The architecture of the town is largely inspired by Welsh towns, with British-style buildings and clothing. The monotony of his life is broken up by a girl named Sheeta falling from the sky, and they embark on an adventure, racing against pirates and foreign agents to find the legendary Laputa.

Despite its fantastical elements, the film is centred on one such town, The Slag Ravine, where a little boy, Pazu, works in the mines in order to survive. He became obsessed by what he saw there primarily by the effects of the decline in industry, stating that he “ admired the way they battled to save their way of life” as the Japanese miners also did.

THE SECRET WELSH CONNECTIONĬastle in the Sky was inspired in part by Miyazaki’s visit to a Welsh mining town during the strikes of 1984. So, to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary this month, we look back on one of the studio’s most misunderstood masterpieces. Despite the film’s Japanese success, though, it’s often overshadowed by Ghibli films that became popular in the West, such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Their first official output as a studio, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, was well-received in Japan and stands the test of time against even modern animation (although the film was later renamed in some countries to simply “Castle in the Sky” due to “La Puta” meaning “The Whore” in Spanish slang). Studio Ghibli is one of the best known and most respected animation studios in the world, with their beautiful and melancholic films ranking as some of the most beloved Japanese exports.

Castle in the sky robots