Spirited Away
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The animated film “Spirited Away” was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is a story about a little girl named Chihiro Ogino who was feeling gloomy because she had moved to a new neighborhood. Along the way her and her parents get lost and find and explore an abandoned amusement park. Little do they know that it is home to many spirits and monsters. After her parents greedily feast on food meant to serve the spirits and monsters, Yubaba (who runs the bathhouse in the amusement park) turns her Chihiro’s parents into pigs. Chihiro now gets stuck in this alternate world working for Yubaba in order to get her parents returned to their original form. With some help from friends, she tries to escape with her parents back to the normal human world.
This animation received rave reviews and ended becoming the most successful and highest-grossing film in Japanese history. It also won many awards such as the “Academy Award for Best Animated Feature” at the 75th Academy Awards, the “Golden Bear” at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival, and is listed in the top ten on the “BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.”
Overall this animation was truly fantastic. The techniques used to animate the film were so amazing because artist and animators paid attention to detail when making the film. Everything from the facial expressions, to the environment design, to the realistic and flowing movements of the characters and the water were executed very well during the animation process. The artists matched the characters and setting extremely well to the theme and the time that was meant to be portrayed. In addition, the music suited the scenes and the theme very well. The storyline was extremely compelling and kept viewers entertained and hooked the whole way through. All of the techniques combined with a great storyline allowed for “Spirited Away” to be an extremely effective animated film. This film could be appreciated by all genders and ages for its fantastic storyline and compelling animation. It definitely deserves to be among the top 50 animations of all time.
