By: Claire Li

This movie begins when we see a young girl named Chihiro with dark brown hair slicked into a ponytail. Chihiro and her family are driving to a new town. However, her father makes a wrong turn on the road, and it all goes south from there. The family sees a strange tunnel, and in it is an abandoned theme park.

Chihiro’s parents also find a delicious banquet of food as Chihiro explores the park. Soon, when Chihiro checks back on her parents, she finds they have turned into pigs. A teenage boy tells her to leave the park quickly, but it’s too late. She has already entered the magical realm. From then on, it is a story of Chihiro finding her parents, and in the process, making friends, spreading kindness, and being brave.

Overall, this movie should be rated a 10/10. This is a powerful story about people finding what they want in life and who they are. On one hand, there is the evil witch Yubaba, who makes people change their names and become her servants. Yubaba also causes people to forget their identities. This is the reason for the title of the movie because the characters’ spirits have “spirited away”. On the other hand, Chihiro is also given a name by Yubaba – Sen. Sen, or Chihiro, makes many people remember their true identities and purpose for life.

Some examples of characters finding their spirits are No-Face and Yubaba’s own baby. No-Face is a black transparent spirit with a mask on. No-Face can generate gold out of thin air and eat people to make them scared of him, which gives him more riches and power. But No-Face seems to not be satisfied with that. Through Sen, he realizes what he really wants.

Yubaba’s baby, Boh, also finds his purpose by meeting Sen. As a spoiled baby, his mom Yubaba would serve him everything. Yet, Boh would cry every day and was unsatisfied with his life because he had no use in life. So, when Sen turns him into a mouse, he becomes less lazy. Then, after he turns back into a human, Boh makes his mom give Sen her parents back, which is something the old Boh would never do. So, after meeting Sen, he finds that he hates being useless. By helping Sen and her family, Boh feels most useful in that he could make a difference in the world, even if it was a small one.

Chihiro could never be as powerful as Yubaba, No-Face, or any of the other magical beings. However, she remembers her purpose, morals, and identity, and with the power of kindness and sincerity, she survives and rescues her parents in the end.

This movie has made almost 400 million dollars in total and was the first Japanese animated film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The movie also won a Golden Globes Award for best animated feature film, along with many more awards.

The author and director of Spirited Away is Hayo Miyazaki, who is also the director of Studio Ghibli. Both Daveigh Elizabeth Chase (English version of Spirited Away) and Rumi Hiiragi (Japanese version of Spirited Away) are the voice actors for Chihiro. Bob Bergen voices No-Face, and Tara Strong voices Boh.
“Spirited Away has much to say about many worthy things: the life of the spirit, materialist greed, the importance of words, the power of love,” wrote Joe Morgenstern, a retired movie critic of Wall Street Journal, in a review on Rotten Tomatoes.

This movie is definitely worth watching, especially for children. The movie is set in a world that is magical, captivating, and unique. The main message is to never forget your identity, and it is important for all ages and especially growing children. Children tend to try to seem cool and do what seems cool to other kids their age. Often, kids don’t remember who they truly are. So, be like Chihiro. Stay true to yourself.