Perhaps, to set the proper mood, we quote the filmmaker Miyazaki, who best described his film as "For the people who used to be 10 years old, and the people who are going to be 10 years old." As the film opens, ten-year-old Chihiro is in the back of her parents' car as they move to another town. She is a little sullen, lazy, and perhaps lethargic. They end up taking a wrong turn, and end up what they think is an abandoned amusement park. However, one of the restaurants there is fully stocked with food, and the parents start eating the food. Chihiro, however, refuses to eat the food, and starts exploring, when things just don't appear right. She is warned by a boy named Haku, who warns her that they should get away before sunset - and the sun is setting already! Chihiro rushes back to her parents, but it's already too late: the food was meant for the gods, and have turned her parents into pigs. As the town's true inhabitants arrive, Chihiro tries to escape, but is trapped. Not able to comprehend what's going on, Chihiro wishes that she could just disappear, only to find that she is fading away. However, Haku finds her, encourages her to eat a piece of food that's enough to keep her in that world, but won't turn her into a pig.

When most people think of Japanese animation (better known as animè), many people think of the sugar-coated kids' shows such as Sailor Moon, Pokémon, or Digimon and just dismiss them, forgetting that they grew up watching shows like Voltron, Star Blazers, Robotech, or even Speed Racer. However, with further investigation, we find out that there is more to this genre that meets the eye. As with any other genre, there are works that should have never seen the light of day, but there are also gems which are worth seeking out and seeing. One of masters is Hayao Miyazaki.

Hayao who? Perhaps, but we may have been inadvertently exposed to his work with the laser video game Cliff Hanger, which incorporated footage from the film The Castle Of Cagliostro. However, it wasn't until I heard positive word of mouth and saw Princess Mononoke that I wanted to learn more about this work. This lead me to see the film Spirited Away in San Francisco.

This is Miyazaki's first film after the Japanese box office hit Princess Mononoke, which became the top grossing film ever in the Japanese box office, only to be beaten a few months later by the release of Titanic. Princess Mononoke was shown in limited release in the United States in 1999, but the Walt Disney company, through the Miramax label, had difficulty marketing this film partially because it was rated as PG-13 for the violence and gore. However, it was popular enough that when Disney announced that it was releasing the film on DVD without the original Japanese audio track, a huge protest caused Disney to rethink the plans and include the Japanese audio track with both literal English subtitles as well as the words to the Neil Gaiman-adapted script.

Spirited Away, however, is more of a family film, and was the inspired by a group of ten-year-old girls who visited Studio Ghibli, and Miyazaki realizing that the studio never did a film targeted for them. So, he created a story that was an adventure story that ended up appealing to everyone who dealt with the awkwardness that was youth. Surprisingly, the film was another blockbuster hit in Japan, and beat Titanic for the title of top-grossing film for the Japanese box office. There were fears in the American animè community that the film would never be released by Disney, however, just as the American premiere approached, it was announced that the film will see release by Disney in late September 2002 in both subtitled and dubbed form.

However, in late March, it was announced that Spirited Away would premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Tickets surprisingly sold out quickly, and two additional showings were added to the two already scheduled. I attended the April 20th, 2002 premiere at the Castro theater in San Francisco, and, even though the doors didn't open until 6:30 PM showing, there were already two lines forming at 5 PM for the sold out showing - one for the ticket holders, and one for those hoping to get a ticket. (Sadly, some of the people hoping to get a ticket were families.) One thing that I noticed that most of the audience were adults.

The version of the film I saw was the subtitled version, and, yes, I enjoyed the film. Although, the beginning of the film has a somewhat awkward and contrived beginning, this is only for the first ten minutes. However, once the events get set into motion, we are in for an adventure. Part of the appeal of the film is the reactions of the others characters and touches of humor in the film. One scene has Chihiro standing next to a stone statue, and for a moment there is a bit of a likeness. Not once did I feel that my intelligence was insulted, unlike some of the so-called "family films" that are made today. You actually cared for the characters - even for Yubaba, the bathhouse owner, who is charming in her own way. The film had a definite Alice In Wonderland feeling as some things that seem impossible are actually possible. As for the music, Jô Hisaishi, who also scored Princess Mononoke, set the appropriate mood without taking the film, and the closing song is memorable.

The only quibbles that I have is that the subtitles that were used were white (yellow is preferred as they are easier to read), however only once was I unable to read the subtitles. The other is that one or two effects screamed "I'm a CGI effect," but I was quite surprised to find out that the water effect was a CGI effect and not a hand-drawn animation.

If you search around the net, you will find other reviews praising this film. That praise is well deserved. When this film comes out this film, please make an effort to see it.

For more information, see Nausicca.net and Anime Tourist.

Addendum: Since my review, the San Francisco International Film Festival has since come to a close. Spirited Away was presented with the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. Also, in error, I had credited Hayao Miyazaki with Grave Of The Fireflies. Although it is a Studio Ghibli film (and an excellent if depressing film), Mayazaki was not involved with this film.

Since my review a few months ago, I wanted to update some information:

• The official web site for English version is now up, and the English trailer is now available on Apple's Quicktime site.
• One of the Anime sites has been the dubbed version of Spirited Away, and came away impressed. There are extremely minor changes in the dialogue, but the film remains intact. There is no digital editing-not even when the Kanji letters of Chihiro are lifted away.
• On September 20th, Spirited Away opened with a limited release in 10 North American cities. They are Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington D.C. On October 4th the film will be "widely" released in North America. Confirmed cities include Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Montreal, Phoenix, San Diego, and Vancouver.
• The US release of the soundtrack is scheduled for release on September 10th.
• Grave Of The Fireflies (Collector's Edition) is scheduled for release on October 8th.

You can bet that I will be watching the dubbed version and posting my impressions at a later date.