Spirited Away (2001)
Average Rating: 8.5/10
Reviews Counted: 157
Fresh: 152 | Rotten: 5
Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them.
Average Rating: 8.6/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 0
Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 284,578
My Rating
Movie Info
Master animation director Hayao Miyazaki follows up on his record-breaking 1997 opus Princess Mononoke with this surreal Alice in Wonderland-like tale about a lost little girl. The film opens with ten-year-old Chihiro riding along during a family outing as her father races through remote country roads. When they come upon a blocked tunnel, her parents decide to have a look around -- even though Chihiro finds the place very creepy. When they pass through the tunnel, they discover an abandoned
Cast
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Daveigh Chase
Chihiro [USA Version] -
Rumi Hiiragi
Chihiro -
Jason Marsden
Haku [USA Version] -
Miyu Irino
Haku -
Mari Natsuki
Yubaba/Zeniba -
Suzanne Pleshette
Yubaba/Zeniba [USA Ver... -
Yumi Tamai
Lin -
Susan Egan
Lin [USA Version] -
David Ogden Stiers
Boiler Room Man [USA V... -
Yasuka Sawaguchi
Chihiro's mother Yugo -
Lauren Holly
Chihiro's mother [USA ... -
Tatsuya Gasyuin
Frog man -
Ryunosuke Kamiki
Boh -
Michael Chiklis
Chihiro's father [USA ... -
Takashi Naitô
Chihiro's father Akio -
John Ratzenberger
The Bathhouse Manager ... -
Yo Oizumi
Foreman of the frog men -
Tara Strong
Baby Boh -
Koba Hayashi
River God -
Tsunehiko Kamijyo
School principal -
Takehiko Ono
Employee -
Bunta Sugawara
Kamaji -
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All Critics (157) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (164) | Rotten (5) | DVD (48)
Think you're too hip for Japanese anime about a lost ten-year-old girl whose parents turn into snorting pigs? Get over it.
Initially seems like a Through the Looking-Glass fantasy, but rapidly picks up a resonance, weight and complexity that make it all but Shakespearean.
Miyazaki's nonstop images are so stunning, and his imagination so vivid, that the only possible complaint you could have about Spirited Away is that there is no rest period, no timeout.
In scene after scene, Spirited Away unleashes so much wonder and visual imagination that you end up watching the movie in a state of rapturous, awestruck bliss.
Visually imaginative, thematically instructive and thoroughly delightful, it takes us on a roller-coaster ride from innocence to experience without even a hint of that typical kiddie-flick sentimentality.
[Spirited Away is] the most deeply and mysteriously satisfying animated feature to come along in ages.
...a gorgeously animated yet sporadically entertaining endeavor that isn't quite the instant classic one might've expected...
Magnificent, spellbinding movie has a bit of edge.
Full of riches, thematic and visual, and the best way to understand them is simply to watch the film and take it all in.
Spirited Away exalts the young girl Chihiro's uncanny experiences into an adventure that is as thrillingly ambiguous as it is vividly soundtracked and illustrated.
I went nuts over this movie.
Filmgoers of all ages should not pass up the opportunity to experience such a work of staggering imagination.
This persistently fascinating if slightly over-long fairytale is propelled by the seemingly boundless imagination of writer-director Hayao Miyazaki.
Spirited Away is wonderful.
A fractured, knotted story about adjusting to new surroundings and having courage in the face of peril.
Miyazaki has created a complete, complex world with this film, and it's certainly a magical journey. Very, very good entertainment.
Despite a dip midway through, this is a captivating fantasy that sets a new benchmark for animation.
I struggled to find the source of imperfection in this film
Far and away the best film I've seen this year.
Western audiences will recognize in this "little girl lost" movie a number of similarities to Baum's Wizard of Oz and Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
Not instructive, as Disney is, and not aloof, like anime. Spirited Away is fun without being a lesson, and it welcomes you in.
Audience Reviews for Spirited Away
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Yubaba/Zeniba [USA Version]: Once you've met someone you never really forget them.
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- Chihiro's father [USA Version]: A new home and a new school? It is a bit scary.
- Chihiro [USA Version]: I think I can handle it.
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- Chihiro: I finally get a bouquet and it's a goodbye present. That's depressing.
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- Yubaba/Zeniba: [after turning Boh into a mouse] There. Your body matches your brain.
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- Chihiro [USA Version]: I'm dreaming,im dreaming! [pounds herself in the head]
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- Chihiro: [leans near elevator wall]
- Lin: You wanna lose your nose?!
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Latest News on Spirited Away
November 20, 2012:
Titles Announced for Next Two Studio Ghibli FilmsGet ready for "The Wind Rises" and "Princess Kaguya Story."
September 24, 2008:
Get Drawn to RT's Best Animated Films!Animated films: they ain't just cartoons anymore. Nor have they been for quite some time. RT...
August 21, 2008:
Japanese Audiences Flocking to Miyazaki's LatestHe delighted audiences with Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle -- and now director Hayao...
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Foreign Titles
- Chihiros Reise ins Zauberland (DE)
- Spirited Away (UK)




Top Critic
When brooding 10-year-old Chihiro and her parents take a wrong turn in an attempt to find their new home, they accidentally happen upon an abandoned amusement park. Yet, as one would expect, this is no regular amusement park. But rather a gateway to an alternate reality where Chihiro must fend for herself after her parents come down with a bad case of âswineâ? flu.
The film predominantly deals with Chihiroâ(TM)s transition into adulthood and the paralyzing fear of being on her own one day. Most of the adults in this separate reality are cold and cruel to her, and Chihiroâ(TM)s only instruction in this new world is to find a job. In doing so, she has to sign her name away. Her name, her identity, now belongs to her employer. It now belongs to the past. Chihiroâ(TM)s only source of solace, Haku, is another child who laments that he cannot remember his own name. The film shows that there is no easy conversion into adulthood and in doing so, you inevitably lose a precious part of your character.
In keeping with themes that he explores in his other films, Miyazaki shows that losing your childhood is something to mourn. In fact, he goes to great lengths to illustrate the depraved nature of adults. Within the first 10 minutes, he displays that unlike Chihiro, who is lead by her intuition and her gut, her parents are driven primarily by their desires. As her dad exclaims before his transformation, you can have whatever you want if you have money and credit cards. As the film progresses, the majority of the adults are entirely consumed with the idea of obtaining gold. Even innocent souls such as the mysterious âNo-Faceâ? turn into gluttonous monsters once being invited into the main bathhouse.
As per usual, the colors are rich and vibrant. How the animators captured motion in such a compelling way is stunning. I actually found myself pausing several scenes in an attempt to understand how exactly they plotted out the motion. Also, having John Lasseter supervise the English-language translation was a smart choice as I normally loathe anything dubbed, but was not distracted here at all.
My Neighbor Totoro was such a sweet film and I am glad that I got to see Miyazaki tackle some tougher issues. While on the whole I think My Neighbor Totoro is a better film, Spirited Away reminded me of how regardless of age, we all have our own fears and struggles. With countless films tackling âadult problemsâ?, it was interesting to see a filmmaker take seriously the plight of the young and the terror that comes with having to navigate your own way in this world.