RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Spirited Away
Spirited Away

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Spirited Away (2002)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
97 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:154

Fresh:150

Rotten:4

Average Rating:8.5/10

Consensus: Hayao Miyazaki's dazzling, enchanting Spirited Away takes viewers, young and old alike, through the looking glass.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some scary moments

Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins

Genre: Childrens

Theatrical Release:Sep 20, 2002 Limited

Box Office: $9,855,615

Synopsis: Directed by animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, SPIRITED AWAY is the tale of Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase), a young girl who is taken down an unusual road by her parents while moving to a new home... Directed by animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, SPIRITED AWAY is the tale of Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase), a young girl who is taken down an unusual road by her parents while moving to a new home in an unfamiliar town. The curiosity of Chihiro's mother (Lauren Holly) and father (Michael Chiklis) leads the reluctant child into what appears to be an abandoned amusement park. Soon her parents are greedily feasting on various delights from an enticing food stand and are literally turned into pigs. The frightened and bewildered girl then encounters a young man named Haku (Jason Marsden), who explains what she must do to navigate this strange and magical realm. Finding employment in a bathhouse for spirits and other odd characters--including kimono-wearing frogs, lumbering tentacled monsters, and a mysterious apparition named No Face--Chihiro attempts to figure out how she can free her parents from the clutches of the resort's owner, a powerful witch named Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette). In the process, she makes some very eccentric friends--and has to deal with some notoriously stinky customers. A surreal adventure reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, SPIRITED AWAY continues Miyazaki's streak of groundbreaking animated films that also includes PRINCESS MONONOKE and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. Succeeding MONONOKE as the most successful film in Japanese cinema history, this charming movie follows its own bizarre yet engaging logic as it reveals a cast of fascinating characters and jaw-dropping settings through stunningly beautiful hand-crafted animation. A movie experience like no other, SPIRITED AWAY is sure to enchant audiences of all ages, leaving viewers grinning with a giddy sense of wonderment. [More]

Starring: Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan

Starring: Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan, Lauren Holly, Suzanne Pleshette, David Ogden Stiers, John Ratzenberger

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Screenwriter: Hayao Miyazaki
Composer: Joe Hisaishi
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 2 of 2

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Apr 15, 2003

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Miyazaki's Spirited Away
  • From one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animated cinema comes the most acclaimed film of 2002. Hayao Miyazaki's latest triumph, filled with astonishing animation and epic adventure, is a dazzling masterpiece for the ages. It's a "wonderfully welcoming work of art that's as funny and entertaining as it is brilliant, beautiful, and deep" (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal). SPIRITED AWAY is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl, Chihiro, trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and return her family to the outside world. An unforgettable story brimming with creativity, SPIRITED AWAY will take you on a journey beyond your imagination. "To enter the world of Hayao Miyazaki is to experience a kind of lighthearted enchantment that is unique to the world of animation" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). It's a fantastic tale the whole family will want to experience over and over again.
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Spirited Away

    • T-Meter Critics
    • Top Critics
    • RT Community
    • My Critics
    • My Friends
    • DVD
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
    Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
     
     

    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.

    Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment Comment
    08/25/09
    Nick Davis
    Nick Davis
    Nick's Flick Picks

    I went nuts over this movie.

    Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
    04/29/09
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Cinema Crazed

    Filmgoers of all ages should not pass up the opportunity to experience such a work of staggering imagination.

    Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
    12/28/08
    Michael Dequina
    Michael Dequina
    TheMovieReport.com

    This persistently fascinating if slightly over-long fairytale is propelled by the seemingly boundless imagination of writer-director Hayao Miyazaki.

    Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Joe Lozito
    Joe Lozito
    Big Picture Big Sound

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    Susan Stark
    Susan Stark
    Detroit News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Spirited Away is wonderful.

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    09/03/08
    Daniel Etherington
    Daniel Etherington
    Channel 4 Film

    A fractured, knotted story about adjusting to new surroundings and having courage in the face of peril.

    Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
    08/07/08
    Mark Halverson
    Mark Halverson
    Sacramento News & Review

    Think you're too hip for Japanese anime about a lost ten-year-old girl whose parents turn into snorting pigs? Get over it.

    Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment 2 Comments
    08/14/07
    Peter Travers
    Peter Travers
    Rolling Stone
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Despite a dip midway through, this is a captivating fantasy that sets a new benchmark for animation.

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
    12/30/06
    Patrick Peters
    Patrick Peters
    Empire Magazine

    Initially seems like a Through the Looking-Glass fantasy, but rapidly picks up a resonance, weight and complexity that make it all but Shakespearean.

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    06/24/06
    Derek Adams
    Derek Adams
    Time Out

    I struggled to find the source of imperfection in this film

    Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    09/20/05
    Dragan Antulov
    Dragan Antulov
    Draxblog Movie Reviews

    Far and away the best film I've seen this year.

    Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
    01/15/05
    Jeffrey Overstreet
    Jeffrey Overstreet
    Looking Closer

    Not instructive, as Disney is, and not aloof, like anime. Spirited Away is fun without being a lesson, and it welcomes you in.

    Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment Comment
    07/06/04
    Jake Euker
    Jake Euker
    F5 (Wichita, KS)

    'Mostrando un profundo respeto por el mundo espiritual, Miyazaki logra una verdadera joya de la animación que a veces raya en lo poético'

    Full Review Source: Moviola | comment Comment
    01/09/04
    Jorge Avila Andrade
    Jorge Avila Andrade
    Moviola

    It races along with the speed of a bullet train, visiting weird, enchanted places the likes of which have never been seen before.

    Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
    10/28/03
    Anton Bitel
    Anton Bitel
    Movie Gazette

    The wonders never stop.

    Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
    10/08/03
    Jurgen Fauth
    Jurgen Fauth
    About.com

    Miyazaki confía en la inteligencia del público y en su capacidad de asombro, y ambas cosas las pone a prueba constantemente en este viaje extraordinario donde todo, cualquier cosa, puede pasar en cualquier momento.

    Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
    09/23/03
    Enrique Buchichio
    Enrique Buchichio
    Uruguay Total

    Even if CG cartoons come to dominate Japan as they do much of the world, there's a corner of the animation field that will be forever Miyazaki.

    Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
    09/03/03
    Andrew Osmond
    Andrew Osmond
    Sight and Sound

    One of the most impressive animated features of this year, or any other.

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    09/03/03
    Jamie Russell
    Jamie Russell
    BBC

    A genuinely magical experience that both adults and children will enjoy. See it -- you’ll be glad you did.

    Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
    08/17/03
    Matthew Turner
    Matthew Turner
    ViewLondon
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
    all

    Latest News for Spirited Away

    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 celebrates the imaginative, dazzling world of animation with out countdown of the... More...

    August 21, 2008: Japanese Audiences Flocking to Miyazaki's Latest Opens in new window
    He delighted audiences with Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle -- and now director Hayao Miyazaki is doing it all over again with his latest film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the... More...

    March 20, 2007: Will Miyazaki's Next Film Be His Last?
    It's been speculated that legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki will retire after the release of his next film, "Ponyo on a Cliff," but now it looks like we'll have at... More...

    October 03, 2006: Miyazaki Prepares Next Animation Classic
    Let's face it: When the director of "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," and a whole bunch of other brilliant pieces of animation announces that he's about... More...

    See All

    More DVDs

    Close
    Top Rentals
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    15% 15% The Ugly Truth
    98% 98% Up
    36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
    52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
    45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

    More Rentals…

    New On DVD This Week
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    95% 95% Star Trek
    67% 67% Bruno
    47% 47% My Sister's Keeper
    66% 66% Is Anybody There?
    82% 82% Thirst

    More New Releases…

    See All

    RT On Current TV

    The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

    DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

    Learn how you can be part of the show

    More...

    What’s Hot On RT

    Avatar

    Avatar

    Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video!

    Friday Harvest

    Friday Harvest

    This week's best pics, posters, and videos!

    RT's Gift Guide

    RT's Gift Guide

    Give the best movies, gear, and more!

    What to Watch?

    What to Watch?

    Read our Holiday Movie Preview!

    Other News

    Close
    • Top Stories
    • Popular
    • Interviews
     
     

    Comments

     
     
    Top Stories
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
    70
    • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
    112
    • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
    32
    • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
    63
    • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
    20
    • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
    26
    • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
    51
    • McTeigue Says Superman Is "In a Weird Place" Source: MTV
    204
    • Rachel McAdams Debunks Spider-Man 4 Rumor Source: Entertainment Weekly
    117
    • Avatar: Gambling on Film's Future Source: Los Angeles Times
    128
    Popular
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
    127
    • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
    96
    • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
    67
    • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
    51
    • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
    50
    • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
    35
    • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Star Trek, Bruno, and Cheaper Sopranos
    32
    • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
    28
    • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
    8
    • Ho, ho, ho! It's RT's Great Big Gift Guide!
    0
    Interviews
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
    8
    • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
    19
    • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
    6
    • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
    15
    • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
    16
    • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
    8
    • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
    28
    • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
    28
    • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
    14
    • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
    41
     
     

    Sponsored Links

    Around The Network

    • Spirited Away at Rotten Tomatoes
    • Spirited Away at IGN
    • Spirited Away at AskMen

    Fresh Links

    Featured
    Star Trek DVD Exclusive
    Star Trek DVD Exclusive External Link

    TECHLAND gives us a first look at the extras, including Leonard Nimoy's last day on set!

    The New Cult Canon
    The New Cult Canon External Link

    AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

    New Moon Portraits
    New Moon Portraits External Link

    TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

    Unsexiest Men Alive
    Unsexiest Men Alive External Link

    Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.

    Promos
    Follow RT on Twitter
    Follow RT on Twitter External Link

    Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

     
     
    About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
    IGN Logo

    IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
    TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
    AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


    By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
    Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
    IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
    Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.