Spirited Away, the eighth of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Castle in the Sky (1986).

This week: Spirited Away (2001).

Synopsis: Ten-year-old Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase) and her parents are moving to a new town. While en route to their new house, the family takes the wrong road and stumbles upon an abandoned amusement park. Chihiro tries to convince her parents to turn around and go back, but — after eating some mysterious food — her parents turn into pigs and Chihiro finds herself no longer in the human world but in the realm of the spirits. To survive and help her parents turn back into humans, Chihiro must make allies and friends as she tries to find her way in this strange realm.

Spoiler-free review: Unlike the other three films I’ve covered so far, this is one of Miyazaki’s movies I had seen previously. I watched it — albeit with the Japanese voice actors and English subtitles — in college as part of an Eastern civilization course. I remember hearing about it when I was growing up, as it won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. This movie, in my experience, is perhaps Miyazaki’s most well-known and most beloved film. Many die-hard fans will tell you that this is his best movie. While I didn’t understand the hype about this movie after I saw it the first time in college, after rewatching it for the series, I now understand why it’s so beloved and critically acclaimed. The film boasts stunning animation, a strong English-language voice cast, a succinct story and very iconic and memorable characters. I personally believe that Princess Mononoke (1997) is Miyazaki’s best film, but I would say this movie is of an equal caliber and it’s really more a question of minutia over which is the better of the two. And while I’ll cover Princess Mononoke in Part 9 of this series, I’ll say that Spirited Away is certainly more family friendly, more efficient in its storytelling and has slightly better animation than its predecessor. So, if you haven’t already seen it, you definitely should.

Letter grade: A

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

When I watched this movie for the first time, I’ll admit that it I didn’t understand the hype around it. All the Miyazaki fans I’ve ever encountered — in person or online — talked up this movie and acted like it was the best thing since sliced bread. My eastern religions professor was certainly one of them, as I believe he said we would be missing out on the experience if we didn’t watch it in the original Japanese. I definitely enjoyed watching it the first time around, but thought it was overhyped.

Now that I’ve seen more of Miyazaki’s and Studio Ghibli’s films, I understand why. The animation seems to be of a slightly different (and arguably better) style than its predecessors. The people seem to look and move a little differently; and the film benefits from some unique, beautiful and haunting character designs for Yubaba and Zeniba, No-Face, Haku, and other demons and spirits that Chihiro/Sen encounters. And, I have to say, that sequence when the park starts to transition into the realm of the spirits, and Chihiro sees all the shadowy spirits walking around is a very well-done sequence that helps put you into the world, builds up an atmosphere, and features a lot of eerie images that are now very iconic.

The story is also simple and that allows for lots of important character-building moments, like Chihiro crying in front of Haku or confronting No-Face, as well as more dramatic sequences, like when the little paper cut-outs attack Haku or when Sen journeys to visit Zeniba.

Unlike some other Miyazaki protagonists (cough — Sheeta and Pazu from Castle in the Sky  — cough) Chihiro/Sen has a clear arc, as that final juxtaposed scene in the tunnel shows us. At the beginning of the film, she was cowardly and acting like a scaredy-cat when it came to facing new challenges, like visiting the park or moving to a new town; and by the end, she has gained confidence and courage, and is no longer upset about moving to a new town. While maybe it’s not what she’d like, she’s now prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, because she’s already overcome so much in the realm of the spirits. And, I like the little touch of the hair band. It’s a little detail that could’ve been overlooked, but the animators and those behind the scenes went out of their way to remind us of what Chihiro has come through and what she’s now capable of.

Along with its great story, animation and characters, this movie also boasts a phenomenal English-language voice cast — one of the stronger ones, in my opinion, among Miyazaki’s filmography. There really aren’t any weak links. Everyone gives a solid performance, especially Daveigh Chase, who would’ve been about 10 years old when she recorded her part as Chihiro. As I said in my review for Castle in the Sky, when a full-blown adult is playing a child or pre-teen, it can take you out of the film. So I’m relieved that this movie didn’t fall into that territory, and that Chihiro is old enough that it’s not annoying when she’s on screen for more than 10 minutes. (There are other Miyazaki movies that have this problem, and we’ll talk about them more in the coming weeks.)

While I appreciate Jason Marsden’s Haku and Susan Egan’s Lin, I have to say that the MVP of the voice cast is Suzanne Pleshette, who plays the twin sisters Yubaba and Zeniba. Yubaba is such a memorable antagonist, and Pleshette flawlessly gets across all of Yubaba’s different moments and outbursts — whether she’s yelling at Chihiro/Sen, trying to placate a customer, or looking for Baby. But then, Zeniba is so completely different from Yubaba in terms of their personalities, even though they look identical. Yet Pleshette pulls it off beautifully, getting across how much softer, kinder and more motherly Zeniba is compared to her sister.

I do have a few qualms with the movie, which keep it from being an A+. But, they’re very minor. For instance, after Chihiro/Sen meets Zeniba and befriends her, she becomes a little too friendly with Yubaba. I suppose it’s because she’s no longer afraid of Yubaba like before, but I don’t think that she’s the kind of person for Chihiro to hug and thank whenever her parents are restored and she gets to go home. As I said: very minor things.

Overall, it’s a wonderful film, and absolutely one to watch or revisit whenever you get the chance.

Next week: The Wind Rises (2013).