Laputa has similar heroic themes to Nausicaa, this time centred on a young boy (Pazu) and girl's (Sheeta) quest to discover their heritage and unleash mystical powers bestowed upon them. More gender-balanced than some of Hayayo Miyazaki's other work, Laputa nonethe­less is hinged on Pazu's drive to follow the path set by his lost father, and Sheeta's discovery of a secret internal power she has housed for mys­terious reasons.

The children weave their way above and beyond the clouds to eventually encounter the mythical Sky Castle (referred to in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels). The visualisation of the flight sequences is poetic and memorable; the staging of the action sequences is truly awe­some. Miyazaki can evoke creative and destruc­tive forces with an intensity imaginable only in the medium of animation.