Castle in the Sky(Studio Ghibli Official) is an animated feature directed by Hayao Miyazaki, released on August 2, 1986.
Here, I want to revisit the film’s characters and English voice cast, and consider what makes these people—and the stories behind them—so memorable.
The discussion below contains spoilers, sometimes without warning.
*This is a translated version. The original (Japanese) is available here.
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Castle in the Sky (1986) Main Characters & Voice Actors List
| Name | Age | Voice Actor (English Dub) |
|---|---|---|
 Pazu | 12 or 13 | James Van Der Beek |
 Sheeta | 12 or 13 | Anna Paquin |
 Muska | 28 or 32 | Mark Hamill |
 Dola | 50s-60s | Cloris Leachman |
 Charles | 30 | Mike McShane |
 Louis | 25 | Mandy Patinkin |
 Henri | 20 | Andy Dick |
 General Mouro | Around 50 | Jim Cummings |
Castle in the Sky (1986): Character Map
The military, commanded by General Mouro, is searching for Laputa and holds Sheeta captive at the beginning of the story. Muska belongs to that organization, but his goal goes beyond finding the island: as a descendant of its royal family, he plans to revive Laputa and rule it himself.
Character Profiles and Interpretations
Pazu | Voiced by: James Van Der Beek
Pazu’s Background
Pazu is the protagonist, a boy in his early teens who works as an apprentice in the mines of Slag Ravine. The film does not give him a precise age.
He is cheerful and seems to get on very well with the townspeople. Yet there is a darker past behind that outward brightness.
His father was an adventurer who discovered the floating island of Laputa. But when he returned, nobody would listen. According to Pazu, his father was branded a fraud and died in despair.
Pazu sets out to find Laputa, but for him it is both a dream island and, in a sense, the cursed island that killed his father.
A Memorable Quote: “The wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.”
One of my favorite lines is Pazu’s observation, “The wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.” He says it from the Tiger Moth’s lookout kite as they approach the Dragon’s Nest, with the Goliath closing in.
The reversed wind around the Dragon’s Nest forms a wall protecting Laputa. Pazu’s father had crossed that wall and reached the island.
Pazu has never forgotten his father’s words.
Thinking of all the days he spent holding on to the words of a father dismissed as a fraud makes the scene deeply moving to me. I explore that further in the article below.
Read the full analysis: Pazu, His Father, and the Line About the Wind
What must those years have been like for him, before he finally saw Laputa?
Pazu’s line about the reversed wind is only one of the film’s memorable pieces of dialogue. You can compare the original Japanese, romanization, English subtitles, and literal translations in our guide to 19 memorable Castle in the Sky quotes.
Pazu’s Achievement
Until Laputa is found, the story follows Pazu in pursuit of his father’s memory; afterward, it becomes a mission to rescue Sheeta. That shift makes it easy to miss something: Pazu also saves the world without setting out to do so.
Had he never pursued Laputa, Muska might have ruled from the sky and burned cities below with its weapons. Perhaps we should give Pazu a little more credit for preventing that future.
Sheeta | Voiced by: Anna Paquin
Sheeta’s Background
Sheeta is the film’s other protagonist, a girl around Pazu’s age. The military captures her because she possesses a Levistone inherited from her family.
She does not initially understand its true power. When she falls from the airship transporting her, the stone allows her to descend safely to the ground.
There she happens to meet Pazu. The secret name she has inherited, “Lusheeta Toel Ul Laputa,” is welcome news to a boy who has been searching for Laputa.
She is a descendant of Laputa’s royal family, although it is unclear how long an accurate account of that history survived among her ancestors.
The Levistone changes the course of her life. By the end, though, Sheeta chooses for herself to go to Laputa.
Muska | Voiced by: Mark Hamill
Muska’s Background
As a kind of shadow protagonist in Castle in the Sky, Muska is twenty-eight and belongs to the special intelligence organization searching for Laputa. Despite his youth, he holds the rank of colonel.
He, too, has a secret name: Romuska Palo Ul Laputa. He reveals that his family and Sheeta’s once belonged to the same royal lineage.
Searching for Laputa is both a government assignment and his own attempt to restore the island and become its king.
Reaching the rank of colonel at twenty-eight cannot have been an ordinary journey. I have written about how I imagine his life before the events of the film in the article below.
Read the full analysis: Muska’s Past and the Mystery of the Fallen Robot
That article also considers one of the film’s biggest puzzles: why did the robot fall from Laputa? What do you think happened?
Dola | Voiced by: Cloris Leachman
Dola’s Background
Ma Dola leads the Dola Gang of sky pirates. She is apparently in her fifties, though she looks older to me. She travels in the Tiger Moth, presumably making a living through all sorts of criminal exploits, yet the film somehow presents her as a good person.
She causes Sheeta to fall from the airship, helps set Pazu on his course despite ransacking his house, and finally carries the children to Laputa. Castle in the Sky would not happen without her.
The portrait briefly visible in her quarters shows that she was a beautiful young woman, rather like Sheeta. Below it is a photograph of a bearded man.
The book Another “Balse” (もう一つのバルス, in Japanese), by Hirokatsu Kihara, describes a backstory in which Dola’s lover designed the Flaptters.
