The Ottawa Citizen December 03, 1999, FINAL SECTION: Arts; E3 LENGTH: 634 words HEADLINE: Lovers of fantasy will embrace Princess BYLINE: Jay Stone BODY: Princess Mononoke *** Directed and written by: Hayao Miyazaki English screenplay: Neil Gaiman and Jack Fletcher Voices by: Claire Danes, Billy Crudup, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton Rating: AA Playing at: World Exchange All aboard for two and a quarter hours of sprawling Japanese fantasy set in the days of gods and demons, of talking wolves and rampaging boars and child heroes who can decapitate their foes, all drawn in the anime style of visual storytelling that includes rich backgrounds, inventive characters, endless complications and those big anime eyes that make everyone from samurai warriors to imperious queens look like something out of the Pokemon nursery. The folklore in question is called Princess Mononoke, an animation epic of undoubted quality and presumed appeal to those for whom the words, ''In ancient times, when man and beast lived in harmony ...'' do not bring an inner groan of dismay. Princess Mononoke, loosely based on Japanese folklore, is set in an imagined era when the woods are being ravaged by the iron-making Tatara clan and the Great God of the Forest gives the lesser forest gods power to protect their domain. In a remote village, Ashitaka (Billy Crudup), the last warrior of the dying Emishi clan, kills a monster to protect his village (''Oh, nameless god of rage and hate, I bow before you,'' an old woman cries when she sees what Ashitaka has done). It turns out the monster was one of those forest gods, a demon boar, and it puts a curse upon Ashitaka. He must travel far away to uncover its mystery. That brings him into contact with Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), leader of the iron- making Tataras, and Princess Mononoke (Claire Danes), an environmentalist who has been raised by wolves and is determined to protect the trees, and Jigo Boh (Billy Bob Thornton), a monk whose loyalties bend with the wind, and who is something of a food critic besides (''Is this soup or donkey piss?'') There are also ET-faced forest sprites, who look like old dial telephones that can float, and a heroic red elk, and enough warriors and beasts and gods to fill a Tolkien trilogy. There is also the line, ''Everyone get out: The great spirit's head has been cut off and he wants it back,'' which sounds like it was borrowed from Sleepy Hollow. With its length and scenes of violence, Princess Mononoke is probably aimed at an older audience, one that will appreciate its message of conservation -- or at least the need for the despoilers of the forest and its protectors to live in harmony -- and the craft of its storytelling. Director Hayao Miyazaki is an anime legend, and this movie is beautifully and carefully constructed, mostly hand-drawn and with more invention than it needs, even. Conservation messages have been a part of Japanese movies since Godzilla, but Princess Mononoke has a more mature and shaded viewpoint in its sympathy for both sides (''Why can't the humans and the forest live together?'') At the same time, the movie is meant mostly for those who relish fantasy tales (the co-writers of the English translation include Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman series of cult graphic novels). In Japan, the movie was so popular it was only the second film, after Titanic, to earn $150 million. Its North American reception has been cooler, partly because of its length, I would imagine, and partly because it comes from so far out of left field with its mystical style, complex narrative and fairy-tale cast. It's an acquired taste, this imagined epic. By the time the Armageddon battle finally arrives (''the women and the lepers have fallen back to the inner wall!'') I felt a lot of sympathy for the kid in the first scene. The one who says, ''Whatever you may be, god or demon, please leave us in peace.'' GRAPHIC: CP Color Photo: Lady Eboshi is given voice by Minnie Driver in Princess Mononoke.; Color Photo: Ashitaka's voice is Billy Crudup.