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Little Norse Prince [DVD] [1968]

Eijirô Tono , Yukari Asai , Isao Takahata    Universal, suitable for all   DVD
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Price: Ł9.07 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Reviews

Product Description

Classic Japanese animated film, following the adventures of young Horus, who recovers the Sword of the Sun from the evil rock giant Moog, and who returns to his ancestral village after the death of his father to defend it from the ice demon Grundewald. On the way, he befriends the mysterious Hilda, who sings haunting songs to conceal her dark and sinister secret.

Product Description

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Japanese ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Horus, a young boy in the European Iron Age, recovers the Sword of the Sun from the rock giant Moog and learns from his dying father that he must return to his ancestral territory. In the process, he defends a village from the attacks of Grundewald, a warlord/ice demon and befriends the enigmatic Hilda, a lonely and beautiful girl who sings haunting songs to conceal her terrible secret... The delicately beautiful 'Taiyo No Oji', to use its original Japanese title, was the first movie where now legendary animators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (later founder of Ghibli Studios) worked together. ...Little Norse Prince ( Taiyo no oji: Horusu no daiboken ) ( Prince of the Sun: The Great Adventure of Horus )

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A landmark in the history of anime cinema, this film is a re-working of an oriental legend into a norse tale. It follows the story of a young boy called Hols, charting his acceptance into a fishing village and his battle against the demon Grunwald who killed his father.
Of course, being much older than films such as Spirited Away, the animation is much more primitive; yet even when one scene is reduced to being played out by a sequence of stills, the film loses none of its power. This is down to the believable and complex characters (the amiguous Hilda and the scheming chief's assistant being two good examples) , the majestic musical score and its epic theme of teamwork and honesty overcoming a seemingly unstoppable evil..... and, of course, a good old-fashioned adventure through spectacular landscapes. Even minor characters are unique and developed, creating empathy for the plight of the villagers and the designs of monsters and buildings is flawless throughout.
The film has a warmth which belies its age and can be enjoyed on so many different levels - as a historic piece of art, as a brilliant story, as a commentary on a time and on people in general. As such it is a timeless classic, completely enjoyable by all ages and i heartily recommend it.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Shows its age, but still an enjoyable story 5 Dec 2007
By Lukens VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
Well, I say it shows its age, but I'm not really sure it does. It certainly looks a lot older than the other Ghibli films I have seen, but then it *is* a lot older than them, pre-dating Nausicaa Valley Of The Wind by a massive 16 years, and My Neighbour Totoro by *twenty years* - this film is almost 40 years old now!

When you consider that, then it really is actually amazing how little it has aged. OK, the animation is quite primitive in places, with big fight/battle scenes consisting of just panning round still images - but with the added sound effects, this still works remarkably well, and gives a good sense of the energy of the scenes.

Regardless of the animation, and how dated it does look, this is actually a very enjoyable tale. Its set in a world that is less magical than those of Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle, and very much has the feel of the worlds of Nordic legends. As ever with Ghibli Films, the world feels believable and you become captivated by it and the story.

This film tells a story in a much more traditional sense than other Ghibli films, and you can easily see this being a story that was passed down through the ages, told from parent to child, like many traditional legends. It's possibly also more suitable for younger children than some Ghibli films, as the story is less complex and easier to follow (due to the more traditional style of the story, and story telling); however, some of the scenes could frighten some children (though it's never as scary as Watership Down - it is scary in a similar way). If your children like legends or traditional fairy tales, then they would probably enjoy this film.
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50 of 55 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Mid-way between Disney, Tezuka and modern anime 27 Feb 2006
Format:DVD
Taiyô no Ôji Horusu no Daibôken (literally The Sun Prince Hols' Great Adventure) is the earliest Japanese animation to be released here by over a decade, which alone is bound to give it at least some novelty value. Being the very first to curve away from children and towards a young adult audience leaves it with a mixture of action and drama with the big musical numbers and naďve visual humour which we would associate with western cartoons. Quality is assured with the presence of Studio Ghibli founders Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao as director and key animator respectively. The fantastical, myth-like story and setting (a fusion of northern Japan and Scandinavia) are certainly more akin to Miyazaki's films, though here they're treated with Takahata's characteristic objectivity and some political themes, more explicit than in their later work but still not the whole point of it. The nearest to it I could think of at the time I first watched it was Disney's Brother Bear, and there's evidence, even if it's more tenuous, that it could have been influenced by this as The Lion King was by Kimba the White Lion. The ending of Kirikou and the Sorceress also felt strongly reminiscent the dramatic encounters in this. But I prefer Hols over either those for its sense, almost smell, of folklore and "fushigi."