Miyazaki decided not to introduce that character because the story would become too difficult to contain. Instead, he told Kihara, who was working on the production, about the background.
There is no conclusive proof that the man in the photograph is that lover, but I think it is very likely. It sounds like enough material for a spin-off. In any case, we should not assume that “Grandpa” invented the Flaptters. I did—didn’t you?
Charles (Dola Gang) | Voiced by: Mike McShane
The Eldest Brother
Dola’s biological son, and the eldest of the three brothers (Charles, Louis, and Henri).
His contest of strength with Duffi in Slag Ravine is one of those fights you do not forget.
Louis (Dola Gang) | Voiced by: Mandy Patinkin
The Second Brother
Dola’s second son. He seems to take more of a leading role than Charles during the film, yet he also provides plenty of comedy.
Henri (Dola Gang) | Voiced by: Andy Dick
The Youngest Brother
Dola’s third son has the somewhat naive air of the youngest child. He nevertheless serves as helmsman of the gang’s flagship, the Tiger Moth.
We learn little about him in the film, except that he apparently “eats anything.”
General Mouro | Voiced by: Jim Cummings
General Mouro’s Background
Mouro commands the search for Laputa with the rank of lieutenant general. He is very much a military man, repeatedly clashing with Muska over how to proceed.
Had he possessed the breadth of mind to keep Muska under control, the outcome might have been different. Equally, Muska might have succeeded had he been flexible enough to handle the general more skillfully.
Mouro holds the greatest power in the film. His failure to use it cunningly is central to how the story unfolds.
Uncle Pom (Slag Ravine) | Voiced by: Richard Dysart
Uncle Pom’s Background
An old man who wanders alone through the abandoned mines of Slag Ravine.
When Pazu and Sheeta find themselves underground while fleeing their pursuers, he guides them outside. His account of Laputa, passed down from his grandfather, also helps Pazu believe more strongly in the island’s existence.
In Another “Balse” (もう一つのバルス, in Japanese), Kihara suggests that Uncle Pom may be descended from Laputa’s laboring class. He offered this interpretation when Miyazaki asked whether he understood Uncle Pom’s importance. Miyazaki reportedly only grinned. It sounds broadly right to me, though that is not an explicit confirmation.
I consider this curious character a little further in the appendix to the article below.
Read the full analysis: Uncle Pom and the Other Witness to Laputa
Duffi (The Boss) | Voiced by: John Hostetter
Duffi’s Background
A mechanic working in the mines of Slag Ravine, Duffi is Pazu’s mentor.
He faces Charles in a memorable contest of strength, buying time for Pazu and Sheeta to escape the pirates.
That suggests a man with a generous heart—or perhaps he simply wanted a fight. The people of Slag Ravine certainly join in enthusiastically. With the slump in the mines, they may have had some frustration to work off.
Okami | Voiced by: Tress MacNeille
Okami’s Background
Duffi’s wife helps Pazu and Sheeta escape while her husband confronts the pirates.
She appears only briefly, but combines strength with kindness. Through her, we glimpse the sort of people Pazu has grown up among.
Madge | Voiced by: Debi Derryberry
Madge’s Background
Little Madge is Duffi and Okami’s young daughter and a good friend to Pazu.
When a dejected Pazu returns from the fortress, Madge calls to her mother: “It’s Pazu! Pazu’s back!” That moment stays with me, perhaps because her voice makes his return feel like coming home. Unfortunately, it does little to heal what he is feeling inside.
The Motorman | Voiced by: Matt K. Miller
The Motorman’s Background
The light railway’s driver, who helps Pazu and Sheeta escape from the Dola Gang, just as the other people of Slag Ravine do.
None of them seems to hesitate about helping the children. Pazu really has grown up in a good place.
Other Notable Characters
Men in Black
Muska’s subordinates, dressed all in black with dark glasses: they certainly look the part of the villains. They are loyal enough to tamper calmly with the fortress’s communications during the robot’s attack.
That loyalty does not save them. Moving blocks inside Laputa send them to their deaths. Muska’s lack of concern for such followers may be one of his weaknesses.
Sheeta’s Grandmother | Voiced by: Tress MacNeille
She appears briefly in Sheeta’s memories, but taught her the spell that leads to the robot’s awakening—and, in a sense, Laputa’s. What would have happened if Sheeta had never learned it?
Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko (The Dola Gang)
The members of the gang other than Charles, Louis, and Henri. Their names are revealed in the novelization.
Ka has a beard and a scar on his cheek; Ki wears an eyepatch; Ku finds Sheeta’s clothes at Pazu’s house; Ke spins a rolling pin in the Tiger Moth’s kitchen; and Ko has a thin moustache.
Pazu’s Parents
Both parents appear briefly: his father in the scene where Laputa is discovered from an airship, and his mother in a photograph on the wall beside the picture of Laputa.
The Mysterious Bearded Co-Pilot
The bearded man with Pazu’s father when he discovers Laputa. That makes him an important witness, yet he appears nowhere else in the film.
Who is he? I explore that question in the appendix to the article below.
Read the full analysis: The Bearded Witness to Laputa
The images used in this article are from the “Studio Ghibli Works Still Images” collection.
Can you name the movie before the scene comes into focus?
Put your visual memory to the test with a blurred Studio Ghibli scene.
Reader Comments
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