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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Japan Enraptured By Cartoon; Distributors Hope U.S. Is Next

Todd Zaun Associated Press

It doesn’t have a squeaky-clean story line or a happy ending. But an animated film about a girl raised by wolves is smashing box office records across Japan.

Months after its summer opening, Tokyo moviegoers - adults as well as children - still line up well in advance for showings of “Princess Mononoke,” an animated tale set in 14th-century Japan with a message about the need to live in harmony with nature.

The movie has drawn 11 million viewers, bringing in at least $117 million at the box office and loosening Hollywood’s hold on Japanese film fans. By next month, “Princess Mononoke” will likely top box-office records set by “E.T.” in Japan, so for the first time in decades a movie made in Japan will be the nation’s all-time favorite.

The film’s distributors hope it will also be a hit in the United States. “Mononoke” means “spirit” in Japanese, so Walt Disney Co. may distribute the film as “Princess Ghost” in the United States.

The U.S. launch will likely occur early next year, a manager at a Disney subsidiary in Tokyo said. Disney also has acquired the rights to show the movie in Europe.

Another reason for the long lines is the tremendous popularity of the film’s creator, veteran animator Hayao Miyazaki. Although Miyazaki is not widely known outside Japan, Disney’s marketing gives his film a chance of being a hit abroad.

Miyazaki’s films go beyond the standard for the cartoon genre in Japan, which usually involves a series of blood-and-guts battle scenes in futuristic space settings.

The quality of animation in Miyazaki’s works is comparable to Disney productions, but the 56-year-old filmmaker eschews Disney’s trademark happy endings and good vs. evil story lines.

“You come out of the film not just feeling that you’ve had a good time,” said Nobukazu Uekusa, chief editor of the Japanese film magazine Kinema Junpo. “The movie makes you think.”

The story pits people who despoil forests by mining iron for weapons against the princess and her family of wolves. Some of the battle scenes are realistic and bloody.

Caught in the middle is Prince Ashitaka, who sympathizes with the princess’s defense of nature but understands the miners’ need to make a living.

“It was very good. The best among Miyazaki’s works. I want to see it again and again,” Shinichi Kakizaki, a 21-year-old office worker, said Thursday. “It reminded me of things that people who live in cities have forgotten about, such as respect for God and nature.”

The popularity of “Princess Mononoke” comes as Japanese films are gaining renewed respect overseas.

“Hana-bi,” or “Fireworks,” a dark tale by Japanese director Takeshi Kitano about a police officer, won the Golden Lion for best movie at the Venice Film Festival this month.

And in May, veteran Japanese director Shohei Imamura, 70, won the Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Palm award, his second, for “Unagi” (The Eel).

Also at Cannes, 27-year-old Naomi Kawase received a Golden Camera award for the best new director. Her film “The God Suzaku,” focused on family relationships.