Spirited Away

"Beyond the tunnel was a mysterious town."

2001 2h 5m JA

🤯

8.5

MASTERPIECE

★8.5TMDB · 19,014

AnimationFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

“Beyond the tunnel was a mysterious town.”

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Cast

Rumi Hiiragi
Chihiro (voice)
Miyu Irino
Haku (voice)
Mari Natsuki
Yubaba / Zeniba (voice)
Takashi Naito
Father (voice)
Yasuko Sawaguchi
Mother (voice)
Tatsuya Gashuin
Aogaeru (voice)
Ryunosuke Kamiki
Boh (voice)
Yumi Tamai
Rin (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $275M — a 14.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, shot by Atsushi Okui. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joe Hisaishi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Takeshi Seyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rumi Hiiragi and Miyu Irino and Mari Natsuki carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Beyond the tunnel was a mysterious town.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0245429 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Hayao Miyazaki directs. Atsushi Okui behind the camera. Joe Hisaishi scores. Takeshi Seyama cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $275M — a 14.5× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, shot by Atsushi Okui. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Joe Hisaishi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Takeshi Seyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rumi Hiiragi and Miyu Irino and Mari Natsuki carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Beyond the tunnel was a mysterious town.".
8IMDB entry: tt0245429 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
919,014 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "witch", "parent child relationship", "darkness", "bath house".
11Released under 25 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Atsushi Okui
Original score: Joe Hisaishi
Editing: Takeshi Seyama
Runtime: 125 min · 2h 5m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $19,000,000
Box office: $274,925,095
Return: 1447% of budget
Original language: JA
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Spirited Away (2001)

Awards

Animation Kobe Theatrical Film Award
Annie Award for Best Animated Feature
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature
Golden Bear
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Hayao Miyazaki

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Community reviews

What people are saying

ZeBlah2019-06-29
★ 10/10
One of the great "masters" of the anime art. Somehow, if I would personally associate "Akira" to "self-destruction", then this anime would be the opposite :)
CinemaSerf2024-12-28
★ 7/10
I quite liked the look of the new house that "Chihiro" and her parents were to move to, but she isn't so keen, and being ten had the weight of the world on her shoulders. En route to meet the removal men, her dad takes a wrong turning and soon, together with her mum, end up at the end of a tunnel. What would you do? Go in of course! Luckily it's quite a short walk before they find themselves in a small village that's full of shops all laid out for a banquet. Mum and dad tuck in but the young girl just wants to get going. Ignored, she explores a little as they gorge themselves and that's when she encounters the young "Haku" who suggests that she might like to leave. Snag is - her parents have quite literally now gone a bit porcine and she's going to have to rely on her new friend if she is to rescue them from an impending visit to the abattoir. A job is her first task, and for that she needs a contract with the wart-nosed witch "Yubaba" - and so off we go on a series of marvellously creative escapades discovering some coal spirits; that her friend has a secret identity; her boss an huge great baby and the entire place serves as a sort of bathhouse for the enigmatic "No Face" whose agenda isn't clear to anyone, though we do know he has a rapacious appetite and can make his own gold! The detail of the animation is astonishing and coupled with the mysticism of ancient Japanese folk lore works really well at creating a characterful and engaging story. I just love the lithe dragons of Oriental mythology as opposed to the scaly, stodgy, European ones. The concept of identity underpins much of the narrative here, with not just "Chihiro" but pretty much everyone else coming to terms with flaws and strengths in their personalities requiring a degree of human spirit, trust and forgiveness if ever anyone is to thrive and if ever she and her folks are to get to that new house on the hill. It's two hours really goes fly by and I thoroughly enjoyed it.