Spirited Away (2001)

During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writer:

Hayao Miyazaki

Stars:

Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino

Top Rated Movies #28 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 53 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rumi Hiiragi	...	Chihiro Ogino / Sen (voice)
Miyu Irino	...	Haku (voice)
Mari Natsuki	...	Yubaba / Zeniba (voice)
Takashi Naitô	...	Akio Ogino (voice)
Yasuko Sawaguchi	...	Yûko Ogino (voice)
Tatsuya Gashûin	...	Aogaeru (voice)
Ryûnosuke Kamiki	...	Bô (voice)
Yumi Tamai	...	Rin (voice)
Yô Ôizumi	...	Bandai-gaeru (voice)
Koba Hayashi	...	Kawa no Kami (voice)
Tsunehiko Kamijô	...	Chichiyaku (voice)
Takehiko Ono	...	Aniyaku (voice)
Bunta Sugawara	...	Kamajî (voice)
Shigeru Wakita	...	(voice)
Shirô Saitô	...	(voice)

Storyline

Chihiro and her parents are moving to a small Japanese town in the countryside, much to Chihiro's dismay. On the way to their new home, Chihiro's father makes a wrong turn and drives down a lonely one-lane road which dead-ends in front of a tunnel. Her parents decide to stop the car and explore the area. They go through the tunnel and find an abandoned amusement park on the other side, with its own little town. When her parents see a restaurant with great-smelling food but no staff, they decide to eat and pay later. However, Chihiro refuses to eat and decides to explore the theme park a bit more. She meets a boy named Haku who tells her that Chihiro and her parents are in danger, and they must leave immediately. She runs to the restaurant and finds that her parents have turned into pigs. In addition, the theme park turns out to be a town inhabited by demons, spirits, and evil gods. At the center of the town is a bathhouse where these creatures go to relax. The owner of the bathhouse ...

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Plot Keywords:

spirit | bathhouse | anime | pig | work | 

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Taglines:

(The tunnel led Chihiro to a mysterious town...)

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some scary moments

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site Miyazaki collection

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

28 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Miyazaki's Spirited Away

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,052,197 (France) (19 April 2002)

Gross:

$10,049,886 (USA) (29 August 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tokuma Shoten, Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX Dolby (English-language version) Dolby Digital (English-language version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chihiro has a goodbye card from her "best friend Rumi." The Japanese voice actress for Chihiro's role was also named Rumi.

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Goofs

When Kamajii bangs the wheel to alert the Mushi-balls, a chopstick clearly falls down from the bowls. However, when he is cleaning off the dust only a minute later, there are two chopsticks again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Chihiro: [reading a card] I'll miss you, Chihiro. Your best friend, Rumi.

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Crazy Credits

The credits have a series of still images from the film. The last image before the film fades is Chihiro's shoe in the river.

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Connections

References Willow (1988)

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Soundtracks

Paradise
Written by Mike Castonguay, Marc Terenzi, Ben Bledsoe
Performed by Natural and Ben Bledsoe
Produced by Ben Bledsoe and Mike Castonguay
BMG Records and Trans Continental Records
(German Release)

User Reviews

Mystical and enchanting. A key to another world.

Mystical. Enchanting. A key to another world. There are so many ways to describe this movie. The movie focuses on a young girl who is trapped in a sort of "spirit world". When her mother and father are turned into pigs, young Chihiro has to save her parents before they're cooked and eaten. It may sound silly, but this tale has more to it than farm animals. When Chihiro is frightened, she runs off. When a boy finds her, he tells her that she must get a job at "The Bath House". A sort of retreat for spirits. But to do this, she must speak with Yubaba. The witch who rules The Bathhouse. After Yubaba agrees to give Chihiro some work. She takes her name away from her. And she is then called "Sen". While shes at the bath house, she is put under very hard work. I could say more, but that would be foolish of me. This is a great movie that I think people of all ages should see for themselves. Its an enchanting and heartwarming story that I've watched over and over again and have never gotten sick of it. It has been another inspiring movie from Haiyo Miazaki that is above all his best yet. A 10 out of 10 for this wonderful movie.