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Spirited Away

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Spirited Away
File:Spirited Away poster.JPG
Directed byHayao Miyazaki
Written byHayao Miyazaki
Produced byToshio Suzuki
StarringRumi Hiiragi
Miyu Irino
Mari Natsuki
Takashi Naitô
Yasuko Sawaguchi
Distributed byGhibli International
Buena Vista Pictures (U.S.)
Release dates
27 July, 2001 (Japan)
Running time
125 min.
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥1,900,000,000 (estimated)

Spirited Away, or Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (千と千尋の神隠し; "Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away") is a 2001 Studio Ghibli movie by Japanese anime director and manga artist Hayao Miyazaki.

The film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film at the 75th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in 2003, making the film the first anime production to receive an Oscar.

Other animation awards came from

It also shared Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival with Paul Greengrass' Bloody Sunday, becoming the first animated film to win that award. The film also made it to dozens of top ten lists by American critics in 2002.

Spirited Away was released in Japan in July 2001, drawing an audience of around 23 million and revenues of 30 billion yen (approx. $250 million US), to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history (beating Titanic (1997)); it is said that by 2002, a sixth of the Japanese population had seen it.

The film was subsequently released in the United States in September 20, 2002 and made slightly over 10 million dollars by September 2003. It was dubbed into English by The Walt Disney Company, under the supervision of Pixar vice president John Lasseter, and was released in North America by its Buena Vista Distribution arm. It was released in the United States in DVD format on April 15, 2003 where the attention brought by the Oscar win made the title a strong seller. The English-dubbed version was also released in the UK on March 29, 2004.

Hayao Miyazaki, the director of My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997) as well, came out of retirement to make this film after meeting the daughter of a friend, on whom the main character is based.

Story

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In the movie, Chihiro Ogino is a little girl who is moving to a new town with her parents, Akio and Yuko (Yūko). She is clearly unhappy about the move and appears rather petulant. They lose their way and come across a tunnel, and out of curiosity enter it, unaware that it actually provides access into a spirit world—specifically, to a spirit bathhouse, where the spirits and gods (drawn from the Shinto religious tradition) go to rest and relax. The family enters what is apparently an abandoned theme park populated with restaurants, and Chihiro's parents, finding a place to eat, immediately help themselves to a meal. Chihiro is uneasy, and hesitates outside, watching her parents eat like pigs. When her parents offer her some food, she refuses and runs off to explore more of this abandoned theme park by herself. She comes to a grand looking bathhouse and approaches a bridge leading up to it and looks down to see a mysterious train passing below. Suddenly, the sky begins to darken and a mysterious boy named Haku asks Chihiro what she is doing there and orders her to leave as quickly as possible for her own safety. Chihiro then runs back down to the restaurant where her parents were still eating and discovers to her horror that they had been transformed into large pigs (as happened to Odysseus' crew in Homer's Odyssey). Terrified, Chihiro screams and runs off back the way she had came, in attempt to find the tunnel back to her parents' car. As she runs, ghostly spirits and shadows appear in the abandoned theme park and frighten Chihiro even more. However, she is stopped from going back to the tunnel by a sea of water, which has replaced the grassy plain she had originally crossed with her parents to get to the abandoned theme park.

When Chihiro's distress at losing her parents is compounded by discovering that she's turning transparent, a mysterious boy or young man named Haku comforts her and gives her something to eat which turns her solid again. He then escorts her into the spirit world palace of Yubaba (Yubaaba) and admonishes her that the only way she can remain safely for long enough to rescue her parents is to find work in the spirits' bathhouse.

Chihiro follows Haku's advice, descending a long outdoor staircase to the boiler room where she asks the human-looking, six-armed boilerman, Kamaji, for work. He rebuffs her, until one of the coal-carrying sprites (reminiscent of My Neighbor Totoro's soot sprites) collapses under an extra-heavy lump. Chihiro takes the sprite's place and feeds the boiler. Kamaji warms towards the girl, and assists her getting a job in the bathhouse.

A young woman named Lin (Rin) helps Chihiro find her way through the labyrinthine palace undetected, diverting a fellow servant by tantalizing him with food while Chihiro squeezes into an elevator behind a gross but benign radish spirit (daikon kami).

Pulled into Yubaba's penthouse suite, Chihiro discovers a regal but monstrous lady (similar to the Duchess in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), who dotes on an equally monstrous (and unfeasibly large) baby. Chihiro repeatedly and stubbornly asks for a job, and finally Yubaba consents, on condition that she give up her name (somewhat like the Sea Witch demanding The Little Mermaid's voice in the Hans Christian Andersen tale). Yubaba literally takes possession of Chihiro's name, grasping the kanji from the contract in her hand and leaving Chihiro only one piece of her original 2-character name on the contract, in isolation pronounced "Sen". By taking someone's name, Yubaba keeps the owner of the name a prisoner of the bathhouse forever—unless she or he can remember who she or he is.

