Written and directed by renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away is said to be the most financially successful Japanese film of all time. It won the Best Picture Award at the 2001 Japanese Academy Awards and the Best Animated Feature Award at the 2002 Academy Awards in the US. Though this animated film's loosely structured story requires some patience from the viewer, it is certainly a visual smorgasbord with compelling artistry in several scenes.

The Alice in Wonderland story of Spirited Away follows a young girl's journey into a surreal spirit world. It is a sometimes harsh fairy tale with intense scenes that include some scary spirits and not so insignificant levels of violence. Though no human-like creature is shown to be injured significantly during the film (except maybe in the parents-to-pigs transformation scene), there is a particularly strong scene involving a bloodied and injured dragon that is likely to be one of the most graphically intimidating sections for children.

Spirited Away definitely earns its PG rating. Though licensed for distribution by Disney, this film does not have a Disney feel. Despite Disney's marketing attempts to proclaim Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away to be a natural sibling to Disney's animation products, this movie very much has its own distinctive Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki personality.

After all that gloom and doom, I should assure parents that this can be an excellent film for children who are beyond the purple dinosaur stage. Though there is a serious tone to Spirited Away, with seriousness comes depth. I think the depth and intrigue of Spirited Away, along with its significant dose of seriousness, has more potential to engage a child's mind and makes the movie more capable of inspiring creativity.

There is an irrational bizarreness to Spirited Away that also adds to its complicated feel. Hayao Miyazaki says he begins production of his animated films without a defined story and without knowing where the characters are going. Though difficult to understand Miyazaki's logic, he says he does this because he does not have time to figure those things out before he begins production. If he is not exaggerating on how unplanned his features are, Miyazaki's team actually start drawing frames without even knowing the end of the movie. That might help explain the narrative looseness and strangely diverse elements of the film. I suspect that many children who are old enough or mature enough for this movie will find the complications of the story memorable and intriguing, leaving a stronger impression than many of the more generic stories typically presented to them.

One of the biggest disappointments for me in watching Spirited Away was the quality of some of the character animation. Studio Ghibli uses some computer generated content and effects in their films these days, but the character animation seems to be mostly hand drawn. The design and backgrounds were often spectacular, but the smoothness of the animation in some scenes is not what some might be accustomed to in the old Disney hand drawn classics.

With computer animation becoming less time intensive and less costly, while also being embraced enthusiastically by the viewing public, the day of the immaculate, hand drawn animated classic may be fast disappearing. I wonder if the marketplace will ever again support an animation masterpiece featuring smooth, high frame rate, masterfully hand drawn images. One must also assume that the discipline of first quality hand drawn animation is not being pursued by as many artists these days, when the most substantial career opportunities lie in the digital realm. Cost, an audience that may prefer three dimensional animation, and a possibly shrinking talent pool do not bode well for the future of exceptional quality, hand drawn work. I suspect the occasional lack of smoothness in Spirited Away is primarily due to time and budgetary constraints during production.

In case I have overstated or given too negative an impression of the quality of the character animation in Spirited Away, please know that the animation is not crude. It is just sometimes not ultra fluid. It is also a little too "cartoonish" for me in places.

Part of the cartoon effect comes from the style of some of the characters and that is not really a quality issue per se. You really do get an impression that an amazing variety of artists worked on Spirited Away. The variety of spirits and how they are presented graphically is very artistically diverse. I haven't seen much reference to the quality of the character animation in discussions of this highly regarded and almost universally acclaimed film, so I thought I should mention it in this review. Please do not let these observations turn you away from the film.

It is the overall design of Spirited Away that is the most fascinating. The world around and the environment within the spirit bathhouse where little Chihiro ends up, really comes to life through the design of the film. The design of the movie was so interesting to me, I have ordered the Spirited Away Art Book for my own library (see link in the left column on this page). After my copy of the book arrives in the mail, I may add some comments about it here on the site.

Beautifully designed, acceptably and often wonderfully animated, as well as visually stunning in many scenes, this bizarre world created by Hayao Miyazaki is definitely worth investigation by inquisitive movie lovers. And Spirited Away is certainly deserving of being added to the DVD collections of households with animation enthusiasts or households with parents wishing to provide thought provoking entertainment for their kids.

I have to admit as an adult I was not as captivated by Spirited Away as I had hoped or expected to be from all the glowing praise this film has received. I can understand the wonder and enjoyment a child might draw from the story, but I had to find my pleasure in purely technical and design oriented categories of the Spirited Away production. I wish I was drawn in and engaged more by this odd movie. I generally like odd movies. Spirited Away roamed a little too freely with its narrative to keep me spellbound.

Savage Japan Misc. Tidbits.
In the few years since Spirited Away's release, apparently there has been no other film that has come along to take away its title of being the #1 box office success of all time in Japan. Animated films that can please children and still manage to hold the interest of adults would seem to have a strong box office advantage in Japan, just as they do in the US.

I am curious to know the box office tally of Spirited Away in comparison to an extremely successful Japanese live action film such as The Twilight Samurai from 2002. I will try to find some box office comparison information before posting The Twilight Samurai review.

For Japanese Language Students
I found Spirited Away to be excellent for Japanese language listening comprehension practice. There are of course no real faces to observe during conversations or subtle body language aspects to pick up on in an animated film, but the conversations are plentiful and not as complicated as the dialogue in other movies might be. Some of the voice acting is delivered in an exaggerated manner because of the fantasy creatures being portrayed, but the language seems designed to be within the listening comprehension abilities of a Japanese child. This is certainly helpful for someone like me at a beginner level.