The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun 太陽の王子 ホルスの大冒険
Japanese theatrical poster
Directed by	Isao Takahata
Produced by	Hiroshi Okawa
Written by	Kazuo Fukazawa
Music by	Michio Mamiya
Cinematography	Jiro Yoshimura
Studio	Toei Doga
Distributed by	Toei Company
Release date(s)	July 21, 1968 (1968-07-21)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	¥140 Million

The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun (太陽の王子 ホルスの大冒険, Taiyō no Ōji Horusu no Daibōken) is an anime film that came out in July 1968. It was the first big movie directed by Isao Takahata. It was also the first major film where Hayao Miyazaki worked on the animation. This movie started a partnership between Takahata and Miyazaki that lasted for 50 years. They worked together on many animated films.

The main team who made Horus, Prince of the Sun included Takahata as the director. Yasuo Otsuka was the animation director. Miyazaki worked on scene design and key animation. Other key animators were Yasuji Mori, Reiko Okuyama, and Yoichi Kotabe. This team helped create the designs, story ideas, and storyboards. Everyone except Takahata (who is not an animator) helped design the characters.

In the United States, the movie was shown directly on TV. It was called The Little Norse Prince by AIP-TV.

What is the Story About?

The film takes place in an old northern kingdom, maybe in Norway. The story begins with a young boy named Horus (also called Hols). He is trying to fight off a group of "silver wolves." By accident, he wakes up a huge stone giant named Mogue. Horus manages to pull a broken sword out of the giant's shoulder. The giant says this is the "Sword of the Sun." He promises that when the sword is fixed, he will come back to Horus. Then Horus will be called "Prince of the Sun."

Horus's father is dying. He tells Horus that their family came from a village by the sea in the north. A scary ice devil named Grunwald destroyed their village. Horus and his father were the only ones who survived. Before he dies, Horus's father tells his son to go back to his homeland. He wants Horus to get revenge for their village.

On his journey, Horus and his bear friend, Koro, meet Grunwald. Horus refuses to join Grunwald, so the ice devil pushes him off a cliff. Horus survives the fall. People from a nearby village rescue him. Horus becomes a hero when he kills a giant fish that was bothering the fishing village.

Grunwald had sent the giant fish. So, he then sends his silver wolves to attack the village. During the fight, Horus and Koro chase the wolves to an empty village. There, Horus meets a mysterious girl named Hilda. Horus brings Hilda back to his village. The villagers like her beautiful singing. But the village chief and his helper, Drago, don't like Horus's growing popularity.

Hilda is actually Grunwald's sister. She is under his evil spell. She works with Drago and sends many rats to attack the village. Drago tries to hurt the chief but fails. He blames Horus for it. So, the villagers make Horus leave.

Horus goes to find Grunwald. But Hilda and an owl (who works for Grunwald) stop him. Hilda's true identity is now known. She sadly attacks Horus. Horus falls into a deep hole and gets stuck in a magical forest. He sees visions of the villagers and his father. Grunwald then forces Hilda to try and kill Horus. Grunwald also attacks the village with his wolves and a giant ice mammoth.

Horus escapes the magical forest. He realizes that the sword must be fixed by everyone working together. He also knows that the villagers must unite to beat Grunwald. After a short fight with Hilda, who is very sorry for what she did, Horus joins the villagers. They are fighting Grunwald. Horus uses the big fires they made to defend themselves to fix the sword.

With the "Sword of the Sun" fixed, the stone giant Mogue joins him. Together, they defeat and destroy Grunwald. Hilda had given her magical "Medal of Life" to help Horus. She finds out she is still alive without it. She then joins Horus and the villagers.

Who are the Voices Behind the Characters?

More Voices in the Film

• Original: Hiroshi Kamiyama (Villager B), Asako Akazawa (Piria), Yuriko Abe (Young Girl), Kazuo Tachibana (Villager A), Masaaki Tsuzaka (Rusan), Yoshie Hinoki (Village Women)
• English: Gilbert Mack (Village Men), Corinne Orr (Village Women, Little Girl), Ray Owens (Village Men)

Where Can You Watch the Movie?

Over the years, Horus, Prince of the Sun has been released in different ways for people to watch at home.

In 2005, a company called Optimum Releasing released the film on DVD in the UK and Ireland. This version was called The Little Norse Prince. It had English subtitles but not many extra features.

Later, in 2013, the movie came out on Blu-ray Disc in Japan. This version was not a new, super clear restoration. It was made from an older video quality.

Then, in 2014, Discotek Media released the film on DVD in North America. This release was called Horus, Prince of the Sun. It had new, better English subtitles. It also included two audio commentaries, interviews with the creators, and other cool extras. This was the first time the original Japanese version was widely available in the U.S. It was also the first time the English dub was on disc.

In 2015, the Blu-ray version was part of a special box set in Japan. This set had ten films by director Isao Takahata.

Finally, in 2017, Discotek Media released the film on Blu-ray Disc for North America. This version included both the original Japanese audio and the English dub. It also had commentaries, interviews, and trailers.

The English TV version, Little Norse Prince, was later owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This version has been available on many online video streaming sites like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Video.