Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow


 * Title Name: Naruto the Movie: Snow Princess' Book of Ninja Arts|大活劇! 雪姫忍法帖だってばよ!!|Daikatsugeki! Yukihime Ninpōchō dattebayo!!
 * Genre: Action, Drama, Shōnen, Fantasy
 * Director    = Tensai Okamura
 * Release Date = August 21, 2004 (Japan) June, 2007 (US)
 * Runtime     = 82 Minutes

is a film based off the popular anime and manga series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. It hit theaters in Japan on August 21 2004. Naruto the Movie was instantly a hit and stayed at the top of the Japanese box office charts for a while. The Naruto movie was so popular it received a sequel (Naruto the Movie 2) that made its theatrical debut in Summer 2005. The movie was released on DVD on April 28 2005. The movie will be released in select American theatres in June of 2007, with a DVD release in September. The ending song is called Home Sweet Home and is sung by Yuki.

As a bonus, the short and somewhat scatological film 木ノ葉運動会 (Konoha Undōkai, "The Leaf's athletic meet") is included with the movie. The ten minute opening short revolves around Naruto's inability to use the washroom while participating in the tournament. It is notable because virtually every character, living or dead, in the Naruto universe makes an appearance in it (most of them standing in a restroom-queue).

Plot
The movie (which takes place chronologically between the Tsunade and Tea Country arcs, after the Naruto movie special (combined episodes 95-96) and after Tsunade heals Sasuke and Kakashi (episode 98)) begins with a heroine previously unknown in the Naruto continuity: Princess Fuun. Fuun's nemesis, Mao, challenges her group with an army of undead soldiers. His dark intentions seem to prevail, that is, until Princess Fuun and her cohorts, Shishimaru, Brit, and Tsukuyaku, unleash the power of the Seven-Color-Chakra upon him. They save the day, and Naruto, watching from afar, couldn't be more elated.

As it turns out, Naruto is partially imagining the situation. He is actually watching the scene in a movie, as is the rest of Team 7. But then, the audience of the movie starts to throw objects at the team for making so much noise while arguing with the cinema manager. Kakashi had sent them to watch it as preparation for their next mission: guarding Fujikaze Yukie, the actor who plays Princess Fuun, while she makes the next move in the Snow Country. As it turns out, Yukie is actually the princess of the Snow Country, which was taken over by rogue ninja when she was a child. The leader of the rogue ninja, Doto Kazahana, wants Yukie's crystal necklace to unlock the Snow Country's treasure, which Yukie's father had hidden before being assassinated. After various battles between Team 7 and the rogue ninja, resulting in the defeat of all and the death of Nadare their leader, Doto succeeds in obtaining Yukie's necklace, only to discover that the "treasure" of the Snow Country is a generator designed to melt the snow and bring Spring to the country. Doto is then defeated by Naruto in a manner reminicient of Princess Fuun's defeat of Mao.

With the rogue ninja all gone,Yukie becomes the princess of the Snow Country, which will eventually become the Spring Country after the technology behind the generator is perfected. Despite being a princess, Yukie intends to continue acting, and the next film she's starring in is an adaptation of one of Jiraiya's Icha Icha novels, much to Kakashi's surprise.

Voice Talent

 * Naruto Uzumaki - Junko Takeuchi


 * Sakura Haruno - Chie Nakamura
 * Sasuke Uchiha - Noriaki Sugiyama
 * Kakashi Hatake - Kazuhiko Inoue
 * Soutetsu Kazehana - Hidehiko Ishizuka
 * Young Koyuki Kazehana - Karen Miyama
 * Koyuki Kazehana/Yukie Fujikaze/Princess Fuun - Yuko Kaida
 * Nadare Rouga - Hirotaka Suzuoki
 * Asama Sandayuu - Ikuo Nishikawa
 * Fubuki Kakuyoku - Jun Karasawa
 * Doto Kazehana - Tsutomu Isobe

Trivia

 * The characters and setting of "The Adventures of Princess Fuun" pay homage to the Chinese novel, "Journey to the West."
 * Princess Fuun is a take-off of Xuanzang the priest.
 * Tsukuyaku is a take-off of Sun Wukong the monkey.
 * Shishimaru is a take-off of Zhu Bajie the pig-monster.
 * Brit is a take-off of Sha Wujing the water-demon.


 * This movie reinforces the notion that Naruto takes place in a modernized age, due to the existence of a movie theater. However, in one part of the film it appears that some characters (or in this case Naruto) have never heard of a train.


 * Although in the movie Naruto uses his Rasengan and Sasuke uses his Chidori, in the manga they never went on a single mission together after learning them.


 * This movie shows a teenage Kakashi as a ANBU rescuing Princess Yukie as a child, though it is not clear what sort of mission he was on.


 * The movie takes place chronologically between the Tsunade and Tea Country arcs, after the Naruto movie special (combined episodes 95-96) and after Tsunade heals Sasuke and Kakashi (episode 98).