While at work Sen has a difficult time adjusting to the work regime, but wins respect by dealing with a difficult customer, a slimy "stink spirit" whom she discovers is actually a heavily polluted yet powerful river god. Sen succeeds only with the help of a somewhat monstrous spirit called No-Face, who is attracted to her because she was kind to him, unwittingly allowing him to enter the bath house against policy. The bath house seems to bring out the worst in No-face. Able to produce gold out of thin air, he feeds off of the greed of the bath house's employees and goes out of control and begins eating everything in sight including three staff members. While No-face is keeping everyone busy, Haku returns to the bathhouse in the form of a dragon, but he is in touble as he is being pursued and attacked by a large flock of enchanted origami birds. Badly injured, he makes his way to Yubaba's quarters. Sen goes to find him but is secretely followed by one of the paper birds.

Chihiro of Spirited Away

While looking for Haku, Sen encounters Yubaba's giant baby boy who wants to play with her. She manages to get away from him and finds Haku, who is on the verge of dying. The paper object that followed Sen transforms into Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister, who was chasing Haku because he had stolen her gold seal. Zeniba transforms the baby into a little hamster-like creature because he makes too much noise, and Yubaba's hawk-like lieutenant into a tiny bird-creature. Haku cuts Zeniba's paper puppet into two with his tail, causing Zeniba's image to split and disappear. He then tumbles down a shaft, taking Sen with him, but they land safely in Kamaji's room.

Sen manages to treat Haku and makes him spit out the seal that he stole from Zeniba. She decides to return it and travels with the reformed No-Face--who is cured of his pathological gluttony by Sen--and the little baby creature, who is carried by the bird creature. When Yubaba finds out that her baby is missing she is furious. Haku manages to make a deal: he will get the baby back and in return Yubaba must set free Sen and her parents. (The plots of the Japanese- and English-language versions differ slightly here: in the original, Yubaba and Haku talk about what's necessary to break the spell on her parents.)

Haku (again a dragon) finds Sen at Zeniba's cottage. The two of them fly back to the bathhouse. On the way, Chihiro (who had remembered her name some time before) remembers where she had met Haku before: he is actually a river spirit, specifically the spirit of the Kohaku River, near which Chihrio used to live (and once fell into) but that was drained up and built upon. Upon remembering Chihiro tells him that his name is 'Kohaku River'. This frees Haku from the control of Yubaba. At the bathhouse Chihiro has to perform one last task to free her parents: she has to pick them out from a group of pigs. She correctly answers that none of the pigs are her parents. As a result she and her parents are set free and return to the human world with Chihiro much stronger for her experiences.

Characters

File:Spirited Away Haku.jpg
Haku creating a distraction to protect Chihiro.
Chihiro Ogino/Sen
Chihiro (千尋) is the 10-year old protagonist of the movie. Her personality is a very serious, formal and no-nonsense one. Chihiro is in the process of changing homes and schools and quite unhappy about the situation. She is re-named "Sen" (千 sen, lit. "a thousand") by the proprietor of the bath-house, Yu-baaba.
Akio Ogino
Chihiro's father. An impulsive man who's behaviour catalyzes the events of the movie.
Yuuko Ogino
Chihiro's mother.
Haku/Kohaku
A young boy who helps Chihiro after her parents have transformed into pigs. He helps prevent her from becoming a spirit and gives her advice on getting work at the bath-house in order to survive and see her parents again. Haku works as Yubaba's direct subordinate, often running errands and performing missions for her. He has the ability to become a dragon.
Yu-baaba
(lit. meaning "bath crone") An old woman with an unnaturally large head and nose who runs the bath-house. She signs Chihiro into a contract, taking her name and re-naming her "Sen" in order to hold power over her for the duration of the contract.
Kamaji
(lit. meaning "boiler old man") An old man who runs the boiler room of the bath-house. A number of Susuwatari work for him, by carrying rocks into the fireplace. Also, he has a large cabinet where he keeps all the medicine that are used in the baths.

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Music

The closing song, "Itsumo Nando de mo," (何時も何度でも; "Always, No Matter When") was written and performed by Yumi Kimura, a composer and lyre-player from Osaka. The lyrics were by Kimura's friend Wakako Kaku. The song was intended to be used for a different Miyazaki film which was never released.

The other music, "Anohi no Kawa," (あの日の川; "The River Back Then"）was by Joe Hisaishi. Later, Hisaishi added lyrics and renamed the new version "Inochi no Namae," (いのちの名前; "The Name of Life") which was performed by Yumi Kimura.

