"Spirited Away" is probably one of the earliest examples of Japanese anime I had ever watched. I saw this film all the way back in first grade and I absolutely fell in love with it. But what's odd for me is that whenever I ask myself why I believe this film to be an absolute masterpiece, I always come up short on answers. So I decided to watch the film looking at all its aspects critically and without letting childhood nostalgia get in the way of my analysis. I personally found that even with this mindset, Spirited Away is still just as much as a masterpiece as it is when I look at it through the eyes of someone who grew up watching it.
The story of "Spirited Away" follows a young girl named Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase) as she and her family are moving into a new city. Chihiro starts the story off acting a bit immature and not taking kindly to the whole ordeal. As her father tries to find their new home, the family stumbles upon an abandoned theme park. Her parents discover one of the stands has freshly cooked meals and don't hesitate to chow down. Chihiro, on the other hand, decides against it and explores. When she goes back, however, the theme park is overrun with strange spirits and her parents have turned into pigs. With the help of a mysterious boy named Haku (Jason Marsdon), Chihiro convinces the manager of the theme park's bathhouse, Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), do give her a job. Now she must go through all the hardships of her job while trying to find a way to free both herself and her parents from this strange world.
The core of the story is Chihiro herself. As I said before, she starts off a bit of a brat, but as the story goes on, you start to notice she starts to mature through her experiences. And at the heart of all this is the world that director Hayao Miyazaki has created. The world Chihiro is in is very strange with odd-looking creatures such as a boiler man with multiple arms, a spirit with no face, a giant talking baby, a witch with a head bigger than the rest of her body, and many others. The world is strange, but at the same time I can't help but look at it and feel a welcoming tone. As if Miyazaki wants you to feel welcome to this world he's created. There are many moments in the story where dialogue will take a backseat and the animation and atmosphere will tell the story. I like these moments in particular because it really shows off some pretty visuals without sacrificing the pacing or storytelling as a result. This was actually a film that made me really appreciate animation as an art form because of this. And accompanying the visuals is a very beautiful score by Joe Hisaishi. I praised this man's work when talking about Ni No Kuni and I still praise it here. The music ranges from soft, warm and welcoming to dark and intense. I can't get enough of it.
The English dub voice acting by Walt Disney Pictures is a pretty solid dub. John Lasseter, the head of Pixar, directed all the voice actors and everyone turns in a solid performances as a result. I personally find the two highlight performances to be Jason Marsdon (Max in "A Goofy Movie" and Kovu in "The Lion King II") as Haku and Susan Egan (Megara from "Hercules"). But I must emphasize that all the performances are fantastic and it's actually pretty difficult to choose favorites.
Overall, I think "Spirited Away," even without nostalgia goggles, is an absolute masterpiece of animation. If you're a fan of anime, Studio Ghibli or just animation in general and for some reason haven't watched it yet, I can't recommend it enough. See it for yourself and enjoy the journey.
