An unspecified amount of time later, both children awaken to find that they have arrived and landed safely on none other than Laputa. However, it has been abandoned for a long time and has fallen into ruin. Pazu and Sheeta are greeted by a solitary gardener robot, characterized so by the moss that blankets its shoulders, who takes care of the lush gardens that span Laputa's upper level. The robot leads the children to a large grave plaque in the central gardens, where the pair discover hundreds of other robots, all of which have long shut down and become entwined in the roots of an enormous tree. Pazu remarks that these robots were likely caretakers as well. The robot offers Sheeta a flower to place on the grave. A family of fox squirrels climb atop the robot's shoulders and scamper about as it walks away, prompting Pazu to make the observation that the robot likely is not lonely at all; it has the garden and animals to look after. Sheeta, overwhelmed by the scene, brushes tears from her eyes.

Power Glows: Aetherium (Volucite), the Applied Phlebotinum of the story, glows brightly whenever its active. The Spell of Destruction at the end caused a glow bright enough to leave Muska blind.

Furthermore, unique among their technological capabilities was the residents were able to process Aetherium and create airworthy material from it. With the help of a large crystal it was achieved that an island city could be lifted into the air.

Pazu says to Sheeta after they have landed that Laputa can only be reached with the flying stone. [7] However, this does not explain how Pazu's father was able to get to Laputa. [1] Perhaps he also had his own flying stone with him, which was never seen in the film. Ominous Floating Castle: Laputa's ruins, the robots, and the superweapon inside all make it mysterious and dangerous place aside from the fact that, of course, it is a flying castle.Brooks, Xan (September 14, 2005). "A god among animators". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008 . Retrieved December 30, 2008. The Greatest Story Never Told: Implied in-universe at the ending. The entire military expedition sent to find Laputa was killed by Muska before they could report their discovery to their government and Laputa itself has relocated to the world's upper atmosphere, out of reach of humanity's current level of technology. The only survivors of the incident are Sheeta, Pazu, and the Dola Gang, who all agree that keeping Laputa's existence a secret from the rest of the world is for the best. Primal Fear: Laputa plays on the audience's acrophobia, as there are many places where the characters could easily fall off. This is especially emphasized in Pazu's Le Parkour moments, as he makes daring leaps and hangs onto tight ledges for dear life. Mainichi Film Awards]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 9, 2018 . Retrieved June 20, 2023.

The credits sequence of the film features an original vocal song titled "Carrying You" performed by Azumi Inoue, with music by Hisaishi and lyrics by Miyazaki. The song was released in 1988 as a compact disc single, featuring an additional chorus version performed by the Suginami Children's Choir. [80] Music releases for Laputa: Castle in the Sky [78] Releasedate Externally, the robots are constructed out of an extremely strong, dark armor. This is shown to be able to withstand large cannonballs, gunshots, and fiery temperatures. Person of Mass Destruction: The robots, one of which was able to single-handedly devastate the army's fortress despite its own damage from when it fell from the sky. Thankfully, they're wholly benevolent, at least towards the protagonists.Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: One of the active robots in Laputa is a gardener and guardian of the wildlife, but like all of the other Laputian robots it appears to be armed with weapons of mass destruction. Cavallaro, Dani (2015). Hayao Miyazaki's World Picture. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-9647-1. Evil Laugh: Muska, when he takes control of Laputa's power and uses it to dispose of the General and his army and their almighty battleship. The Laputian robot's "eyes" are the muzzles of two of them: a slashing laser and a Destructo-Beam. It's worth noting that the lasers used by the robots follow a realistic theory about the capability of laser weapons: they don't have a maximum range and they travel near-instantly. This is most clearly demonstrated when Sheeta throws off the damaged Fortress robot's aim and the beam shoots off across the countryside for miles before it can cut the beam to avoid risking harm to Sheeta. Muska has light brown hair and hazel eyes. He wears tinted glasses, a brown suit, a white shirt and a pale yellow cravat. He is armed with what seems to be a Webley Mk VI revolver. His design is similar to that of David in Katushiro Otomo's Steamboy.

A special exhibition called Laputa, The Castle in the Sky and Imaginary Science Fiction Machines was held from October 2, 2002, to May 9, 2004, at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. Two animated shorts, Imaginary Flying Machines and The Invention of Imaginary Machines of Destruction were released during the event. Filling the Silence: Extra lines of dialogue, particularly the Dola gang's banter, were added to the dub. It proved jarring to some when Disney removed the additional lines for its 2010 reissue, like with Jiji's oneliners in Kiki's Delivery Service. Nature-Loving Robot: The robotic guardians of Laputa are Fantastic Nukes, but when left to their own devices, they care for small animals, guard innocent birds' nests, and tend to the nature overgrowing the floating city. In the English dub, the titular city of Laputa is pronounced "LAP-yoo-TA" because the original pronounciation was "lah-POO-tah", which is Spanish for "the whore". The early draft of "Laputa" explains that Laputa first appeared in history as "Laputatilis", in Platon's lost geography, "The Book of Sky". Platon wrote that Laputatilis was built by a people with a highly advanced civilization to escape from war. However, they became too dependent on the highly advanced mechanical civilization, which eventually weakened theirMidair Repair: One of the odd jobs Pazu is asked to do while he and Sheeta are in the Tiger Moth is provide maintenance to the dirigible's rudder. Which he does, while the ship is aloft and he's dangling from a rope. It's as bad on the sense of the audience's acrophobia as it sounds. Laputa apparently ruled a (seemly absolute) monarchy as there was a royal family whose descendants are Muska and Sheeta. While Muska's family has kept the knowledge of Laputa for 700 years, Sheeta's family has forgotten the place in question. They just passed on the flying stone and activation codes. The coat of arms of the royal family is depicted on the stone. [2] When Sheeta and Pazu reached the island, they only encountered a single robot who apparently took care of everything. [7] In addition, many animals still lived there. There were no more people living there. Apparently, the fall was of Laputa civilization caused by a man-made disaster, similar to Plato's story of what happened to Atlantis. [10] Language [ ] Vortex Barrier: One of the indicators (and obstacles) of Laputa's presence are two contra-rotating vortices of air. The presence of the Heart of Laputa opens a path through them, after which, they seemingly dissipate entirely.