Most of the 22 tracks in the Original Soundtrack CD were composed by Joe Hisaishi, with exception of the track Itsumo Nando de mo afore-mentioned. By composing music for Spirited Away, he received the 56th Mainichi Film Competition Awards for Best Music, Tokyo International Anime Fair 2001 Best music Award for Theater Movie Category, and the 16th Japan Gold Disk Award for Animation Album of the Year.

Possible themes

It is often commented that the film constitutes an allegory on the progression from childhood to maturity, and the risk of losing one's nature in the process. The theme of a character being lost inside a (fictional/different) world if he/she forgets his/her real name is reminiscent of Michael Ende's Neverending Story, where two books with two distinct worlds intertwine. The protagonist of Ende's book, Bastian, slowly enters the world of the book he reads and is threatened to be forever lost inside it if he forgets his real name. Similarly, Chihiro and Haku could forever stay in Yubaba's posession if they forget their real names and consequently their real identities.

The main character's development in the setting could also be seen as a sullen, spoiled and very modern Japanese ten-year-old being forced to grow up when faced with more traditional Japanese culture and manners. Another theme that could be seen in the film is the prevention of greed: those swallowed by No-Face were attempting to get the gold he made.

There are perhaps also veiled references to competing political ideologies, including a theme of environmental awareness (as seen by the river spirit being freed from its stink spirit form once freed of the material dumped in it, and Haku's discovery he is the blocked up River Kohaku) continued from Princess Mononoke. Miyazaki also refrains from creating any characters with complete ideologies of good or evil, all characters exhibiting some negative and some positive traits in different situations.

Differences between the Japanese and English versions

Many changes were made to the film by John Lasseter and the other writers of the English dub of the film, which has caused some argument amongst fans over which version is superior. Most die-hard Miyazaki fans believe that the Japanese original is the only way to go, but some others point to the statement Miyazaki himself made that non-Japanese speakers should watch his films dubbed in their own languages, so they can better appreciate the animation as their eyes are not drawn to read subtitles.

Critics of the English dub believe that the characters are cheapened in it and the plot is made more childish, and they resent that lines were cut out and edited to make the film more suitable for young children and more fathomable for a Western audience (for instance, there is a line added at the end which reveals Chihiro does remember what happened in the spirit world).

Edits include

  • The removal of most of the 'romantic' interactions between the main male and female protagonists (a common occurrence when Anime that is dubbed or censored in the US).
  • The insertion of a significant portion of background chatter
  • The addition of dialogue explaining or emphasizing certain on screen elements.

Some also consider the characters in the English version to be 1 0r 2 years older than their Japanese counterparts, based on their voices.

On the other hand, many argue, had the film not been adapted at least to some extent, it may not have been awarded the world-wide acclaim and popularity it enjoyed.

Credits

Cast

The movie stars the following actors (listed in Japanese version/English version format):

Awards

  • Best Animated Feature Film; 75th Annual Academy Awards
  • Best Film; 2001 Japanese Academy Awards
  • Golden Bear (tied); 2002 Berlin International Film Festival
  • Best Animated Feature; 2002 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
  • Special Commendation for Achievement in Animation; 2002 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
  • Best Animated Feature; 2002 Los Angeles Film Critics Awards
  • Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Feature Production; 2002 Annie Awards
  • Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production; 2002 Annie Awards
  • Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production; 2002 Annie Awards
  • Best Music in an Animated Feature Production; 2002 Annie Awards
  • Best Animated Feature; 2002 Critics' Choice Awards
  • Best Animated Feature; 2002 New York Film Critics Online Award
  • Best Animated Feature; 2002 Florida Film Critics Circle
  • Best Animated Feature; 2002 National Board of Review
  • Best Original Score in the Category of Comedy or Musical; 78th Annual Glaubber Awards
  • Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media; 7th Annual Golden Satellite Awards
  • Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature; 45th San Francisco International Film Festival
  • Special Mention from the Jury; 2002 Sitges Film Festival
  • Best Asian Film; 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards
  • Best Animated Film; 29th Annual Saturn Awards
  • Best Film (tied); Cinekid 2002 International Children's Film Festival
  • Best Animated Feature; Online Film Critic Society
  • Best Animated Feature; Dallas-Forth Worth Critics
  • Best Animated Film; Phoenix Film Critics Society
  • Silver Scream Award; 19th Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival
  • Best Family/Animation Trailer; Fourth Annual Golden Trailer Awards
  • Brilliant Dreams Award 2003; Bulgari
  • Award Winner, Film; 2003 Christopher Awards
  • Award Winner, Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2002 (You); Spirituality & Health Awards
  • Best Movie for Grownups who Refuse to Grow Up, Best Movies for Grownups Awards; AARP The Magazine

See also

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