Hayao Miyazaki may be one of Japan's leading animators, but in his new film, Miyazaki's Spirited Away, he also envelops you in a wondrous landscape of archetypal magic.
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09/20/02
Spirited Away (2002)
97
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:154
Fresh:150
Rotten:4
Average Rating:8.5/10
Consensus: Hayao Miyazaki's dazzling, enchanting Spirited Away takes viewers, young and old alike, through the looking glass.
Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Genre: Childrens
US Box Office: $9,855,615
Synopsis: Directed by animation legend Hayao Miyazaki, SPIRITED AWAY is the tale of Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase), a young girl who is taken down an unusual road by her parents while moving to a new home... [More]
Starring: Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Reviews for Spirited Away
121 - 140 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Spirited Away delivers chunks of Yellow Submarine and The Phantom Tollbooth -- a vividly timeless oddity suitable for many children and most stoners.
09/20/02
This animated adventure from genre superstar Hayao Miyazaki has spirit to spare.
09/20/02
Spirited Away is too intense for the youngest viewers, but teenagers will enjoy it -- an ill-smelling 'stink-god' character is almost worthy of a Kevin Smith gross-out movie -- and grown-ups should find it diverting, if not exactly deep.
09/20/02
Spirited Away has the quality of a dream: It takes you places so foreign and fantastic you have no option but to yield completely to it and be spirited along.
09/20/02
Hayao Miyazaki's breathtakingly beautiful and poetic Spirited Away -- a Japanese cross between Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz -- is such a landmark in animation that labeling it a masterpiece almost seems inadequate.
09/20/02
Has an unfortunate animistic sensibility, seeing gods and spirits in all things… The most striking thing about Spirited Away, however, is its arresting visuals.
09/20/02
I spent two hours staring at the screen in utter amazement.
09/19/02
The magic (and original running time) of ace Japanimator Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away survives intact in BV's re-voiced version.
09/19/02
Top CriticThe spark of special anime magic here is unmistakable and hard to resist.
09/19/02
The film is not recommended for toddlers and easily frightened little tykes. But for everyone else, kid or grown-up, this thrilling foray into magical realms is a must.
09/19/02
A haunting and indelible fable that warms the chilly soul of Japanese anime and points the way for its American sponsor.
09/19/02
A marriage between the power of Mononoke and the lively pop-pop-pop of his film My Friend Totoro.
09/19/02
Top CriticWriting about a film like Spirited Away isn’t about regurgitating information out for those who know little about it, but more of an experience in reminiscing.
09/19/02
If you're dispirited by look-alike, sound-alike, think-alike movies, disturbed by an art form that seems not only to tolerate, but also to reward a paucity of imagination, you're not going to believe your luck.
09/19/02
Top CriticThis English-language version ... does full honor to Miyazaki's teeming and often unsettling landscape, and to the conflicted complexity of his characters.
09/19/02
A must-see for Japanamation fans, anyone familiar with Japanese folklore, or anyone sick of the boring stories that typically accompany American animation.
09/19/02
Every scene brings a new set of wonders to delight and sometimes stagger the mind
09/19/02
This instant classic spins a web that will snare anyone with an imagination.
09/19/02
A work of beauty with a surprising capacity to be cute and cunning.
09/19/02
Latest News for Spirited Away
September 24, 2008:
Get Drawn to RT's Best Animated Films!
Animated films: they ain't just cartoons anymore. Nor have they been for quite some time. RT celebrates the imaginative, dazzling world of animation with out countdown of the... More...
August 21, 2008:
Japanese Audiences Flocking to Miyazaki's Latest 
He delighted audiences with Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle -- and now director Hayao Miyazaki is doing it all over again with his latest film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the... More...
March 20, 2007:
Will Miyazaki's Next Film Be His Last?
It's been speculated that legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki will retire after the release of his next film, "Ponyo on a Cliff," but now it looks like we'll have at... More...
October 03, 2006:
Miyazaki Prepares Next Animation Classic
Let's face it: When the director of "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," and a whole bunch of other brilliant pieces of animation announces that he's about... More...
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