The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

The Castle of Cagliostro (Dir: Hayao Miyazaki, 1979). 

Originally titled ルパン三世 カリオストロの城, The Castle of Cagliostro is an animated action adventure, the feature film debut for director Hayao Miyazaki. 

Master thief Arsene Lupin III and his cohort Jigen stumble upon an international counterfeit operation after a daring raid on a swanky Monte Carlo casino results in a haul of fake cash. Tracing the operation to the small country of Cagliostro, they come up against the crooked Count Cagliostro when attempting to rescue a damsel in distress, his intended bride Clarisse. Meanwhile Lupin's nemisis Inspector Zenigata is hot on his trail.

Six years before co-founding Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli, director Hayao Miyazaki made his feature film debut with this exciting, fast moving action/adventure. In some respects it could be considered Proto-Ghibli, although in many regards it is an anomaly among the director’s movies. Unlike his later original creations, The Castle of Cagliostro is based on manga artist Monkey Punch’s Lupin III series, itself inspired by the work of French author Maurice Leblanc. Part of an existing franchise, the movie is a sequel of sorts to previous Lupin III animation The Mystery of Mamo ( Söji Yoshikawa, 1978), although no knowledge of that movie is needed to enjoy this. 

An all action movie with genuinely exciting set-pieces, including high speed car chases and elaborate shootouts; of all Hayao Miyazaki’s features, this feels most like a contemporary live-action caper movie and draws heavily on classical Hollywood, notably To Catch A Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955). While, perhaps, not as polished as his later movies, the slightly rough and ready character animation matches the rough and ready charm of its anti-hero leading man. It is graced with the beautifully detailed backgrounds familiar to fans of Ghibli’s more elaborate fantasies while the wistful, almost melancholic romanticism of later movies is also present.  

With it’s themes of fraud, gambling, some mild bad language and scenes of smoking, The Castle Of Cagliostro is not as kid friendly as later Hayao Miyazaki titles such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988) or Ponyo (2008). However, older children and big kids like me will find it a funny and fast-moving, quirky alternative to Western animation.