Back to Sam's Corner

Back to the Reviews

SPIRITED AWAY

Released: 2001
Rated: PG
Running Time: 125 min
Cast: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Jason Marsden, David Ogden Stiers, Susan Egan, John Ratzenberger, Lauren Holly, Tara Strong, Mike Chiklis

Finally! A Miyasaki film that wins Best Animated Movie worldwide! And it deserves it, too. Many are already calling this the masterpiece of Hayao Miyasaki, the creative brain behind such films as Totoro, Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke. I'm not entirely sure if that's an accurate thing to say (he's not done making movies yet, you know) but without a doubt this is an astounding piece of anime, and for more reasons than I can type.

The story is simple enough…king of like Alice in Wonderland meets Japanese legends. The story is of Chihiro, an obnoxious ten-year-old who is acting depressed because she doesn't want to adjust to a new life in a new home in another town. It's something she's never had to do, and the new experience seems too big of a change for her. She and her parents then stumble onto what seems to be an abandoned amusement park, where they then find a free buffet, and the parents promptly start pigging out…literally. They are transformed into pigs, understandably putting Chihiro into shock and she runs like crazy through the park, encountering as the night falls ghostly specters as well as a young mysterious boy named Haku.

He protects her from the spirits and helps her get work in the big bathhouse building where the spirits of this world gather to relax. Relying on her guts, courage and heart Chihiro looks for a way to free herself and her parents.

If there is one thing that I love about Hayao Miyasaki (and there are several things I could name), it's that he's not made a film that I have not liked in one way or another. All of his films are appealing, fun for many ages, and creative to an incredible extreme. Being the creature lover I am, as well as a fantasy lover, it's always a hoot to see all of the critters he comes up with and how they play into the story. Having a story set in a mythical world of spirits and mystical beings gave him great liberty to come up with dozens of funny, creepy or even fascinating monsters.

Visually this film was astounding on the big screen, and even on the small one it is still a banquet for the eyes. Against what many would perceive to be the flaw of most anime, that is, the fact that it is not as fluid looking or clean perhaps as American cartoons, this film is incredibly well animated, taking long strides in both traditional hand drawn characters and computer imagery. The computer effects and cell work goes so well together that it looks perfectly flowing and fitted to each other.

The other thing I like best about Miyasaki's films are the characters, and this one has probably the best characters ever, with my second favorites probably being in Castle in the Sky. Chihiro is a little bit of a brat, but as she changes through her experiences you grow ever fond of her, as well as sorry sometimes. Her voice was provided by Daveigh Chase, the girl who did the voice of Lilo in Lilo and Stitch. She's absolutely perfect in my view, because she has that little girl voice that makes her sound like she's really quite intelligent, but without losing that little kid charm. Other very famous people were cast in some roles as well, giving the already excellent characters more depth to their personality than if less professional people had been hired. David Ogden Stiers of MASH and Beauty and the Beast fame provides the voice of Kamaji, the somewhat creepy but grandfatherly boiler man in the inner bowels of the bathhouse. One of my favorite voice actors, Jason Marsden, does Haku, the boy who is a little more than he seems, and while obviously not very Japanese sounding he is a talented guy. The witch Yubaba is voiced by Suzanne Pleshette, and she makes Yubaba one of the best female villain voices I've ever heard, far exceeded Cruella DeVille or any old classic Evil Step-Aunt that you can think of. Very well casted for the English Dub.

Now, while this film has no language that would offend families (if there ARE still families that are offended by language these days), there are some, let's say, DISTURBING images and some frightening moments. One of the spirits in the bathhouse has a vomit attack, and I mean VOMIT. This is not caused, however, by drinking too much Busch, but it's nasty all the same. People are consumed by a monster, though it's not graphic, and there are some freaky moments with the witch Yubaba and other characters. Another creature in the film is attacked by paper birds and thus is extremely hurt and bloody, and hacks up a lot of blood. American standards for family animation are not quite to the point that Japan's are, and in many regards that's good, but the violence and more uncomfortable elements of this film are not anything that a kid who is going to this film with their parent would be traumatized over. Hey, if you let your kids see PG movies without giving it a second thought, maybe it's time to wake up. PG movies in America are often touted as safe enough for little kids, but many American movies that are rated PG are worse in regards to subject matter and objectionable material than this film could ever be. Kangaroo Jack is a good example.

In conclusion I can happily say that not only is this one of the best anime I've ever seen, as well as one of the(if not THE) best of Miyasaki's craft, but it is also one of the plain most fun films I've ever watched, be it animated or otherwise. Being a late teen now makes it easy to forget what it was like when I was young and could remember sitting in awe over an animated feature and really enjoy it. Being older and having lost a lot of that childlike innocence made modern Disney or Dreamworks almost a drag to watch, and even the good ones didn't have the charm I'm sure I would have enjoyed being younger. The least compliment I think I can give this movie is that it propelled me back to those feelings, of being young and really sitting in awe over a good movie and really enjoying it to the heart level.

All I can say is that this film really deserves all of the awards it got, which doesn't happen very often nowadays, especially in America. Hollywood usually seems to have a problem giving such high honors to a film THEY did not make, but even they could not deny that they made NOTHING half this good in the animated world that Oscar year. Watch this film, and trust me…you'll be Spirited Away.