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Spirited Away

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Spirited Away (2002)

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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

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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.
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    Reviews for Spirited Away

    • T-Meter Critics
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    81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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    ...brilliant in its imagery and astonishing in its creativity. Many films are billed as voyages into fantasy, but this one actually delivers.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
    10/04/02
    Bill Muller
    Bill Muller
    Arizona Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    'Alice's adventure through the looking glass and into zombie-land' is filled with strange and wonderful creatures.

    Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment 6 Comments
    10/04/02
    Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
    Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
    TheMovieChicks.com

    That rare movie that has the emotional and psychological depth to match its stunning surface.

    Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
    10/03/02
    Tom Maurstad
    Tom Maurstad
    Dallas Morning News

    A film not to miss.

    Full Review Source: Moviehole | comment Comment
    10/02/02
    Clint Morris
    Clint Morris
    Moviehole

    The closest American counterpart to Spirited Away is Alice in Wonderland, but no analogy will fully prepare you.

    Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
    10/01/02
    Dan Fazio
    Dan Fazio
    Citysearch

    An exquisitely formed, flawlessly executed masterwork...As sheerly imaginative and groundbreakingly wondrous as any animated motion picture you are sure to have seen.

    Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
    09/28/02
    Dustin Putman
    Dustin Putman
    DustinPutman.com

    To say that Miyazaki's intelligent, painstaking, hand-crafted anime is magical, dazzling and brilliant is an understatement - it's incomparable, ingenious and inventive -just watch for a win at Osca-time!

    Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
    09/27/02
    Susan Granger
    Susan Granger
    www.susangranger.com

    This is one heck of a movie, and one can see why it made all that money in Japan.

    Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Eric Lurio
    Eric Lurio
    Greenwich Village Gazette

    There's a sense of delicacy, and artfulness, in the tone and in the magic. The 10-year-olds who see this like to be scared, but they won't have nightmares days afterward.

    Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Michael Szymanski
    Michael Szymanski
    Zap2it.com

    There's a sense of delicacy, and artfulness, in the tone and in the magic. The 10-year-olds who see this like to be scared, but they won't have nightmares days afterward.

    Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Michael Szymanski
    Michael Szymanski
    Zap2it.com

    An animated film that is among the most delightful, imaginative stories I've seen all year.

    Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Eric D. Snider
    Eric D. Snider
    EricDSnider.com

    Spirited Away is a trip, in the literal, metaphorical and indeed lysergic senses of that word.

    Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Andrew O'Hehir
    Andrew O'Hehir
    Salon.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Miyazaki has created such a vibrant, colorful world, it's almost impossible not to be swept away by the sheer beauty of his images.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Ethan Alter
    Ethan Alter
    Film Journal International

    Although anime features aren’t all the rage in a majority of American movie theaters, Spirited Away should be a legitimate excuse to change this pending sentiment.

    Full Review Source: TheWorldJournal.com | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Frank Ochieng
    Frank Ochieng
    TheWorldJournal.com

    For all its slapstick and even the occasional gross-out gag, Spirited Away is an animated film whose major delights are also its subtlest.

    Full Review Source: Journal News (Westchester, NY) | comment Comment
    09/26/02
    Marshall Fine
    Marshall Fine
    Journal News (Westchester, NY)

    Steeped in lore and unabashedly surreal, the film is just charming enough for children and just bizarre enough for adults -- a perfect balance.

    comment Comment
    09/25/02
    Joe Baltake
    Joe Baltake
    Sacramento Bee

    Even when Spirited Away follows the easy route, with true love as the solvent to most problems, it's so jam-packed with spectacular images, sights, and sounds that it conjures up a million dreams you've had (lovely, awesome, and terrifying) and tra

    Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | comment Comment
    09/25/02
    Jeremiah Kipp
    Jeremiah Kipp
    Matinee Magazine

    Something akin to a Japanese Alice Through the Looking Glass, except that it seems to take itself far more seriously.

    Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment 11 Comments
    09/25/02
    Rob Blackwelder
    Rob Blackwelder
    SPLICEDWire

    This fantastically weird cartoon is definitely one of the most intriguing movies of the year.

    Full Review Source: Supercala.com | comment Comment
    09/24/02
    Paul Salfen
    Paul Salfen
    Supercala.com

    Miyazaki seems to have an inexhaustible supply of ideas to fill the screen and to fill screen time.

    Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
    09/23/02
    Mark R. Leeper
    Mark R. Leeper
    rec.arts.movies.reviews
     
     
    81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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    Latest News for Spirited Away

    September 24, 2008: Get Drawn to RT's Best Animated Films!
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