I’ve seen Spirited Away and Mononoke three times each and have viewed Kiki and Castle in the Sky once each. Hayao Miyazaki is a great director and animator. He instills small yet wonderfully animated details into every scene of every movie, especially Spirited Away. For instance the way the first soot-ball pauses for a second, THEN he purposefully drops the ore upon himself. The way Chihiro taps her feet into her shoes, or descends the stairs by trying to crawl down them one step at a time. The eye movements are eerily emotive and sometimes comical. For instance, at the beginning of the movie when the family exits the car and Chihiro’s parents tell her to stay behind since she is afraid to enter the temple. Chihiro moves only her eyes, looks at the statue, and makes an expression that perfectly express her insecurity and she runs to her parents.

Not only is Spirited Away original, it doesn’t even have a derivative good vs. evil motif. I was shocked that Yubaba and Haku never fought or battled, as surely they would have in a Disney production. Instead the protagonist and antagonist have differences that must be worked out. No-face has an appetite problem and is not a true monster. Disney has included a great insert for the DVD. Miyazaki gives a great analysis for the film. Unfortunately I don’t have the DVD with me so I can’t quote from it right now.

I have one question. The women who work at the bathhouse, they are human right? Yet how did they get permission to work there, since humans don’t seam to be tolerated by the spirits?