Spirited Away (2001)
★★★★½ — Spirited Away (2001)
Released in Japan in the summer of 2001, Spirited Away arrived as something of an event, even by the standards of Studio Ghibli. The film follows ten-year-old Chihiro, who finds herself stranded in a spirit world after a wrong turn on the way to her new home, her parents transformed and her only way back dependent on her own resourcefulness. It drew on a broad range of Japanese folklore and mythology, and Hayao Miyazaki has spoken about wanting to make something specifically for children, particularly young girls, at a time when he felt mainstream animation had little to offer them. The film went on to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese box office history at the time of its release, a position it held for nearly two decades, and it remains one of the most discussed animated features ever produced. For Western audiences, many of whom encountered it through Disney's international distribution deal, it opened a window onto a visual and storytelling tradition quite different from what Hollywood animation had been offering through the 1990s.
Miyazaki had by this point built a body of work at Studio Ghibli that was already considered exceptional. Films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki's Delivery Service had each demonstrated his gift for grounding fantastical settings in emotionally honest stories about young protagonists finding their feet in an unfamiliar world. Spirited Away feels in many respects like a culmination of those concerns, though it is also its own singular thing. The production was notable for its almost entirely hand-drawn animation at a moment when computer-generated imagery was reshaping the industry elsewhere, a choice that gives the film a warmth and textural richness that holds up remarkably well. Composer Joe Hisaishi, Miyazaki's long-standing collaborator, provided the score. The voice cast in the original Japanese includes Rumi Hiiragi as Chihiro, Miyu Irino, and Mari Natsuki, with Takashi Naito and Yasuko Sawaguchi as Chihiro's parents. The film was co-produced by Studio Ghibli alongside Tokuma Shoten and Nippon Television Network Corporation.
The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, making it the only non-English-language film to have won in that category, and it shared the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival that same year. It sits, by most measures, in a very short list of animated films that critics and audiences alike have continued to return to and reassess across the decades since its release. For anyone curious about how it compares to other animated work on the blog, it is worth looking at Josep, another animation reviewed here, or indeed at Castle in the Sky, an earlier Miyazaki picture, for a sense of how his approach evolved over the years.
This isn't a movie. It's moving artwork. Spirited Away is pure magic. Possibly the best Studio Ghibli film ever made. Maybe even the best animated film ever made (saying that 24 years on at the time of writing is wild). My Neighbour Totoro might just edge it out for me, but this is still must-see cinema. Miyazaki creates a world so rich, so immersive, that it lingers in your mind long after the credits roll. The hand-drawn animation is flawless, the characters unforgettable, and Joe Hisaishi’s score is a thing of beauty. It’s a film about change, courage, and growing up, wrapped in an eerie yet enchanting dreamscape. I watched this with my daughter, and years later, she still remembers it. That’s the mark of a truly timeless film.
What strikes me most, coming back to all of this, is how rare it is for a film to work equally well as a children's adventure and as something an adult can sit with and find genuinely moving. I think that dual quality is what keeps it lodged in the memory long after a single viewing, and it is certainly what made watching it alongside my daughter such a particular experience. Some films you admire; this one you feel. If you have never seen it, clear an evening, find a good screen, and give it the attention it deserves. It will not waste your time.
Rating: ★★★★½ | Year: 2001 | Watched: 2007-02-14
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Spirited Away (2001) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · YouTube TV · HBO Max
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Hayao Miyazaki: Castle in the Sky (1986) · Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) · My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
More from Japan: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Blue (1993) · The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
