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Audio Format: DD 5.1 Surround Video Format: Widescreen 2.00:1 (Anamorphic) Languages: Japanese, English, French Subtitles: English Region Code: 1 Year Made: 2001 Running Time: 132
 You've got to wonder why people continue to write reviews of Miyazaki movies, since they almost all end up sounding the same in the end. "Wow," "magical," "he's done it again" "sure to be the biggest movie of the summer," on and on it goes, and then after recycling the same words of praise and amazement in a slightly new order for a few paragraphs you come the inevitable five-star rating.
The story begins with our main character, the young and scrawny Chihiro, becoming trapped on one side of a river after walking through a dark tunnel. She finds herself in a town normally invisible to humans, one in which various gods, from local deities to goblins and monsters, are quite visible. After she is trapped in this town with her parents, who are turned into pigs for eating the food of the gods without permission, Chihiro begins to disappear. She survives by getting a job from the witch Yu-baaba at a public bath for gods, which is the main attraction of this strange town. In order to receive her job, however, she is forced to give Yu-baaba her name, who then replaces "Chihiro" with the moniker "Sen."
 Thus the first theme of Spirited Away is revealed: that of the importance of words. Some ancient cultures believed that all things and people have "real" names, and when you know that real name, you have power over that thing. Words were used carefully. Miyazaki has stated that he believes that words have great import and meaning, and is distressed at the lack of thought that goes into them in our modern times. He believes that there is still great gravity of purpose carried in words even today, though plethora and overuse of meaningless words nowadays often makes that hard to believe. That theme is revived in Spirited Away as Chihiro must remember her name in order to return to her world. She becomes increasingly distressed during the movie as she begins to have trouble remembering her true name.
 Another major theme is that of the existence of good and evil in the world. In Spirited Away we are taken into another world, one that comes beautifully to life in the hands of Ghibli's animators. It is distinctly Japanese, and flows from that rich and unique folklore history. At its core, however, it is also a reflection of our world, and brings this movie into the realm of allegory. Chihiro's adventures in the public bathhouse is characterised by meetings with many types of gods, both good and evil. Through her wit and with the help of her friends, she survives. In the end, when the lights go on and the credits roll across the screen, the story is done not because evil was vanquished or the other world disappeared, but simply because Chihiro found the will to survive. This is a recurring theme in many of Miyazaki's works, most notably in his manga "Nausica?" as is his belief that to destroy evil completely would be to destroy the world. He believes that evil is part of this world, and integral to its existence; to deny evil is absurdity, to vanquish it, impossibility.
 
So what of the character development, the computer animation, the basic plot and suspense? All excellent, of course. The character development is charming and moving, and the computer effects are even more effectively integrated than in Mononoke Hime. The surface plot and suspense situations are also well done in the classic Ghibli style. But it is the underlying themes discussed above that, in my mind, elevate this movie above a Disney fable or children's cartoon. While not as deep or epic as Nausica? nor as action-packed as Laputa, this movie is nonetheless firmly entrenched in my mind as one of Ghibli's best. Miyazaki has done it again, folks. Is anyone surprised?
 In his latest film, ``Chihiro-wa Sen-ui Haengbang Pulmyong (Spirited Away), Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki invites moviegoers into a fantastic world filled with strange and unusual creatures, many in need of a nice, hot bath.
A 10-year-old girl named Chihiro is traveling with her mother and father, when her parents decide to make a stop at a curious-looking tunnel. Against Chihiros wishes, the three enter and make their way to the other side, where they find themselves trapped in a magical world of spirits.
After her parents are transformed into pigs, a distressed Chihiro meets a young boy named Sen who takes her to a nearby bathhouse, patronized by odd and fantastic-looking creatures. These customers, Chihiro later finds out, are spirits and deities who search out the bathhouse for rest and relaxation.
 Because of the similarity of themes _ a young girl entering a tunnel and becoming lost in a fantastic world _ comparisons to Disneys version of Lewis Carroll's ``Alice in Wonderland are unavoidable. But the world created by Miyazaki, with its undertone of mysticism, is decidedly different than the one Disney portrayed.
Miyazaki's invented world is a spiritual one, filled with beings existing in a symbiotic relationship with the land. As in two of his previous films, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1984 and Mononoke Hime in 1997, the director uses these creatures to describe a complex and brittle relationship between man and his environment.
Unlike the earlier works, however, ``Spirited Away refuses to take itself too seriously. Rather, Miyazaki said he wished to make a film ``that 10-year-olds can watch and say that they had a lot of fun. Keeping everything on a lighter, humorous side, the movie, which won the Golden Bear at this years Berlin Film Festival, has an innocent appeal similar to Miyazakis 1988 animation My Neighbor Totoro. Regardless of age, viewers will become fully caught up in the logic and beauty of the directors latest creation.
Introduction - 1. John Lasseter
Featurette - 1. Voice Talent
2. THE ART OF SPIRITED AWAY
3. Television Nippon Special
Trailers
Film-to-Storyboard Comparison
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Text/Photo Galleries:
Storyboards
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