Animation purists will no doubt fall madly in love with this lushly hand-drawn animated feature from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli. Nearly 80 years old, studio cofounder Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies) has certainly delivered a visual masterpiece. “Beautiful” does not adequately describe this filmed adaptation of the 10th Century Japanese folktale commonly known as "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," widely considered to be the oldest recorded Japanese narrative. 

An old bamboo cutter (voiced in the English version by James Caan) finds a tiny princess in a bamboo shoot. He and his wife (voiced by Mary Steenburgen) raise this girl (voiced as a teen by Chloe Grace Moretz) as a princess. Soon, she is pursued by a quintet of suitors (oddly voiced by Beau Bridges, James Marsden, Oliver Platt and more) and eventually the Mikado (voiced by former Superman Dean Cain). Still, Princess Kaguya is unhappy, eventually leading her to reveal her mysterious origins, as she prepares to depart her adopted family.

All the praise for Princess Kaguya should remain squarely focused on its animation, which must be seen to be fully appreciated. Words cannot do it justice. However, at over two-and-a-quarter hours the film may be a chore for most family audiences that might enjoy a non-CG, non-Hollywood animated option. Even non-family viewers will note that the epic animation is not quite equaled by the rather thin folktale it accompanies. 

I was only able to view the English-dubbed version, and while I am sure the original Japanese language film is the superior alternative, the voice work by Caan and Moretz does not detract at all from the experience. Particularly, Caan’s work as the old bamboo cutter proves he should consider more animated work; he’s superb. A two-plus hour animated adaptation of an ancient Japanese folktale is a tough sell, but even in this tremendous year for animation, Princess Kaguya stands out as a singular work of art.