| The Moonbeam Princess | ||
|---|---|---|
| This clip is not available for streaming at this time. Please contact WPA. | Tape Master: | |
| Catalog #: | 491064 | |
| Clip Number: | 491064-1 | |
| Orginal Film: | WPA 1704 | |
| Timecode: | ||
| Location: | Feudal Japan | |
| Year Shot: | ||
| Audio: | Yes | |
| Color: | Yes | |
| Headings: | ANIMATION: Cel/Cartoon | |
| Description: | A peculiar yet lively and engaging Japanese fairy tale mixing puppetry, cel and paper animation. A poor woodcutter in feudal Japan happens along an abandoned baby girl while returning from work one day. He and his wife adopt the girl. Not too long later the man discovers gold in a bamboo forest; the family is suddenly well-to do. Twenty-three years later the girl has grown into a beautiful bachelorette, prompting three princes to ask her hand in marriage. They are sent to retrieve specific precious items, the winner being the one who completes the quest. One prince is sent to find the bowl of Buddha; an inexplicably vengeful and casually god-like Buddha strikes the prince down just as he makes his escape with the bowl. The second prince is destroyed by the very dragon he is sent to tame while crossing a stormy and thunderous sea. The third prince, instead of embarking on the task of finding a silver twig atop a mountain, has a silversmith make one for him; and instead of paying for the silver twig he strikes the silversmith and steals the item. At the daughter's home the prince tells a ficticious tale of slaying demons and catching rides from giant bats, but the silversmith arrives and tells the truth. After a struggle the silver twig is destroyed and the prince is dejected. Some time later the daughter reveals she was a moon princess before she was banished to earth via balloon for her mischevious ways. Some good fanciful depictions of life on the moon and all its wondrous designs. She announces that her time to return to the moon is nearing. The father, not wanting his daughter to leave, pays a visit to the emperor who agrees to send his samurai-troops to fortify the home, to keep the daughter safe. The next night a moon cloud carrying spirit-people floats to earth in search of the princess. A moonbeam is cast to earth and whisks the daughter away but not before she can send the earth people a gift of magical happy flowers to ease their loss. | |
WPA FILM LIBRARY
