Spirited Away

Synopsis
"The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history (more than $234 million), Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi) is a dazzling film that reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasy worlds. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Lewis Carroll’s Alice, Chihiro (voice by Daveigh Chase—Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch) plunges into an alternate reality. On the way to their new home, the petulant adolescent and her parents find what they think is a deserted amusement park. Her parents stuff themselves until they turn into pigs, and Chihiro discovers they’re trapped in a resort for traditional Japanese gods and spirits. An oddly familiar boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) instructs Chihiro to request a job from Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the greedy witch who rules the spa. As she works, Chihiro’s untapped qualities keep her from being corrupted by the greed that pervades Yubaba’s mini-empire. In a series of fantastic adventures, she purges a river god suffering from human pollution, rescues the mysterious No-Face, and befriends Yubaba’s kindly twin, Zeniba (Pleshette again). The resolve, bravery, and love Chihiro discovers within herself enable her to aid Haku and save her parents. The result is a moving and magical journey, told with consummate skill by one of the masters of contemporary animation." (text taken from Amazon)
Year Released
2003
Running Time
125 min
Date Released
DVD release 2003
Publisher
Walt Disney Video
Country
Japan
ISBN Number
078884461X
URL
Region
Subject
Rating
5
Average: 4.6 (22 votes)

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Spirited Away -- Japanese anime film

Field of Interest/Specialty:
Posted On: 06/12/2009
5

This is a great introduction for students and teachers to a popular style of Japanese anime. The film also can help show examples of the way Japanese related to kami. Even older high school students can relate to the coming of age story. This film could be paired productively by English teachers with the novel Lord of the Flies.