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.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.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
- Writer
- Stars
- Daveigh Chase(English version)
- Suzanne Pleshette(English version)
- Miyu Irino(voice)
Top credits
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
- Daveigh Chase(English version)
- Suzanne Pleshette(English version)
- Miyu Irino(voice)
- Won 1 Oscar
- 58 wins & 31 nominations total
Videos4
Daveigh Chase
- Chihiroas Chihiro
- (English version)
- (voice)
Suzanne Pleshette
- Yubabaas Yubaba
- (English version)
- (voice)
- …
Miyu Irino
- Hakuas Haku
- (voice)
Mari Natsuki
- Yubabaas Yubaba
- (voice)
- …
Ryûnosuke Kamiki
- Bôas Bô
- (voice)
Yumi Tamai
- Rinas Rin
- (voice)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDespite having a rich plot with developed characters, Spirited Away (2001) was not made with a script. In fact, Miyazaki's films never had scripts. "I don't have the story finished and ready when we start work on a film," the filmmaker told Midnight Eye. "I usually don't have the time. So the story develops when I start drawing storyboards. The production starts very soon thereafter, while the storyboards are still developing." Miyazaki does not know where the plot is going, and he lets it happen organically. "It's not me who makes the film. The film makes itself and I have no choice but to follow".
- GoofsAfter Haku flies out of the bedroom we see Sen's left hand touching more of the blood on the railing. The elevator attendant sees it on the same hand after grabbing her arm as she tries to board it. Not much later we see her looking at the same hand again before running across the pipe. It isn't till after being held captive by the baby under the cushions that the blood switches hands as he holds her by the left arm revealing no blood on that hand at all.
- Crazy creditsThe credits have a series of still images from the film. The last image before the film fades is Chihiro's shoe in the river.
- Alternate versionsVarious dialog is added to the English dub to explain settings, translate Japanese text, or traditions; for example, when Chihiro first sees the bathhouse, in the English dub, she says "It's a bathhouse", which isn't present in the Japanese version.
- ConnectionsEdited into Miyazaki Dreams of Flying (2017)
Top review
a minority dissenting view
In Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning animated feature, `Spirited Away,' a young girl by the name of Chihiro and her parents stumble across an abandoned `amusement park' that turns out to be a mysterious bathhouse for the spirit world (a la `Carnival of Souls'). After her parents are turned into pigs, the young girl must infiltrate the bathhouse to find a way to make them human again. Chihiro encounters an amazing array of strange and exotic creatures abiding there, some of whom help her in her quest and some of whom don't.
No one would ever deny the visual splendor and wealth of imagination that have gone into the look of this film. The animators have created an entire world filled with inhabitants that defy description. Moreover, the elegance of the backgrounds and the fluidity of the movement provide some of the best work in those areas that animation has ever offered. One appreciates the effort, especially in this day and age when imagination in movies is at such a premium. Therefore, I feel like a bit of an ingrate pointing out that `Spirited Away' might actually have been a somewhat better film had the filmmakers opted for a little LESS imagination in favor of a little more discipline in the storytelling. The filmmakers are so busy trying to dazzle us with their creativity that we end up with more characters and subplots than the film can reasonably cope with. The story often feels arbitrary in nature, with events that seem unrelated to each other vying for our attention just so we can be impressed with how creative everyone is trying to be. The film seems to ramble for a good part of the time, and we find ourselves yearning for a tighter, more streamlined narrative to help keep us involved. In addition, there's a certain lack of logic that runs through most of the film, making us question why certain characters do what they do. For instance, why would a bunch of spirits be so concerned with eating, sleeping, making money, riding trains, etc.? The rules of this world don't seem to be laid down rigorously enough for us to understand what it's all supposed to be about.
I don't want to sound like a total curmudgeon in criticizing a film that, apparently, many people, including innumerable critics, have hailed as a masterpiece. And I do concede that `Spirited Away' has moments of great beauty and charm to more than compensate for its rather slow pacing and excessive length. A haunting trip on a ghostly train is, perhaps, the highlight of the film, a transcendent moment that hints at how great the rest of the film could have been had its makers not felt the need to pad out the story so consistently. Chihiro is a spunky, poignant and noble heroine, and a few of the other characters are compelling as well.
`Spirited Away' offers much for the audience to gape and marvel at, but it lacks the drama to make us really care.
No one would ever deny the visual splendor and wealth of imagination that have gone into the look of this film. The animators have created an entire world filled with inhabitants that defy description. Moreover, the elegance of the backgrounds and the fluidity of the movement provide some of the best work in those areas that animation has ever offered. One appreciates the effort, especially in this day and age when imagination in movies is at such a premium. Therefore, I feel like a bit of an ingrate pointing out that `Spirited Away' might actually have been a somewhat better film had the filmmakers opted for a little LESS imagination in favor of a little more discipline in the storytelling. The filmmakers are so busy trying to dazzle us with their creativity that we end up with more characters and subplots than the film can reasonably cope with. The story often feels arbitrary in nature, with events that seem unrelated to each other vying for our attention just so we can be impressed with how creative everyone is trying to be. The film seems to ramble for a good part of the time, and we find ourselves yearning for a tighter, more streamlined narrative to help keep us involved. In addition, there's a certain lack of logic that runs through most of the film, making us question why certain characters do what they do. For instance, why would a bunch of spirits be so concerned with eating, sleeping, making money, riding trains, etc.? The rules of this world don't seem to be laid down rigorously enough for us to understand what it's all supposed to be about.
I don't want to sound like a total curmudgeon in criticizing a film that, apparently, many people, including innumerable critics, have hailed as a masterpiece. And I do concede that `Spirited Away' has moments of great beauty and charm to more than compensate for its rather slow pacing and excessive length. A haunting trip on a ghostly train is, perhaps, the highlight of the film, a transcendent moment that hints at how great the rest of the film could have been had its makers not felt the need to pad out the story so consistently. Chihiro is a spunky, poignant and noble heroine, and a few of the other characters are compelling as well.
`Spirited Away' offers much for the audience to gape and marvel at, but it lacks the drama to make us really care.
helpful•10232
- Buddy-51
- May 3, 2003
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $19,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,750,644
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $449,839
- Sep 22, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $355,725,195
- Runtime2 hours 5 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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