Highlights
- A die-hard Studio Ghibli fan from Brazil has spent five years creating a live-action tribute to the classic film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind called Wind Princess.
- Despite offers from Hollywood, Studio Ghibli has never approved a live-action adaptation of Nausicaa, and Wind Princess is an unofficial project.
- The 16-minute movie will be released on Chris Tex's YouTube channel on October 20, 2023, and he hopes it catches the attention of Hayao Miyazaki and leads to a full-length adaptation in the future.
For the past five years, a die-hard Studio Ghibli fan has been hard at work bringing his favorite movie to life with an original movie. The movie in question is considered to be the first film made by Studio Ghibli - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Nausicaa for short). Chris Tex, from Brazil, has been working hard to create a live-action version of the movie paying tribute to it with his original work titled Wind Princess.
Nausicaa first debuted in Japan in 1984, and still remains one of the most famous movies ever made by Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli. It follows the story of a sixteen-year old girl named Nausicaa who lives in a society ravaged by an apocalyptic war a thousand years ago that left most of the world a toxic jungle. Rather than continue to live at war with the giant insects that come out of the jungle, Nausicaa tries to find a way that humans can co-exist peacefully with them. Nausicaa is the start of Miyazaki's politically charged films that he is so famous for.
Despite Nausicaa's popularity over the years, Studio Ghibli has never accepted any deals for a live-action movie. In fact, Hollywood has come to the award-winning studio with multiple offers, all of which have been turned down. Wind Princess is also not an officially sanctioned movie, and it is unknown right now if Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki even know of its existence. On a trip to Japan three years ago, Chris Tex tried to meet with the studio's staff, but was unable to, and went forward with the project anyway.
Tex declares himself to be a big fan of anime, specifically, Miyazaki's works, which is why he was motivated to make Wind Princess. He also states that the movie is meant to be a tribute to the work of Hayao Miyazaki, and he will in no way profit from making the movie - after all, he did not get any permission to do so. That means you won't be seeing Wind Princess on any streaming sites, in the theater, or coming to Blu-ray in your home as it is a fan-made creation.
The good news is, Tex will instead be uploading the movie to his YouTube channel! He released a teaser for the project there a few years ago, but due to unexpected delays and logistics, it has taken him longer than expected to finish the project. Tex says that he is finally ready to publish the completed product, though, and has set a tentative date of October 20, 2023 for its release.
Wind Princess is about 16 minutes long, and already had a screening at a (free) event at the São Paulo Cultural Center in Brazil. The movie was made by Tex and a team of 11 other creatives, who have been working hard on the project since 2016. It is Tex's dream that Wind Princess will catch the attention of Miyazaki himself and that he can earn the filmmaker's blessing - and maybe even have a chance to make a full-length Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind movie in the future.
You can watch Wind Princess on Chris Tex's YouTube channel (hopefully) from October 20, 2023.
Source: SoraNews24