World Animation - 'Spirited Away' (2001)

Fig. 1 'Spirited Away' Poster

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, 'Spirited Away' (2001) is an aesthetically wonderful, film that saw western filmmaking break into an eastern market. It's mystical characters and imaginative storyline encompass some social aspects that within live action film may be harder to put across. 

Fig.2 Film Still

Produced by Studio Ghibli in Japan, the film topped the box office and gained success as the highest-grossing film in Japanese history. It was then released to world after the film was taken under the almighty wing of Walt Disney Pictures and put under the supervision of Pixar's, John Lasseter, to re-dub the film in the english language.

There are times in the film where the voice acting becomes a bit too much, and a bit jarring which at times can make the film a bit tedious to watch.

The design of the characters are great, they are imaginative and at times bizarre which makes for enjoyable viewing.

Although at times hard to follow, the narrative of the film also holds deeper meaning and deals with social issues. It is said that greed, environmentalism and food are all issues that the film holds within it's core and they are portrayed to the audience in a way that isn't in your face but it's masked by a cute animation that helps the audience to see things in a different way, similar to Australian animation 'Mary and Max' (2009).

Fig.3 Film Still

'Spirited Away' is a great film to know about within the animation world, it holds it's own within mainstream animation and is a key inspiration for many of Studio Ghibli's other films and bringing them to a worldwide audience. It is clear that the film was created with love and it is exhibited by the visuals, a review by Roger Ebert says 'Spirited Away is surely one of the finest of all animated films, and it has its foundation in the traditional bedrock of animation, which is frame-by-frame drawing' (Ebert, 2012) the craftsmanship of the film is what makes 'Spirited Away' worth watching, it's beautiful animated and is embedded in the minds of many.

Bibliography

Ebert, R (2009) Spirited Away Review At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-spirited-away-2002 Accessed on: 27/01/2017

Illustrations

Figure 1. 'Spirited Away' (2001) [Poster] At:http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen/poster_images/USA_full.jpg Accessed on: 27/01/2017

Figure 2. [Film Still] At: https://2015.acmi.net.au/media/1924926/kf-spiritedaway-film-hero.jpg Accessed on: 27/01/2017

Figure 3. [Film Still] At:http://www.geeksofdoom.com/GoD/img/2015/06/spirited-away-still-10.jpg Accessed on: 27/01/2017