After viewing a string of non-magical Miyazaki films, we happily encountered this 1997 gem that was chock full of spirits and magic. For no particular reason, we watched this one in English and thankfully, the celebrity voices were not distracting (probably because they weren't very famous and their voices are nondescript). The story follows Ashitaka on a who is on a mission to cure a magical curse that has befallen him. He happens into a human vs. nature war and chaos ensues. Trademark humor is present in a few places and you can easily see how this films leads to Miyazaki's next film, Spirited Away. (11/24/2009)