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DVD REVIEW
Miyazaki's Spirited Away (2001)
Voices:
Daveigh Chase, James Marsden
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Rating:
PG
Studio:
Disney
Review
Posted: 4.10.03
Spoilers: None
Reviewed by
Dennis Landmann
Hayao Miyazaki
introduces us to
a young girl trapped in a
strange new world of spirits who must call upon the
courage she never knew she had
to free herself and rescue
her parents.
I have
never had much interest in animated films or Japanese anime.
Hayao Miyasaki’s Spirited Away changed my attitude toward
such films, however. Anime has a lot more leeway than a
live-action film, because there are no limitations to what can
be done. Surely, even films can now be attributed fewer
limitations with the technology of special effects and blue
screen photography. Yet, I find anime features have much more
personality and life to them considering the amount of work and
personal dedication that is involved in an animated film
production.
Miyazaki’s previous film, Princess Mononoke,
hit US screens in 1999, two years after its actual release in
Japan. That film received much critical acclaim and admiration
from critics and fans of the genre. Spirited Away
continues Miyazaki’s streak of fabulous tales, characters, and
animation.
Much like
Alice in Wonderland, Spirited Away is a unique
tale with strange characters in an even stranger place. One of
Miyazaki’s trademarks involves human protagonists entering a
strange land that is forbidden or otherwise accessible, in this
case, the spirit land (the floating islands of Castle in the
Sky, the forests in Princess Mononoke). Another of
Miyazaki’s trademarks includes the reference to nature, ecology,
and pollution, which in this film is somewhat subliminally
hidden in the form of the bathhouse customers.
The main
location of the film is the bathhouse where all the spirits come
to rest and relax. Chihiro, the protagonist, with the help of
Haku, a young boy with magical powers, finds a job inside the
bathhouse and spends her time helping out the other employees,
but more so trying to find her parents. The character is so
innocent, yet so admirable and courageous. What the film
benefits from most, aside from the great animation, direction,
and screenplay, is the character of Chihiro and the way she
carries herself. Most great films are in the hands of great
characters and Spirited Away is a fine example to prove
this statement.
Spirited Away
is not only a film for ten year-old children, but also one for
all ages. Its magical and inspirational nature is so evident and
fine-tuned that viewers can imagine themselves in the role of
Chihiro. An important element in the film is Jô Hisaishi’s
musical score. It is fabulous and provides a great sense of
adventure. But perhaps the most important element of all,
naturally, is Miyazaki’s imagination and screenplay. His
experiences and certain influences clearly guide his creativity.
Now aged 60 years, I hope Miyazaki never stops working. It would
be a good idea for him to find a talent with the same kind of
voice and imagination as himself who can continue or at least
keep in spirit the greatness in Miyazaki’s work.
The
English production, directed by Kirk Wise, is quite
extraordinary. It features great voice talents and dialogue,
adapted from Miyazaki by Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald Hewitt.
Daveigh Chase (Chihiro), Jason Marsden (Haku), Susanne Pleshette
(Yubaba/Zeniba), Michael Chiklis (Chihiros’s Dad), Lauren Holly
(Chihiro’s Mom), John Ratzenberger (Bathhouse Assistant
Manager), and David Ogden Stiers (Kamaji) all lend their talent
to Spirited Away’s English soundtrack. John Lasseter (Pixar’s
Toy Story) is the executive producer of the U.S.
production and introduces Spirited Away on the DVD. His
fascination with the film prompted him to bring Miyazaki’s
extraordinary film to US screens with much love and devotion;
all of this is evident in Lasseter’s introduction, but also
because of his admiration and respect for Miyazaki. Hopefully
Spirited Away continues and inspires other producers to
bring future and past quality animation to US audiences.
9 out of 10
Animated
films, or anime, tend to have an advantage of live-action films.
First of all, no actual film is used in the photography, but
rather the drawings of the animators. Second of all, animated
films usually have a wide range of available and fresh colors.
Third, I believe, artifacts or scratches usually don’t show up
on an animated print. With that said, Spirited Away
features great animation, great color schemes and detail. I
noticed no signs of shadow flaws or scratches, as predicted I
wouldn’t. Disney presents Spirited Away in widescreen
(2.0:1) format and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The print is
fresh and glamorous, even pristine, adding to the experience of
the film.
9 out of 10
The
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is obviously a dub, but
it is very well produced. Most of the dialogue is right on
target with the mouth movements of the characters, not an easy
thing to accomplish. The music score and sound effects flourish
and make all speakers work hard. In some instances the audio
doesn’t protrude well enough and you might need to adjust your
volume a little to get a better listening experience, but other
than that I can’t say much more than this about the English
Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Also part of the disc is the original
Japanese language track and a French language track. These two
are not as good as the English track, but they will work fine
for whomever speaks Japanese and French.
8 out of 10
This
2-disc DVD release from Disney is pretty neat and the extras
here are pretty good.
Introduction
by John Lasseter – I guess he wants to make a statement to voice
his fascination with the film and the admiration he holds for
Miyazaki. He calls the viewer “lucky” to be able to see the
film. I agree with him after seeing it. However, as a whole,
this introduction is nothing exciting and could very well have
worked as a conclusion rather than an introduction to the film.
Behind The
Microphone: Voice Talent featurette – Here we get a 5:40 minute
behind-the-scenes look at the US production of the English
language track. On-set interviews make statements about how hard
it is to actually record a voice over the animation. We see all
of the voice talents perform, but mainly hear from
Jason
Marsden and Susanne Pleshette. It’s an exciting look at the
production, but it would have been interesting to get a more
in-depth look.
The Art of
Spirited Away – The art behind the film is the animation
process, of course. This feature explains and shows the process
from discussions to storyboarding and from drawing the images to
the coloring of them. If this is a field of interest to you,
definitely check this one out and you might as well use it for
reference in one way or two.
The Making of
Spirited Away – This Nippon Television special is very
in-depth and shows the way from the creative side to the actual
production of the film, such as drawing and completing the
animation process. You get an interesting vibe for the young
staff and Miyasaki as you’re watching them at a round-table
discussion about the animation. Most of the staff consists of
young males and only one out of the ten have had a dog,
something Miyazaki can hardly believe (I’ve had one, too). This
making-of is truly special and very well worth your time. Check
this one out right after you see the film.
Select
Storyboard To Scene Comparison – This feature is pretty
self-explanatory, but worth looking at. You get a few selected
scenes, which you can view as a storyboard and to the final
product.
Original
Japanese trailers – Any of these are worthy checking out once or
twice. An obvious inclusion among extras nowadays, but these are
not your average trailers. Very nice.
8 out of 10
Spirited
Away
is almost a classic by now, or at least it should become a
classic in the near future. It’s a fabulous tale of love, loss,
innocence, adventure, and courage. I guess I could go on and on
about its fabulous nature, but the film makes that statement
better than my words can describe. With a clean, colorful video
transfer and a great English language track, in conjunction with
an exciting behind-the-scenes look at the film, Spirited Away’s
2-disc set is worth buying; even if you’ve never seen an anime
feature before.
Overall
DVD Rating: 9 out of 10
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