Hayao Miyazaki’s 1984 Classic Movie Should Be Your Next Watch If You Can’t Forget About Mickey 17

After several delays for more than a year, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 has finally reached the theatres across the world, marking the Oscar-winning director’s first big release since the overwhelming success of his 2019 black comedy Parasite.

Starring Robert Pattinson, the movie has its events unfolding on another planet where the humanity hopes to build a better life than back on Earth, though the plan of the nation’s greedy and egomaniacal leader Kenneth Marshall starts failing once the land’s mysterious creatures, having inhabited the territory for centuries before, embark on a fight with invaders.

The story, following Joon Ho’s streak of sending powerful social messages via his movies, might also serve as a reminder for Hayao Miyazaki ’s fans to give the latter’s massive hit another rewatch.

If you’re looking for something similar after Mickey 17 and haven’t yet got familiar with Miyazaki’s filmography, this movie might be your lucky chance.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Addresses the Same Problem as Mickey 17

One of the greatest filmmakers in the history of animation, Hayao Miyazaki has been long known for his unbreakable rule of sharing concerns about the global environment in his movies.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind came as only the second animated feature in the animator’s directorial career, though immediately becoming one of the biggest hits and highest-grossing animated movies in history.

Set in the post-nuclear future, the film follows Nausicaä, a teenage princess of the Valley of the Wind who, even in the world with only few surviving human beings left, finds a way to communicate with mutant insects who the empire wants to eradicate.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind might have been a great inspiration for Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 where Robert Pattinsons’s Mickey, just like Miyazaki’s Nausicaä, makes an attempt to save massive, but harmless creatures before the scarce amount of people destroy the nature of one more planet they don't even belong to.

Unlike Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Mickey 17 Was an Unexpected Box Office Flop

The anticipation that surrounded Joon Ho’s next exciting release didn’t come in handy for some reason, with Mickey 17 bombing in the box office with $118 million grossed against the movie’s initial budget of around $110 million.

However, with a star-packed cast that also comprises Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo, Mickey 17 received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, currently holding scores of 77% and 73% respectively on Rotten Tomatoes.