Castle In The Sky

Castle in the Sky is a 1986 animated adventure feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the first film officially produced and released by Studio Ghibli. 
In the film's backstory/ exposition, human civilizations built flying cities which were later destroyed by an unspecified catastrophe, forcing the survivors to live on the ground while the sole exception Laputa remains in the sky, concealed within a powerful thunderstorm. 

The name 'Laputa' is derived from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, wherein Swift's Laputa is also a flying island controlled by its citizens.The anime also makes references to the Hindu epic Ramayana, including "Indra's arrow", while the name of the main character Sheeta may be a reference to Sita, the female lead in the Ramayana. This ties the fantasy element of the story to recognizable elements of our human society.

Some of the architecture seen in the film was inspired by a Welsh mining town. Miyazaki first visited Wales in 1984 and witnessed the miners' strike firsthand. He returned to the country in 1986 to prepare for Laputa, which he said reflected his Welsh experience. It shows how animators use their own experience and knowledge to delve into for their creations.

As it is one of Miyazaki's older works and takes much place in the everyday world, the film is not as visually spectacular or deep in its storyline as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, or even Princess Mononoke. 'Castle' is very accessible to people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds. The dubbing or subtitles allows it to be seen across the globe, and as it focuses more on children as the central characters many questions of representation or adult issues don't come into play.