Spirited away

I havent seen it perosnally but my husband has and aslo bougth it recently!!! he loves it and says it is brilliant!! the only reason i havent watched it is cause the make of Sprited Away also made a film called My Neighbour Totoro which i didnt like much and hate the bloody song even more :p

But i do like Japanese Anime in general so i may at some time give it a go!!

But if my hubby was here he would be saying watch it!!!!! watch it!!!!!
 
I bought this movie last October from Japan and it is just incredible. Certainly knocks anything Disney have done in the last 10 years or so into the bin. Mind you Disney tried to bury it once they bought the rights for the US/UK version, obviously ashamed that they can't do this sort of film. One of the most beautiful pieces of work I've seen in years.
I would not call it Anime though, it's a very gentle movie with the usual touches from the director that bought the superb Totoro and Princess Monoke to life.
I almost put a tenner on it to win the oscar last year- I bloody wish I did!!:D
 
Of course it's "anime", it's animation created by a Japanese person! That's what anime is...

And My Neighbour Totoro had one of the most memorable soundtracks ever, what are you talking about?! :D

Unfortunately, Spirited Away is getting its reviews, but it isn't being shown all over the UK, like it should. The dub is classy though :) And I agree, Disney can't even touch this kind of stuff, it's way out of their league at the moment. Perhaps they'll take it as an example and make better movies now.

It is a lot like Alice in Wonderland in basic story, but in terms of style and character, it's off the scale ~ it's something tr
 
Not wanting to get bogged down in the semantics of it all but Anime is classed as "A style of animation developed in Japan, characterized by stylized colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sex."
I personally see Anime as 'Akira', 'Urotsokodoji' , 'Cowboy BeBop' and the others in that vein, certainly not 'Spirited Away' or Totoro (which has reminded me I saw that ten years ago this week on the big screen in Cardiff, jeez it feels like it was yesterday).
I wondered about the translated version voxie so thanks for the nod that they did a good job on it, I've only seen it with subs as the Asian DVD has no English Soundtrack. But I hoped that Walt Disney UK wouldn't do what they did in the States and limit it's release (mind you only 6 cinemas coast to coast got the movie in the States when it came out a year ago), once again the house of mouse a tad put out at having an overseas company making better animations than them!
 
Where did you read that description of what Anime is?? the Daily Mail??!!!
All Japanese animation is Anime!! inc things like Totoro, sprited Away, Pokemon, Digimon etc the list goes on forever!! we grew up watchnig anime: Battle of the Planets, for one!!
If you find any liturature on anime it will say that all animation from Japan is Anime not just the like of Akira nd Urotsukidoji (overfiend)

Miyazaki the man who created both Totoro and Sprited away and Kikis Delivery Service is classed as the god of Anime!!!!!
 
The description comes from most dictionaries like The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition and Merriam-Webster OnLine for example.
I see anime as a style not just every animated film coming out of Japan. Most sites/essays always seem to begin with the phrase : 'Anime...you know, the Japanese animation with the big eyes'. Some 10/12 years ago I was present at a few press conferences with a couple of Japanese animators who were quite insistant that their work was not 'anime' but Japanese Animation citing that America had somewhat 'bastardised' the term to encompass all Japanese animation. I personally still equate anime as a style and Spirited Away is not that style, it's too achingly beautiful to be called that, in my opinoin. One thing though is no matter what you call it, Spirited Away is certainly fantastic stuff compared to the new works of Disney like 'Treasure Planet'. RL Stevenson meets extreme sports? You gotta be kidding me!
 
I'm really p***ed off that only London seem to have the subtitled version.... Are we in the "sticks" to stupid to watch and read at the same time?!?!?!

Oh well, I wanted to see this at the Cinema, I'll have to rent it instead.
 
i went to see it yesterday in london and ended up seeing the americanised version-i didnt know there was one-i'd presumed it would be subtitled and was a bit disappointed
 
Anyone know if the subtitled DVD is out yet?

I missed it at the cinema for the same reason. Don't want to spoil it by watching the dubbed version first.
 
Is the dubbed version really that bad? I saw it with subtitles and was wondering if it's that much better. (Really loved the movie, though) :)
 
i just would have preferred it wil the original voices :( plus the girl who voiced the main character had a tendency to shout all the time for no reason (she did the same in lilo and stitch too)
 
Finally!

After missing this at it's very brief run at my local independent cinema, I've been waiting patiently, for what seems like an eternity for the DVD release of Spirited Away and at long last it's out. ....and I've just watched it.

What can I say? It's incredible! Quite possibly the best anime I've ever seen and that's saying something.

Aside from the outstanding and ground-breaking animation, the beautiful dream-like story, the awe inspiring backgound illustrations and the wonderful character design it's the little touches that make it stand out from the rest. It's difficult to say whether the mouse/bird double act or the soot creatures were my favourites, the attention to detail and comic timing is absolutley impeccable. Moments that really got me were the mouse kissing his aunt's nose as they left her house, the bird/mouse recreation of Chihiro stamping on the spell slug to the applause of the soot creatures and the mouse's expression when Chihiro offered to let them ride on her shoulder. I also loved Chirhiro's face at the end as she was tempted to look back but remembered what Haku told her and snapped her head back. As I type more perfect moments are occuring to me and I could probably go on all night talking about this film.

