Seeking out the
5000 greatest films
in a century of cinema
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Kaze no tani no Naushika
Produced by Isao Takahata
the voices of Sumi Shimamoto Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki Based on the manga series by Hayao Miyazaki
Editing: Naoki Kaneko, Tomoko Kida, and Shôji Sakai
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Release Date: 25 November 1987
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color: Color
One of legendary Japanese animator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki's earliest features is based on a manga written by the great director. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind tells the story of the courageous Princess Nausicaä, who leads her people to engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth after a global war. Nausicaä lives in a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind, which is one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful flying insects that guard it. Like nearly all Miyazaki movies, the power of the wind and the ability to harness it for flight plays a prominent role. The director drew inspiration from various works, including Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea, Brian Aldiss's Hothouse, Isaac Asimov's Nightfall, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and Frank Herbert's Dune, but it feels 100 percent Miyazaki.