Taglines: (The tunnel led Chihiro to a mysterious town…)
Chihiro and her parents are moving to a small Japanese town in the countryside, much to Chihiro’s dismay. On the way to their new home, Chihiro’s father makes a wrong turn and drives down a lonely one-lane road which dead-ends in front of a tunnel. Her parents decide to stop the car and explore the area. They go through the tunnel and find an abandoned amusement park on the other side, with its own little town.
When her parents see a restaurant with great-smelling food but no staff, they decide to eat and pay later. However, Chihiro refuses to eat and decides to explore the theme park a bit more. She meets a boy named Haku who tells her that Chihiro and her parents are in danger, and they must leave immediately. She runs to the restaurant and finds that her parents have turned into pigs.
In addition, the theme park turns out to be a town inhabited by demons, spirits, and evil gods. At the center of the town is a bathhouse where these creatures go to relax. The owner of the bathhouse is the evil witch Yubaba, who is intent on keeping all trespassers as captive workers, including Chihiro. Chihiro must rely on Haku to save her parents in hopes of returning to their world.
Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film stars Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tatsuya Gashûin, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Yumi Tamai, Koba Hayashi and Bunta Sugawara.
Spirited Away was released theatrically in Japan on 20 July 2001 by distributor Toho, grossing ¥30.4 billion to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history, according to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. It was also the first film to earn $200 million at the worldwide box office before opening in the United States. The film was dubbed into English by Walt Disney Pictures, under the supervision of Pixar’s John Lasseter.
The dubbed version premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2002 and was later released in North America on 20 September 2002. Spirited Away had very little marketing, less than Disney’s other B-films, with at most, 151 theaters showing the film in 2002. After the 2003 Oscars, it expanded to as many as 714 theaters.
The film grossed US$4 million in its opening weekend and ultimately grossed around $10 million by September 2003. In addition to its North American earnings of $10 million and Japanese earnings of $250 million, it grossed a further $29 million from other countries for a worldwide total of about $289 million. In Argentina, it’s in the Top 10 of anime films with the most tickets sold.
Spirited Away (2002)
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tatsuya Gashûin, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Yumi Tamai, Koba Hayashi, Bunta Sugawara
Screenplay by: Hayao Miyazaki
Production Design by: Norobu Yoshida
Cinematography by: Atsushi Okui
Film Editing by: Takeshi Seyama
Art Direction by: Yôji Takeshige
Music by: Joe Hisaishi
MPAA Rating: PG for some scary moments.
Distributed by: Toho (Japan), Buena Vista Pictures (United States)
Release Date: September 20, 2002
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