The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1986, and remains as Ghibli's most popular works to date following a Netorabo poll in 2020 on "My Favorite Hayao Miyazaki Work". [1] It was followed by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on second place and The Castle of Cagliostro on third. 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.

Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Muska claims he wants to find Laputa because it's a threat to his country and world peace, but in truth he wants to take control of it to become the new ruler of the world. World Tree: Laputa is built around a huge, millennial tree. At the end of the film, the city is destroyed, but the tree lives on and finds a new home floating far above the Earth. The theatrical poster's advertising slogan is, "One day, a girl came down from the sky... " (ある日、少女が空から降ってきた...) Lioi, Anthony (2010). "The City Ascends: Laputa: Castle in the Sky as Critical Ecotopia". Interdisciplinary Comics Studies. 5 (2). ISSN 1549-6732. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020 . Retrieved March 23, 2023.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. Gentle Giant: The Laputan robots are all-terrain war machines of terrible power, but if left to their own devices, they care for innocent birds' nests, befriend small animals and put flowers on an ancient grave.

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". Bertoli, Ben (June 4, 2017). "A tale of two Totoro". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017 . Retrieved June 20, 2023. Hayao Miyazaki announces his return to Studio Ghibli". Wonderland. November 25, 2021. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022 . Retrieved April 10, 2022. Odell, Colin; Le Blanc, Michelle (2009). Studio Ghibli: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Kamera. ISBN 978-1-84243-279-2. Anachronism Stew: The general technology level is roughly that of 1920-1925: radios are used as wireless telegraphs, long-range air travel is done with dirigibles, steam engines remain commonly in use, and automobiles have not yet become commonplace. Pazu's rural village lags a couple decades behind. Laputan technology/magic was obviously at least a century ahead, with highly adaptable robots and energy weapons. Even within these split tech levels, there are technological anachronisms: all of which was probably intentional to add to the fairy-tale atmosphere.The fox-squirrel critters from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind make an appearance in Laputa. The odd headless beaver-tailed creatures and the longhaired yaks are from Nausicaa as well, and the robots strongly resemble the Heedra. The latter three only appear in the manga.