SPIRITED AWAY DVD

Chihiro (Daveigh Chase) is an apathetic, 10 year-old girl being forced to move to a new town with her parents. During the car ride to their new home, her father gets lost and they come across what looks to be an abandoned town. Chihiro is skeptical of the place, but her parents take advantage of some free food available at a restaurant, despite no one being around. Then things start to get weird. She is warned by a boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) to leave immediately, but her route back has turned into a river. She finds that her parents have turned into pigs and various types of spirits are now populating this mysterious town. It seems that she is now in a spirit world and must figure out how to get home. Spirited Away is probably the most well-known film to come from Studio Ghibli and the legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki. It really stands out as an exemplary example of animated films. To start off with, the animation in this film is outstanding. There is a ton of detail in the background art that really helps to bring alive both the real world and the fantasy world that Chihiro spends most of the film in. The designs and animation of the characters themselves is well done and really helps make this film a memorable experience. This is especially notable with Chihiro herself who goes through many emotions and experiences throughout the film from her humorous reaction to meeting a stink spirit to a sad realization over her situation. The other characters are very memorable in their own right as well. Taking place in a fantasy setting really gave the creators of this film a lot of chances to come up with imaginative characters, such as the various spirits seen, and they used this opportunity well. This includes the witch-like Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette) who runs the bathhouse along with the mysterious spirit No-Face (Bob Bergen) that follows Chihiro around. All other aspects of this film work as well. As I have already mentioned, the characters and story are well written and really help make this movie memorable. The music is top notch, composed by Ghibli regular Joe Hisaishi. In addition to this, I thought that Disney did a good job with their dub that stays faithful to the original story, for those that prefer dubs. This Blu-ray set comes with many bonus features. This includes a making-of movie, the original Japanese soundtrack, storyboards, and trailers. All in all, this is nothing short of an excellent animated film that is sure to be enjoyed by both kid and adult fans of animation.

My kids love this movie. They always laugh at the funny parts. They don't ever get board of watch it.

Magnificent. Chihiro is transformed from a scaredy cat child to a confident, self-assured but kind and loving girl.

One of the best movies I’ve ever watched to be honest I highly recommend it to anyone. That’s definitely not seen it and it’s definitely moving when I watch over and over again

I've been introducing my seven-year-old to several of Studio Ghibli offerings, such as Kiki's Delivery Service , Howl's Moving Castle , My Neighbor Totoro , Ponyo , and more recently Studio Ghibli: The Borrower Arrietty DVD (Licensed boxed version, Japanese audio version with Eng Sub) . I held off on showing her Spirited Away until today because I felt some elements such as the spirit world would be too scary for her until now. She watched it with me this afternoon and loved it! Before showing this to her, I explained some elements of Asian folklore (I am originally from Southeast Asia and could relate to some of the folklore underlying this story) so she could follow the story better, though this is not strictly necessary, especially for older viewers. Spirited Away follows the adventures of 10-year-old Chihiro who together with her parents is making a move from the city to the suburbs. Chihiro is not very happy about this move, and when her parents accidentally find themselves off the beaten path on their way to their new home, she discourages them from exploring. Chihiro has a strange sense of foreboding that this new place which her father presumes to be an abandoned theme park is much more than that and she is of course proven right. Her parents are turned into pigs after gorging on food they found at this place, which turns out to be inhabited by the spirit world. In Asian folklore, there is an emphasis on respecting old superstitions, which includes belief in the spirit world inhabited by the Gods and otherworldly creatures. When Chihiro's parents gorged on food meant for the spirits, they were being very disrespectful and so are punished accordingly. The rest of the story follows Chihiro's efforts, aided by the loyal Haku, to redeem her parents and make their escape from the malevolent witch Yubaba who rules over this world. The animation is simply amazing and conjures up a fantastical world of odd-looking creatures (that radish spirit was just out of this world!) in an alternate world that is vividly brought to life. The animation is superior but what makes this such a memorable film is the heartfelt story with its underlying theme of respect, loyalty,friendship, trust, and sacrifice. Chihiro's relentless efforts to save her parents credibly portrays the theme of filial piety and her courage and determination make her a true heroine, serving as a great role model for children. This is a film to be enjoyed by viewers of all ages, and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to share this remarkable film with my own child. P.S. Watch out for deals on Studio Ghibli films here on Amazon, as the prices tend to drop and I've been able to amass my very own Ghibli collection!

