Ghibli Villian: Mushka

Film: Laputa:Castle in the Sky (English title)
Tenku-no Shiro Rapyuta (Japanese title)

Voice: Mark Hamill (English Disney dub)
Jeff Winkless (Streamline English dub)
Minori Terada (Japanese)

The Character

Ah yes, my favourite anime villain par none. Amongst most anime villains, particularly those created by Hayao Miyazaki, there is a sense of complexity about them, like they are not all bad or they are seen as good in some eyes and bad in others. In Princess Mononoke, it is Lady Eboshi. In Ponyo, it is Fujimoto. In the non-Ghibli anime film, X, it is the Dragons of the Earth (especially in this one as although we are meant to root for Dragons of the Heavens, the Dragons of the Earth make a strong argument and you want them to win).

Mushka (or Muska) is not like that. Yes, he is complex and holds secrets but he has no heart at all. By the end, he cannot be seen as good from any point of view. He does what he does purely for power and for his own gain. He has his minions and when he finally gets what he wants, he is not hesitant to dispose of them. I swear, if this guy wasn't created by a Japanese anime genius, he could be mistaken for a stereotypical American villain.

The wierd thing with most anime villains is that they tend to be bad at first and then show some good in the end. Take Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke. Yes, she is trying to destroy the forest to mine for iron and expand her city BUT she also takes in prostitutes and lepers from the streets and gives them jobs. In Laputa, there is the pirate gang. At the start, you think they are the villains and Mushka is the good guy trying to protect Sheeta. By the middle, you realise that the pirates aren't evil and they just want the city's treasure. However, they are not malicious or evil. They are honest and do not want to mainpulate. By the middle, their position changes from villain to sidekick and really good sidekicks. They are considered the best characters in the film.

Compare with Mushka. The viewers' view of him changes from bad to worse as the film progresses and what is interesting is that out of all the Ghibli villians (and I have seen all but two films), he is the only one of TWO villians to be punished for his demise. All the other villians either call a truce, change their character completely and gain some redemption. It seems the message in the Ghibli world is learn a lesson about being good and you will survive to the end of the film. Mushka doesn't and he pays for it dearly.

The voices behind the character

Oh boy this is a good one to do because I have had the honour of watching all three main versions: the original Japanese dub, the 1980s English dub made hastily by Streamline and the more famous, underrated and mostly debated Disney dub.

First of, I'll start with the original Japanese version. I'm sorry to say but I actually saw this one after buying the DVD. The first version I saw was the Disney English dub so this may have affected my judgement on this version. Minori Terada is hard but not dull at all. He plays Mushka as the emotionless person he is and he gives him an authoritative tone.

Next is the Streamline dub. My God! I only got to see this thanks to You Tube and I wish I could clean my brain out. Seriously. Whoever says the Disney dubs are bad should definitely see this and call THIS the worst. I thought the cast from the film X was bad until I saw this. The whole cast was bad in this dub but the thing is that Mushka is meant to be bad and somewhat scary but Winkless does not do this. He sounds bored and well the dub overall was done in a rush so it is possible that the actors were told to do it in one take and left it at that, regardless the imperfection of it all. The thing is with Mushka is that when he finds the real treasure of Laputa and when he shows Sheeta the robot, he is meant to be emotional, something that Winkless does not do. And it has to be said. He says the worst line I have ever heard in a line: "Now say bye bye!" He is holding a gun at SHeeta and he says that!? Is he serious? The scriptwriter should hang his head in shame for that! Yes you laugh the first time you hear it but after that, it's just cringey. You can watch it to judge for yourself but be prepared to regret it.

The Disney English dub of Laputa is a hotly debated dub. Most of the Disney dubs are like Marmite: you either love them or you hate them. However, some may just have the most perfect voice casting possible that it justify the average casting for the rest of the film? In The Cat Returns, it is Carey Elwes as the Baron (although he was awful in Porco Rosso). In Howl's Moving Castle, it was Billy Crystal as Calcifer and Christian Bale as Howl. In Laputa, there are two: Cloris Leachman and Mark Hamill. Regardless of the mixed views on the rest of the cast, there seemed to be an overall, almost unanimous opinion on Laputa: Leachman and Hamill are superb.

Out of all the versions, Hamill is definitely the best Mushka. Hamill has become famous for two thing: Star Wars and voiceovers, the latter which he is brilliant at. He is famous for doing some of the best voiceovers in animation, in particular his villians. His most famous are the Joker (Batman: The Animated Series) and the Hobgoblin (the 1990s Spiderman TV series).

Whilst Terada is authoritative and Winkless is just not worthy enough to mention, Hamill gives Mushka a level above Terada. As well as being authoritative, he makes Mushka slimy, oozing with seduction. For example, he tells Sheeta to stay down or she'll be hurt. In the Japanese version, he is not that caring. In the Streamline dub, he is even less caring but Hamill's Mushka is caring and this is the first sign that you think he's the good guy which makes the realisation he's a baddie more shocking. In his next major scene with Sheeta and the robot, he has you totally convinced that he wants to stop Laputa's power from going into the wrong hands when in fact, it is he that should be prevented from gaining the city's power. Sheeta is lured into his power like a snake to Adam and Eve. When he finds Laputa's power, he was so emotional and almost crazed and of course, the laugh. He definitely has the best laugh which is very chilling and all I can do is point and say "The Joker!"

One line that always get to me is when Sheeta is running away from him and he is telling her to be reasonable, you get a hint of Luke Skywalker. He was trying to be calm and seductive again. He is brilliant all the way through!

What can I say, Hamill was perfect to me. He is by far the best in the dub, alongside Cloris Leachman and out of all the English Disney dubs, he was one of the best, if not the best all the English Ghibli dubs!