Pixar are great at what they do but Studio Ghibli are in a different class. Absolutely inspiring. Eleven out of ten.
 
JonDoe, you have just said everything i was about to type i think :D

all i can say is wow. I've just finished watching it and it was :eek: Its such a perfect fantasy film, the musical score was spot on. The little sootballs and fuzzy flying thing/mouse were perfect!

It was one of those films that just make you feel all warm inside and have a real good moral feeling to everything. Also, the entire film just LOOKED gorgous. The scene where the spirits get off the boat just had my mouth wide open all the way through. I just cant describe it, but this film was just so cool! Oh also the scene where they are on the train, it was just so...i dont know the word, mellow perhaps? Not sure how to describe it..just weird!

I rented the film not knowing much about it except the excellent reviews it had received. My mum was also watching and i expected her not to like it (shes very critical of films!). However, as the credits rolled we both thought it was fantastic. It felt like the old disney style again! (except japanese style of course).

Cant think of anything else to write at the mo...maybe more will come back to me. Anyway, fantastic :)
 
I just rented the film. In fact im taking it back today! My favourite part was where she helped that little fuzzy ash thing when the coal squashed him and took it to the furnace. Then all the others caught on and started getting squashed so she'd do all their work for them ^_^. The massive baby was a big wierd though! Oh and the dubbing was spot on.
 
Spirited Away is a great film, I really enjoyed it. I wouldnt say it's my favourite Ghibli film. I think they've done far better ones going as far back as 20 years ago. I hope Hayao Miyazaki's last film based on the British childrens book will get a proper release in the UK.

My favourite Ghibli I think is Laputa Castle in the Sky. Out on DVD at the moment, however I loved the first English dub and I'm really not fond of the Disney re-dub with a big name cast. The main character Pazu now sounRAB terrible. It was first shown on ITV, the first English dub in December 1989 (I still have a recording) and then shown again a few years later.

Then it would have to be My Neighbour Totoro and Porco Rosso. Both had brilliant first English dubs now being re-dubbed by Disney (with big stars again even if it does ruin it) and will be released later in the year (despite Disney owning the rights 8 years ago). Both were shown in 1997 on Sky Movies which I also managed to record.

I've also seen Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Whisper of the Heart, both amazing films that I can't wait to see on DVD ^^ both are being dubbed by Disney. Can't forget Princess Mononoke that was an excellent film and the Disney dub was quite good, I'm glad Hayao Miyazaki got the chance to see that one. Another worth mentioning is Kiki's Delivery service. It also had two English dub however I've only seen the Disney version which I enjoyed, although I'd love to see the first one.

Here's a list of Ghiblies I recommend; (you can go here and read about the movies... [other movies made by Studio Ghibli]

Castle in the Sky (out in the UK)
Kiki's Delivery Service (out in the UK)
Princess Mononoke (out in the UK)
My Neighbour Totoro (only in US / out later this year in UK)
Grave of the Fireflies (only in US) sad (sad)
Porco Rosso (out later this year in the UK)
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (out later this year in UK)
Whisper of the Heart (out later this year in UK)
The Cat Returns (dunno)

----- blah blah explination
I love the above description of the word "anime" :) all you need to know is that in Japan, anything animated whether kiRAB series or movies with sexual content are refered to by the Japanese as "anime" and comics both children and ones containing sexual content as "manga".

However now in the west these worRAB are used to refer to just those only created in Japan. Although in the UK thanks to a company called Manga Entertainments people started to call anime "manga" and assumed everything "manga" was pornographic (the company sold such titles to appeal to a generation that liked violence and sex rather than kiRAB series and comedies etc). However over the years (mainly helped by the 20+ childrens anime series that have been shown and proved popular) most people now refer to it as anime and know that not all is violent and pornographic (infact only a small fraction is).

That said some dictionaries and companies such as newspapers and the BBC whenever talking about an anime even Spirited Away will also feel inclined to mention that anime and manga is also pornographic. Hopefully peoples attitudes towarRAB anime and manga will change as it becomes more popular.

Just call it what you want, as long as it's not "japanimation" they don't like that.
----- end
 
Well I might be a little late to this party, but I've just seen this film and I'm pleased to say that this is perhaps the finest film I have seen in a long time. So much so that I'm desperate to own anything even remotely like it. Much better than the gormless tosh rolling out of Hollywood.

The film worked so well. For a while the story seemed to be 'zoomed in' and was almost like a soap opera with the characters going about their everyday lives, and then suddenly the story 'zoomed out' and we could see the vastness of the washhouse and the huge expanse of ocean around... fantastic and very imaginative.

This is the only Japanese animated film I have ever seen. Going to have to grab more films from Studio Ghibli... it's just tricky finding UK stores that stock them...
 
I watched it on Sky Movies last week, and I thought it was truly brilliant.
Even my boyfriend (who can't stand subtitles) sat silent throughout and didn't move once.

I didn't want it to end. I wanted it to go on forever. It totally took me away to another land the whole time it was on. :)
 
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