History Anime / HolsPrinceOfTheSun

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Horus_8565.png]]

''Hols: Prince of the Sun'' (''Taiyou no Ouji Horusu no Daibouken''; also known as ''Horus: Prince of the Sun'', ''The Little Norse Prince'', and ''Little Norse Prince Valiant'') is a 1968 Japanese animated film. It is best known for being an early work of Creator/StudioGhibli's most famous talents Creator/IsaoTakahata (who directed) and Creator/HayaoMiyazaki (who did many key frames and contributed many ideas) from back when they worked at Creator/ToeiAnimation. ''Hols'' had a notoriously troubled production, with Toei telling Takahata he would never direct again.

Set in an ancient northern country, a young boy named Hols[[note]]Horus in some subtitled versions[[/note]] (pictured on the left) embarks on a quest to defeat Grunwald, a demon who has destroyed countless villages, including his own. To do so, he must return to his father's people and reforge the ancient Sword of the Sun, which he pulls out of a resting rock golem named Mohg. Hols reaches his native village and meets Hilda[[note]]Hiruda in some subtitled versions[[/note]] (also pictured on the right), a girl similarly orphaned by Grunwald and subsequently cursed. With various forces turning the people against each other, Hols struggles to both protect the village and reforge the Sword.

Though almost unknown outside of Japan ([[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff with the exception of Italy]]), ''Hols'' was immensely influential on anime as a whole and is considered a classic, pioneering the artistic role of the director, the value of cinematography and composition, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking film production periods of over eight months]].

Creator/DiscotekMedia has managed to license the movie for a DVD release in the US, which was issued on December 23, 2014.

----
!!''Hols: Prince of the Sun'' provides examples of
* AndroclesLion: A variation with Mohg, [[spoiler: who not only keeps his promise to Hols but also helps him defeat Grunwald]].
* {{BFS}}: The Sword of the Sun.
* BrokenBird: Hilda's previous experiences have left her ''shattered''.
* TheCatfish: The monstrous pike preventing the village from catching any fish.
* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: The VA for Grunwald, the late [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikijiro_Hira Mikijirou Hira]] was a very famous stage and TV actor, known for his very popular Shakespeare roles.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The Italian DVD cover features a noticeably older, blue-eyed, cape-donning Hols; and the silver wolf with red eyes.
* CrowdSong: The villagers sing several songs celebrating a good harvest and the wedding to show the importance of community as opposed to the solitary, nihilistic songs sung by Hilda.
* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler: Mohg Vs. the Ice Mammoth, it ends very quickly for the Ice Mammoth when Mohg pushes it from a cliff with no significant effort]].
* CutAndPasteTranslation: All the international releases are fraught with these.
* DarkMagicalGirl: Hilda is a mysterious young girl who bonds with main character Hols, but she turns out to have bonds with the BigBad Grunwald, and as the story progresses she's more and more conflicted about her loyalties. [[spoiler: She has to go through a DisneyDeath before getting fully better.]]
* DisneyDeath: Combined with RedemptionEqualsDeath. [[spoiler: Hilda, although she does get better]]
* DoomedHometown: The village where Hols and his father lived originally, destroyed before the events of the film. Hilda also claims to be from one.
* EvilChancellor: Drago, to the village's chief.
* FillingTheSilence: The French dub added screaming to the mob in Hilda's hallucination.
* GhibliHills: Well, ''duh''.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: Although they're real (instead of the usual visual metaphor) and not angels, Chiro and Toto fill these respective roles for Hilda.
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: [[TheHero Hols]] (The Good) vs. [[DarkMagicalGirl Hilda]] (The Bad) and [[BigBad Grunwald]] (The Evil).
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Hilda, after finding Flip and Koro buried in the snow.]]
%%* AnIcePerson: Grunwald.
* ImmortalitySeeker: [[spoiler:Hilda, until her HeelFaceTurn.]]
* TheKenBurnsEffect: Some of the battles weren't animated due to time and budget constraints, opting instead for fast-panning stills.
* KillItWithFire: Since Grunwald's powers are ''ice''-based, flaming arrows and bonfires contribute a lot in the final battle. [[spoiler:The power of the sun is what wins it.]]
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: A sister variant; Hilda is revealed to be one to [[spoiler:Grunwald]].
* MindRape: Grunwald's forcing Hilda to see visions of Hols and the other villagers killing her, just so she'll continue to be dependent upon him, certainly qualifies as this.
* TheMole: Hilda is revealed to be [[spoiler:TheDragon to Grunwald.]]
* MoralityPet: The little girl Mauri becomes very attached to Hilda, which makes the latter to declare that she will only spare her from the destruction of her village.
* NonHumanSidekick:
** For Hols, Koro the bear.
** For Hilda, Chiro the squirrel and Toto the owl.
* OminousOwl: Toto the owl, as GoodAngelBadAngel above states.
* OnlyOneName: Every single named character has only one name.
* ParentalAbandonment: Hols's father dies in the first ten minutes, and his mother is never mentioned.
* SavageWolves: The minions of Grunwald, the leader is a silver wolf.
* SmugSnake: Drago and Toto.
* {{Snowlems}}: Grunwald attacks the village in the climax on a [[spoiler: ''colossal mammoth'']] made of ice.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', ''Anime/CastleInTheSky''... Let's just save time here and say that pretty much half of the stuff Miyazaki made as a director was influenced by this film.
* SwarmOfRats: [[spoiler:Hilda summons a swarm of rats to attack the village when they're celebrating a wedding, revealing her as TheMole for Grunwald.]]
%%* TalkingAnimal:
%%** Koro the bear.
%%** Chiro the squirrel.
%%** Toto the owl.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The Japanese trailer spoiled the [[spoiler:colossal ice mammoth]] and [[spoiler:Hilda's HeelFaceTurn]].
* VikingFuneral: Hols burns his former home, a wrecked ship, after his father dies.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Grunwald offers to make Hols his younger brother.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Hilda, who chooses evil after her village was destroyed. [[spoiler: She gets better.]]
----

