Spirited Away

The story opens with ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino(voice of Daviegh Chase) slouching listlessly in the back seat of her parents' car as they drive to their new home in the suburbs. Chihiro, thinking wistfully of her friends and her school, is listening dutifully while her parents reassure her of the move. "Moving to a new place is a big adventure," her mother admonishes.

The Ogino family is about to get more adventure than they'd bargained for. When a wrong turn brings them to a mysterious hillside passageway, Chihiro's parents seem curiously compelled to find out where it goes, despite their daughter's timid reservations. Then, almost before Chihiro can take in what's happened, she and her parents are trapped in the spirit world, her parents are transformed into pigs, and Chihiro herself is on the run from the bad-tempered witch Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette).

A new, though oddly familiar half-boy/half-dragon named Haku (Jason Marsden) directs Chihiro to save herself from the same fate as her parents by approaching the formidable Yubaba and asking for a job - a request the witch is not allowed to refuse. Angrily, Yubaba complies - but not before stealing Chihiro's name and giving her a new one - Sen. That's the down side of working for Yubaba - with the theft of her name, Chihiro is more likely to forget the real world, her parents, even her own identity, with each day that passes.

Actually, that's only one of the down sides to working for Yubaba. Another is that she is a very hard taskmistress. Disgusted over Chihiro's thwarting her plans, the witch puts the girl to work in her huge bath house for the spirits (don't ask me why spirits need a bath house, unless they get contaminated after visiting the real world - her co-workers find Chihiro's smell to be somewhat offensive). Yubaba delights in giving Chihiro the worst jobs she can find (including bathing the hilariously disgusting Stink Spirit), and basically gives her dog's abuse at every opportunity.

Chihiro's most daunting task, of course, involves figuring out how to rescue her parents before they become the bath house's next entrée. But such a tough little girl can't remain without friends for long, even in the spirit world - Chihiro's courage, kindness, tenacity, willingness and loving nature endear her to the various creatures she encounters, and she becomes precious in the eyes of Haku, even before she tries to save him as he once saved her.

This film received glowing reviews, and I must say it deserved them. Quite a few folks declare it outshines Princess Mononoke; really, that's comparing apples and oranges to me, the stories are so different. I did think that the music in the latter film was superior, but for the rest the entertainment value was equal. Another difference between the two films that I found interesting: in Princess Mononoke, no character was completely bad or completely good. In Spirited Away, no character was really all bad. The animation in Spirited Away was simply breathtaking, and incredibly detailed (note the background scenery in each scene, from the clothing to the room décor). The story itself was a wonderful, mad, hodgepodge of fantasy, bursting with the unexpected, as different from a Disney animation as leopard is from a house cat (and no goofy songs, either!). This is definitely one I plan to own. Why it wasn't released to all cities is beyond me.

Spirited Away
The film's official web site.