Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind isn't exactly a Studio Ghibli film. It was actually produced and released before the studio was founded, but many of the same artists and creative talent worked on it. It's sort of a proto-Ghibli film and is distributed alongside the others.
The film is based on director Hayao Miyazaki's manga of the same name, which had begun two years before the film debuted in 1984 and continued to run for ten more years, telling a different story. Rather a smart move as this gives readers and viewers different experiences.
This post-apocalyptic piece begins a thousand years after the Seven Days of Fire, a war that destroyed human civilization. Three human communities are touched on in the film: the Valley of the Wind, a small kingdom that receives clean air from the ocean; Pejite, an ally; and the warlike Tolmekia.
Nausicaä, princess of the Valley, is exploring and studying the nearby Toxic Jungle, so named for its poisonous plants. She eventually discovers that the poison comes from the soil, not the plants themselves.
Meanwhile, a Pejite aircraft crashes near the Valley with a warning of danger from the Toxic Jungle's gigantic insects. Meanwhile, Tolmekia plans to burn the jungle.
With an epic story of battle, Nausicaä has a pro-environment conservation and anti-pollution message that asks viewers to think twice and look deeper into what they think they know. It was pulled off very well with gorgeous animation.
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