History YMMV / PrincessMononoke

* VanillaProtagonist: The Blog/UnshavedMouse cited the fact that Ashitaka is so moral, selfless, compassionate, unprejudiced and brave still works in the story - especially up against the other wildly grey figures in the movie. And it doesn't stop him being a badass.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The whole album, by Music/JoeHisaishi no less, particularly the hauntingly beautiful main theme, "Legend of Ashitaka".

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: It may be much BloodierAndGorier than most Ghibli films, but this was still aimed at the same family audience that most Ghibli films are aimed at, with Miyazaki specifically targeting [[Main/ShonenDemographic fifth-graders]] as the main demographic. The film is considered a family film in Japan with a G rating, despite getting a PG-13 rating in the US. It also received a PG rating in the UK, despite showing the violence and gore completely uncut. But on the other hand...

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/BillyBobThornton as Jigo has been a head-scratching choice for years. He reportedly took the role thinking it was a children's film, so his [[SoMyKidsCanWatch own could watch it]]. That said, many have noted that he brings an affable, subtle cynicism to the role unique from what other actors may have tried.

%%* {{Anvilicious}}: In a graceful, powerful, heartfelt way.

%% ** "MY ARRRRRRRRRRRRRM!!"

%% ** "I didn't know the Forest Spirit made the flowers grow." Um, why wouldn't you think that?

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Sure, it's a Ghibli movie, but it's still a great deal BloodierAndGorier than most of Miyazaki's works. A lot of kids were traumatized by this movie when their parents took them to see it because ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' came out in America at around the same time. So logically, they'd love another Japanime type skit, right? There were reports of more than one parent storming out with their kid at the first decapitation and older kids and teens roped into watching it with their younger siblings cheering at the very same part. That said, it is still considered an all-ages film in Japan, and the film's reputation as an adult animation is a case of ValuesDissonance with Japanese audiences having a higher threshold for violence in family films.

** The scene where [[https://me.me/i/ill-cut-your-throat-thatll-shut-you-up-youre-beautiful-15271879 San threatens to cut Ashitaka's throat and Ashitaka replying with "you're beautiful"]] has become a popular image to redraw with pairings from different franchises.

* FriendlyFandoms: People who have seen this film and ''WesternAnimation/{{Wolfwalkers}}'' are often fans of both. The two movies both use a [[WildChild feral girl associated with wolves]] (San/Mebh) befriending an outsider (Ashitaka/Robyn) to tell a story about [[GreenAesop the unbalanced relationship between nature and humanity's advancement]]. It helps that ''Wolfwalkers'''s director Tomm Moore has often cited Studio Ghibli's works as inspiration for his own movies.

** Analysts regard ''Princess Mononoke'' as Miyazaki's own take on ''Animation/{{The Snow Queen|1957}}'', a film that he regarded as his main inspiration as an animator. In fact, the Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen_(1957_film) page]] for ''The Snow Queen'' has a whole section dedicated to how ''Princess Mononoke'' was influenced by it in both characters and themes.

* WTHCastingAgency: Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo has been a head-scratching choice for years. He reportedly took the role thinking it was a children's film, so his [[SoMyKidsCanWatch own could watch it]]. That said, many have noted that he brings an affable, subtle cynicism to the role unique from what other actors may have tried.

* HarsherInHindsight: If one thinks about it, what happens to Moro and her wolves, along with Ashitaka being the last prince of the Emishi is this in the contexts of the real world, as both species of Japanese wolves (Honshu and Hokkaido) were hunted to extinction in 1889 and 1905 and the Emishi have been lost to history.

** Toki being a {{Tsundere}} towards her husband and showing admiration for the younger Ashitaka is a bit awkward to watch now with her English dub voice actress Creator/JadaPinkettSmith being revealed to be abusive towards her husband Creator/WillSmith and cheating on him with their children's friends. These incidents would culminate and be unveiled with the infamous incident of Will slapping Creator/ChrisRock in front of the whole world at the Oscars.