Love this movie!!

Spirited Away is the Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki film that made of me a full on fan. I am now taking a moment to make all of the squee! sounds a person one tenth my age might make in reviewing this movie. To forestall the flow of superlatives that this movie deserves allow for a little admin. Spirited Away is Family Friendly. Having a young girl as the hero may make it a tough sell for small boys, but it is such a well told story, they may let themselves be won over. It is certainly aimed at the younger family members, but in my house, two adults, no kids it is a favorite movie. Miyazaki has made a movie with enough sophistication and depth to be more than kiddie show. Studio Ghibli as usual has made this such a beautiful movie, that it can be enjoyed as an animated art show even with the sound off. Spirited Away is what a fairy story should be. It contains almost all of the classical elements, but it refuses to be easy to anticipate. There is always an unexpected detail, or another beautiful image that make this a viewing delight. Observing the conventions, ten year-old, whiny and grumpy Chihiro Ogino(voiced magnificently by child actor Daveigh Chase) is moving with her parents from her home to a new life in the country. Along the way they find themselves in what they believe to be an abandoned theme park. Her parents succumb to the temptation of rich and savory food and are turned into pigs. Chihiro being too scared to eat avoids the transformation and learns that this is a magical town where spirits come for their holiday and to take advantage of the wondrous Bath House. The Bath house is ruled by the ruthless, but not entirely evil Yubaba (Again magnificently voiced by Suzanne Pleshette). Here the young Chihiro signs away her name to become one of the workers. Literally she signs away her name and becomes known as Sen. She cannot go back to her old life until she remember her old name. She will be called upon to perfume heavy work, make friends of unlikely spirits, help fight evil and make sacrifices in favor of others. So far this is fairly standard fairy tale stuff. But back it with almost unlimited imaginings of what spirits might look like, non-traditional plotting and depth of imagination. Miyazaki and Ghibli have peopled a complete magical world and shown us a ten year-old girl who can stand up to it and win it and us to her side. This is my second copy of Spirited Away and at least my 4th viewing. It is that good.

Many people feel (including myself) that "Spirited Away" is Miyazaki's best work. It's easily worth seeing more than once, more than twice, putting it in a very special category of work. This is possibly because Miyazaki does so much of his movies himself, giving a purity of purpose that most movies, made by committee, cannot possibly match if the single creator is so gifted, which Miyazaki absolutely is. The plot is surprisingly complex, with numerous characters who don't fit into stereotyped "good or evil" roles. Just watching the first 10 minutes reveals Miyazaki's almost unlimited imagination in action. "Spirited Away" is a bit over 2 hours long, considerably longer than most US animated works. So you get plenty of value, considering you will very likely end up watching multiple times over the years. "Spirited Away" focuses on a girl who faces all sorts of challenges, and is forced to grow up in order to save her parents, after they all became trapped in a completely different world they are sucked into after they lose their way. One involving aspect of the movie is that people and other beings in this other world are simply going to work, trying to make money, eating etc- their motives aren't different from ours. Magic is part of their lives, instead of facing, say, a corporate framework every day at work in our world. This makes their actions much more believable, enabling us to suspend our disbelief and enjoy the movie. The artwork is gorgeous, a visual feast if there ever was one. Some viewers feel that the movie is too dark, but is this different from old Bugs Bunny cartoons? In these you'll see exaggerated cartoon violence, involving blowing each other up with dynamite, falling off cliffs and so forth. In a nation that can't seem to detach from the the 9/11 terror attacks over 10 years ago, these cartoons actually might inadvertently remind some of the unthinkable. Miyazaki's work can't be any worse than these unintentional cartoon events and no kids should be prevented from seeing the movie. I myself had nightmares for years after seeing a Disney cartoon (Fantasia) many years ago, and since "Spirited Away" resolves very positively, I don't think children should be prevented from having such a rich experience. I don't know why Miyazaki makes his animes: is it to make an environmental statement? Because his talents must be exercised? Or maybe just because he can? Whatever the reasons, we are lucky to have the chance to see his work. His worlds are so strongly conceived, so complete, that they seem to somehow be "more real" than our mundane daily lives. For someone able to evoke such powerful imagery, it's not far from a definition of magic. Something timeless and wonderful exists in "Spirited Away", something there isn't nearly enough of. If you haven't seen "Spirited Away", as the introduction says, you are in for a very rare treat.