Whether a person is watching television or a movie, listening to the radio, at the supermarket or in a clothing store, he or she is surrounded by Disney music. Disney music is all around us. The same thing can be said about Studio Ghibli music in Japan. Walt Disney Studios and Hayao Miyazi have capitalized on this love for their music by collaborating to bring Studio Ghibli films to the United States.
Walt Disney Studios have dubbed many Studio Ghibli films into English. One of their most acclaimed films was the Japanese hit film, Spirited Away. Spirited Away is about a young girl who is stuck in a spirit realm while her parents are transformed into pigs. The story follows the young girl’s trials and triumphs as she tries to find a way to reverse the curse on her parents and get back to the human world. Thecomposer for the film is Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi is commonly referred to as the “Japanese John Williams” (Film Brewery). Hisaishi’s film music has a way that pulls audiences into animated and virtual realms. With his scores he delves into the hearts of each person in the audience as he breathes life into Studio Ghibli’s animated films.
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Hisaishi uses classic music techniques such as leitmotifs; however, what makes Hisaishi’s leitmotifs so bewitching is how he uses them as a way to express certain emotions of characters, and not in the normal Hollywood way of using motifs to represent characters. Hisaishi’s main leitmotif is Chihiro’s leitmotif. Chihiro’s leitmotif can be heard as an undertone throughout the whole film. This leitmotif is inspirational because it provides a certain emotion of optimism to the film, against all of the odds. This leitmotif embodies Chihiro’s positivity, no matter how daunting the trials are that she faces. This can be seen in a review on Filmtracks when it is stated, “Although slight synthetic accents are employed at times, Spirited Away is a score of symphonic sunshine, carried by a theme for the primary character that is defiant in its optimism without ever openly declaring its determination.” Hisiashi has a way with expressing emotions with his score that stirs the hearts of the audience, young and old. This unique style of combining two classical functions of film music, leitmotifs and creating emotion through unspoken thoughts, is the reason why I believe Hisaishi composes at the same caliber of John Williams.
One of the reasons Hisaishi’s score is so enchanting is his amazing use of orchestration. Hisaishi uses orchestration to continuously evolve motifs throughout the movie to manipulate the audience to feel a myriad of emotions. An example of this can be seen throughout the movie as the audience first experiences the buoyant leitmotif for Chihiro followed by a more menacing haunting theme for the witch (the leader of the spirit world). The audience also hears the mystical motif of the fantasy spirit world and the lumbering cheerful leitmotifs for the other characters within the movie. He facilitates these different leitmotifs by using his in depth knowledge of orchestration and by using different instruments and different notes to produce various melodies throughout the movie. These themes can best be described by a review on Filmtracks when it is stated, “Other themes include a strictly symphonic one of equal buoyancy for the tale's fantasy elements, a strikingly discordant series of jagged chords on piano for the sorceress Yubaba, a surprisingly lighthearted march for the bathhouse at the center of the fantasyland, and a few percussive motifs of bubbly and occasionally clumsy personality for the characters within.” Hisaishi uses a piano as the main instrument throughout the movie while using the percussion and orchestration to create a more magical and suspenseful feeling.
Hisaishi uses the common function Mickey Mousing, sparingly for animated films. Mickey Mousing is when the music parallels or mirrors the actions in the film. This function can be seen briefly when the talking heads are shown. The music parallel’s their movements as they hop around. Another case of Mickey Mousing is when the little black soot workers are shown. As the audience sees the black soot workers laboring and scurrying about the music sounds as if it is scurrying with them.
Hisaishi also utilizes a technique that is unusual for animation films, silence. The function of silence can be seen many times throughout the movie. For example, the music abruptly stops when Chihiro finally finds Yubaba’s bathhouse. In this case the function of silence is used to show the importance of the bathhouse. Another example is when the music abruptly cuts to silence as Chihiro is running away from the magical creatures. The function of silence is used in this instance to elevate the suspense and fear Chihiro is feeling. However, I believe this was more because of the creator Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki states in an interview on rogerebert.com, “I think that helps explain why Miyazaki's films are more absorbing than the frantic action in a lot of American animation. ‘The people who make the movies are scared of silence’ he said, ‘so they want to paper and plaster it over,’ he said. ‘They're worried that the audience will get bored. But just because it's 80 percent intense all the time doesn't mean the kids are going to bless you with their concentration. What really matters is the underlying emotions--that you never let go of those.’” I believe the reason why Studio Ghibli films are so enchanting is because they revolve around creating and expressing emotions. The audience cannot help but relate to all of the emotions and life lessons within the films, and this would not be possible without the manipulation from the music.
I believe that Spirited Away is an enchanting film about the experience of growing up that is packed with traces of true love, determination, and real life lessons filled with magic. I would suggest this movie to anyone looking for a feel-good movie filled with selfless love and captivating magic.