* UncannyValley: The Forest Spirit’s daytime form is a chimera-like creature who often falls into this. He’s a deer with strange birdlike feet, too many antlers, and a flat face almost like a baboon or human.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Sure, it's a Ghibli movie, but it's still a great deal BloodierAndGorier than most of Miyazaki's works. A lot of kids were traumatized by this movie when their parents took them to see it because ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' came out in America at around the same time. So logically, they'd love another Japanime type skit, right? There were reports of more than one parent storming out with their kid at the first decapitation and older kids and teens roped into watching it with their younger siblings cheering at the very same part.

* {{Narm}}:
** Ashitaka rips off the arms of a samurai and beheads two more over the course of the film, ''with fired arrows''. It is intended to make his curse more sinister, but it's also nearly bloodless and almost funny. Maybe done intentionally.
** "MY ARRRRRRRRRRRRRM!!"
** "FOREST SPIRIT! WE GIVE YOU BACK YOUR HEAD! TAKE IT! AND '''BE AT PEACE!'''"
** "I didn't know the Forest Spirit made the flowers grow." Um, why wouldn't you think that?

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Sure, it's a Ghibli movie. So is ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies''. A lot of kids were traumatized by this movie when their parents took them to see it because ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' came out in America at around the same time. So logically, they'd love another Japanime type skit, right? There were reports of more than one parent storming out with their kid at the first decapitation and older kids and teens roped into watching it with their younger siblings cheering at the very same part.

* StoicWoobie: Ashitaka learns that he is cursed both to die and to go mad with hatred in the process-- something he only learns in the first ten minutes of the film. Yet he remains the moral presence that charms the others with his purity.

%%* {{Anvilicious}}: [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped In a graceful, powerful, heartfelt way]].

* BrokenBase: Other Ghibli dubs have fallen into this atmosphere, but viewers can't seem to decide if the Miramax/Disney dub is good in its own right or a watered down travesty to the original Japanese. Purists stubbornly declare it's the latter, but there are fans of the English dub.

** Analysts regard ''Princess Mononoke'' as his own take on ''Animation/{{The Snow Queen|1957}}'', a film that he regarded as his main inspiration as an animator. In fact, the Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen_(1957_film) page]] for ''The Snow Queen'' has a whole section dedicated to how ''Princess Mononoke'' was influenced by it in both characters and themes.

* SpiritualAdaptation: It was once said that ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', was the movie Disney wanted to make but didn't have the delicacy to do properly.
* StoicWoobie: Ashitaka learns that he is cursed both to die and to go mad with hatred in the process - something he only learns in the first ten minutes of the film. Yet he remains the moral presence that charms the others with his purity.

** Claire Danes (the voice of San in the English version) comments in the DVD's special features that she came into the film expecting it to be a children's movie.

* MemeticMutation: "We are here to kill the humans and save the forest."[[labelnote:Explanation]]This line from the boars has become half-jokingly used as a slogan among more radical environmentalists on the internet[[/labelnote]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Fans are split over Claire Danes as San in the English dub. Half feels she is too whiny - the Unshaved Mouse saying she felt more like a ValleyGirl throwing a tantrum. The other half felt she brought a refreshing degree of anger and aggression that was absent in the Japanese dub.

* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Fans are split over Claire Danes as San in the English dub. Half feels she is too whiny - the Unshaved Mouse saying she felt more like a ValleyGirl throwing a tantrum. The other half felt she brought a refreshing degree of anger and aggression that was absent in the Japanese dub.

* WTHCastingAgency: Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo has been a head-scratching choice for years. He reportedly took the role thinking it was a children's film, so his [[SoMyKidsCanWatch own could watch it]].

** Billy Crudup makes numerous lines of Ashitaka into soft whispers each time he threatens someone and adds a hefty dose of TranquilFury to his tone. This ''sharply'' contrasts with flat and normally voiced delivery of Yôji Matsuda for the same parts, even if they say exactly the same things.