Through the Looking Glass...

Spirited Away is one of those movies that reminds me of why I am so fond of anime as an art form. Miyazaki's latest movie is a moving and heartwarming tale of a young girl who must overcome her own insecurity on the way to rescuing those that she loves. Drawing heavily on Japanese lore and culture, Spirited Away presents the viewer with a colorful and outlandish parallel world.

Chiro, the main character, is a somewhat spoiled and stand-offish girl who is moving with her mother and father to the Japanese countryside. The reference I made above to Alice in Wonderland is appropriate because a short detour made by her father causes all three of them to be trapped in a bathhouse for the gods, controlled by a miserly witch named Yubaba. Chiro is now forced to work in the bathhouse in the hopes of finding a way of returning both her and her parents to the human world.

The animation of this movie is very striking. The environments in and around Yubaba's bathhouse are very vibrant, and the bathhouse itself is populated by all manner of outlandish spirits (my favorite are the giant ducks). There is a lot of movement in many of the shots, all of which has been deftly rendered by Studio Ghibli. A fair amount of CG has been integrated into the film, but in such a way that its addition is hardly noticeable.  The DVD release neatly captures all the visual nuances of the film. I didn't notice any pixilation in the darker scenes, and the colors remained distinct and vibrant throughout.

Complimenting the animation is an equally excellent audio track. The background music of Spirited Away makes use of traditional Japanese instruments as well as a more Western orchestra, which results in a very interesting mix. The downside to the soundtrack is that I didn't find anything that caught my interest as much as the music for Miyazaki's previous film, Princess Mononoke. The English dub is top-notch, which is only natural considering that the actors are drawn from Disney's deep talent pool. All of the English voice actors really capture their parts well and express their emotions clearly. I actually prefer the sound of Yubaba's English voice to her Japanese one, because I feel it represents the character better. Honestly, this is one of the few movies where I consider the dub to be equivalent to the Japanese track. The only compelling reason to not watch this movie in English is to remain "Authentic."

Given that this is a two-disc set, there is plenty of room for extras. Fortunately, Disney has made sure that room is as crammed full of interesting stuff as humanely possible. The goodies include interviews, trailers, documentaries, and even a "making of" feature that was aired on Japanese television. I personally found the videos showing the actors doing the Japanese and English voice dubbing to be the most fascinating, but there are so many extras included with this movie that there is something for everyone.

Overall, Spirited Away is a landmark anime film that both demonstrates Miyazaki's mastery of the medium and sets a benchmark of audio and visual quality for Region 1 anime releases. Disney has pulled no punches with this release, and the extras, voice acting, and video quality are all excellent. While the more peculiar Japanese culture aspects of this movie might put off some people, I nevertheless recommend this movie to everyone, including non-anime fans. The sheer artistry of Miyzaki's Spirited Away simply should not be missed.

By Andy Rucker