To be honest both the moral ("Co-operation is good!") and treachery-based plot are almost unbearably familiar today but the presentation manages to make it worth watching. Glaciated peaks, powdery snow and in particular the foam of turbulent streams (which I doubt has ever been done as well as it is here) are all lovingly detailed; voice acting is good even by Japanese standards and the music is rarely spectacular, but it's enjoyable and there's plenty of it. Most of all, there's this rare, strange to point of enchanting sense of melancholy permeating throughout much of the film, offset with scenes of scenes of ecstatic jubilation and Unfortunately the character designs are mostly unimaginative and don't go well with each other, but there are a few in the pleasingly simple style which was used in recent Legend of Zelda games. The only real problem is in the DVD treatment - it's sub-only, which is better than dub-only but restricts its appeal to younger viewers, and none of the songs appear in the subtitles. The lyrics aren't essential to the story but they add a beauty and emotion to it which has now been denied from the English-language audience. The also inconsistencies in the translation of honorifics and, as friend more knowledgeable in Japanese than I noticed, at least one outright mistake in the translation. Similarly the only extras are trailers for Hols and two other films (and badly damaged, unrestored transfers of them at that) which is not much but better than nothing. Some will also be put off by two sequences of stills with only sound effects, but there is generally much more background animation than is normally found in anime and this gives it considerable re-watching potential.

If this film had a better transfer, full and accurate subtitles and perhaps a little more in the way of extras, it would have got 5 stars. As it is, the weaknesses of the release bring it down by 2, and while I'd still recommend it for fellow fans of folklore and older animation, I don't consider it "great" enough by objective standards to still be 5-star material despite these significant drawbacks. If you liked this, I'd recommend the films "Fantastic Planet" (French animation) and "Raise the Red Lantern" (Chinese live-action) as well as the more obvious comparisons to Miyazaki's "Laputa" and "Princess Mononoke," with the same applying the other way round if you've seen any of those. Though differing greatly in subject and visual style, there's some feeling which unites them, something like ancient folklore mixing with the real and immediate.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Little Norse Prince (DVD) (1968)
I can say fore to be from 60 it is very good . There are some wicer parts but that in the picture . The story is good that*s way i give it 4 star.
Published 3 months ago by Lars-Göran L
4.0 out of 5 stars Actually quite enjoyed this
Since this was done in the 60's you can't imagine it to be amazing animation for nowadays but the story is still good. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Miss R. Gilbert
4.0 out of 5 stars A piece of anime history!
A piece of anime history, The Little Norse Prince was directed by Isao Takahata who was responsible for the brilliant Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and amongst his staff for this... Read more
Published 11 months ago by D Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars A very nice film from 1968
This film is a very nice story. I do not rate my DVDs as the above person did by the extras that come with them, it should be on the qulity of the film. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2011 by Ms. Fl Hutchinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Nicely done
The video quality was pretty good considering its age and I liked that it was anamorphic. This is a great movie, but the subtitle substance was a bit lame at times, particularly... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2010 by R. Holman
4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely animated film from earlier days of Japanese animation
My boyfriend bought me the DVD of this film as a gift believing it would be similar to Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle, which I am a great fan of. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2010 by Roadrunner
2.0 out of 5 stars Only in Japanese, no extras. A bit of a rip-off
I'm a big studio Ghibli fan and have seen almost all the Ghibli material available in the UK. But this was one of the few dud experiences. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2010 by Petrolhead
3.0 out of 5 stars Simple film yet sweet
Teh quality is very basic when compared to the recent effective ones. The storyline was enjoyable though.
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by R. Taylor
3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Early Anime
It just missed out on FOUR stars - because it does not have the original English dubbing from the 1960s. Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2009 by Arthur Athanassiou
4.0 out of 5 stars Old fashion, but worth watching
In many ways, it reminded me of Disney's "Sword in the Stone". [SitS]

From a graphical point of view, the drawing was typical 80'ies -style, if there is such a... Read more
Published on 20 April 2009 by Sigurd K. Johannsen
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