Tales from the Script

Tales from Earthsea is a 2006 Japanese anime epic fantasy film co-written and directed by Gorō Miyazaki in his directorial debut, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi and Toho, and distributed by the latter company. The film is based on a combination of plot and character elements from the first four books of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu), as well as Hayao Miyazaki's graphic novel Shuna's Journey. The film's English title is taken from the collection of short stories published in 2001. The film was released in Japan on July 29, 2006. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its animation, music and visuals, but criticized the narrative, pacing, and overall differences from the novels. Le Guin herself stated that the plot was "entirely different" from that of her books. She told director Gorō Miyazaki, "It is not my book. It is your movie. It is a good movie", but later expressed her disappointment with the final result. A film comic adaptation of the film has been published in Japan.