Princess Mononoke (movie)

Mononoke Hime had a larger audience than E.T when it ran in Japan, and was then surpassed by Titanic in 1997.

Ashitaka isn't a real Japanese name. Ashita means "tomorrow" and the -ka implies a question. Ashitaka is meant to symbolize "are you the future?"

Won "Best Animation Film Award" at Animation Kobe '97

Miraculously, or possibly due to Disney's influence with the MPAA, it's the only anime film with its type of violence to be released in the U.S. with a PG 13 rating. It was initially reported that it would receive an R.

While test audiences in the Twin Cities reportedly panned the film, it was one of the better-selling dvds for the year 2000. This discrepancy might be due to the fact that Miramax would often release cuts of foreign films-usually the Asian ones-with intentionally inaccurate and unappealing dubs in order to get the low scores which "justified" their inevitable lack of promotion. Ironically, Mononoke still made more money than the comedy the Weinsteins chose to release in its place: Happy Texas.

Five years after the US release of this film, Billy Crudup and Claire Danes(Ashitaka & San) were in a temporary relationship during the filming of "Stage Beauty".