* LullDestruction: The French dub added screaming to the mob in Hilda's hallucination.

* WeCanRuleTogether: Grunwald's offer to Hols.

!!Tropes used in this movie include:

* AndroclesLion: A variation with Mohg, [[spoiler: who not only keeps his promise to Hols, but also helps him defeat Grunwald]].

* CrowdSong: Several, done to show the importance of community as opposed to the solitary, nihilistic songs sung by the lonely Hilda.

* CrowdSong

* AnIcePerson: Grunwald.

* SwarmOfRats: Hilda summons a swarm of rats to attack the village when they're celebrating a wedding.
* TalkingAnimal:
** Koro the bear.
** Chiro the squirrel.
** Toto the owl.

Set in an ancient northern country, a young boy named Hols (pictured on the left) embarks on a quest to defeat Grunwald, a demon who has destroyed countless villages, including his own. To do so, he must return to his father's people and reforge the ancient Sword of the Sun, which he pulls out of a resting rock golem named Mohg. Hols reaches his native village and meets Hilda (also pictured on the right), a girl similarly orphaned by Grunwald and subsequently cursed. With various forces turning the people against each other, Hols struggles to both protect the village and reforge the Sword.

Set in an ancient northern country, a young boy named Hols embarks on a quest to defeat Grunwald, a demon who has destroyed countless villages, including his own. To do so, he must return to his father's people and reforge the ancient Sword of the Sun, which he pulls out of a resting rock golem named Mohg. Hols reaches his native village and meets Hilda, a girl similarly orphaned by Grunwald and subsequently cursed. With various forces turning the people against each other, Hols struggles to both protect the village and reforge the Sword.

* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: [[TheHero Hols]] is the Good, [[DarkMagicalGirl Hilda]] is the Bad, while [[BigBad Grunwald]] is the Evil.

* TheGoodTheBadTheEvil: [[TheHero Hols]] is the Good, [[DarkMagicalGirl Hilda]] is the Bad, while [[BigBad Grunwald]] is the Evil.

* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: A sister variant; Hilda is revealed to be [[spoiler:one for Grunwald]].
* TheMole: Hilda

* DisneyDeath, combined with RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Hilda, although she does get better]]

* AnIcePerson: Grunwald

* [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Demon's Beautiful "Sister"]]: Oh, Hilda.

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler: Mogh Vs. the Ice Mammoth, it ends very quickly for the Ice Mammoth when Mohg pushes it from a cliff with no significant effort]].

* WhatTheHellTownspeople: Drago in particular.

* ClassicallyTrainedExtra: The VA for Grunwald, the late [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikijiro_Hira Mikijirou Hira]], was a very famous stage and TV actor, and said} top be one of the best Shakespeare ones.

* DarkMagicalGirl: Hilda is a mysterious young girl who bonds with main character Hols, but she turns out to have bonds wih the BigBad Grunwald, and as the story progresses she's more and more conflicted about her loyalties. [[spoiler: She has to go through a DisneyDeath before getting fully better.]]

* BrokenBird: Hilda.

Creator/DiscotekMedia has managed to license the movie for a DVD release in the US, which was released on December 23, 2014.

Creator/DiscotekMedia has managed to license the movie for a DVD release in the US.

''Hols: Prince of the Sun'' (''Taiyou no Ouji Horusu no Daibouken''; also known as ''Horus: Prince of the Sun'', ''The Little Norse Prince'', and ''Little Norse Prince Valiant'') is a 1968 Japanese animated film. It is best known for being an early work of StudioGhibli's most famous talents IsaoTakahata (who directed) and Creator/HayaoMiyazaki (who did many key frames and contributed many ideas) from back when they worked at Creator/ToeiAnimation. ''Hols'' had a notoriously troubled production, with Toei telling Takahata he would never direct again.

* NoExportForYou:
** The American English dub ''Little Norse Prince'' is [[http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Little+Norse+Prince+Valiant&st=0&fs= available on Hulu]], but there's no official Region 1 release with the original Japanese audio.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', ''CastleInTheSky''... Let's just save time here and say that pretty much half of the stuff Miyazaki made as a director was influenced by this film.