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The destruction process annihilates the man-made portions of the floating kingdom, which falls into the Ocean, The giant tree remains, liberated from the buildings of man it slowly ascends into the sky (Fig 7). The film’s climax is when Sheeta with the help of Pazu (fig 3) chooses to destroy Laputa than let it be used by Muska as a tyrannical weapon. Sheeta is assisted in her journey by a young boy, Pazu, and a Matriarchal pirate family led by Dola, who is their leader and mother (Fig 5). Secret agent Muska (Fig 3) who commands the military is determined to obtain the stone at any cost so as to become king of the floating castle with its advanced weaponry, and then ruler of the world. The floating castle fortress Laputa is covered with ancient gardens, a giant tree towers over the kingdom and is a key sign that can be seen as a metaphor for spiritual knowledge (fig 2).
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Laputa has a highly advanced weapons system including an army of flying robots. Initially unaware of its power it is revealed that it is the key to the discovery and control of a legendary kingdom that floats in the sky and is far advanced in its science and technology, called Laputa (fig 2). Sheeta possesses a magic levitation stone that she inherited from her mother. The film “Laputa – Castle in the Sky” (1986) follows the story of a young girl, Sheeta, as she struggles against pursuit from a patriarchal military regime. The Binary oppositions that define the concerns of feminist ideology such as men are powerful and women are weak, are challenged, and patriarchal stereotypes, gender distinctions and the male gaze are also disputed. The dominance of a patriarchal authority is established through numerous signs and codes within the text yet it is not embraced, rather it is confronted. “ Laputa – Castle in the Sky” (1986) is a complex text and it is evident that there are significant meanings that can be established reflecting feminist ideology. By identifying key signs, codes and systems of meaning that are present within the text it will be shown that there are a number of feminist ideological issues which are raised. In the film “Laputa – Castle in the Sky” (1986), Miayzaki utilizes cinematic codes and conventions, both Japanese and western, Fusing dominant aesthetic models drawn from both live action cinema and other pictorial arts, with an extensive vocabulary of the animated form that adapts the hyper realist designs and narration strategies used in the Disney features (Wells 1997). The film was produced in Japanese language, the copy that will be studied for this essay is one dubbed in English for Japan Airlines. Directed by master animator Hayao Miayzaki, this Japanese animated feature film is not well known or readily available in Australia although it is a classic in Japan. This paper will be a semiotic analysis of the lead female character Sheeta (fig1) from “ Laputa – Castle in the Sky” (1986).