crudup (Big Fish) and Keith David (Spawn: The Animated Series).
Castle in the Sky takes place in a mythical, retro future where young Paza (James Van Der Beek) finds the beautiful Sheeta (Anna Paquin) floating on air through the magic of a mysterious crystal. When the crystal becomes the target of a band of sky pirates and other sinister forces, the chase leads to an astonishing castle in the sky, populated by a long-slumbering civilization.
Nausica’ of the Valley of the Wind takes place thousand years after a great war and is set in a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind, one of the only areas that remains populated. Led by the courageous Princess Nausica’, the people of the valley are engaged in a constant struggle with powerful insects that guard a poisonous jungle spreading across the Earth. The English-language cast includes Alison Lohman (Matchstick Men), Patrick Stewart (X-Men), Uma Thurman (Kill Bill), Edward James Olmos (TV’s Battlestar Galactica) and Shai LaBeouf (Constantine).
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