Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) is an Oscar Winning (Best Animated Film) 2001 Japanese animated family fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli.

From one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animated cinema – Hayao Miyazaki's latest triumph, filled with astonishing animation and epic adventure, is a dazzling masterpiece for the ages. SPIRITED AWAY is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl, Chihiro, 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 herself and return her family to the outside world.

An unforgettable story brimming with creativity, SPIRITED AWAY will take you on a journey beyond your imagination. It's a fantastic tale the whole family will want to experience over and over again. From the Studio Ghibli Collection.

Awards

• Won Oscar, Best Animated Feature (2003)
• Won Annie Awards for: Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Music (2003)
• Won Saturn Award, Best Animated Film (2003)
• Won Mainichi Film Concours Awards for: Best Film, Best Animated Film, Best Director, Best Score, Readers' Choice Best Film (2002)
• Won Japanese Academy Award, Best Film (2002)
• Won Tokyo Anime Awards for: Animation of the Year, Best Director (2002)
• Won Hong Kong Film award, Best Asian Film (2002)
• Won 23 other awards, Received 19 other nominations

Spirited Away Movie Reviews

“It's a "wonderfully welcoming work of art that's as funny and entertaining as it is brilliant, beautiful, and deep” (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal)."

“Winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2003 (beating Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron) Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is one of the most impressive animated features of this year, or any other. With none of the sentimentality of Disney nor the computerised sheen of Pixar, this traditional animé even blows the brilliant Finding Nemo out of the water. It's epic story is more imaginative, rousing and luscious than anything American animation has produced since the halcyon days of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs…Made after Miyazaki announced – and then renounced – his retirement following the critically acclaimed Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away is a feast of gorgeous animation and intelligent storytelling…In two hours Miyazaki offers more magic and innovation than most animators could manage in over two decades. Japanese animé at its finest, Spirited Away is guaranteed to delight hardcore devotees, and those who've yet to make an acquaintance with the best that the East has to offer. See it and marvel.” 5 out of 5 stars, BBC

“a timeless, all-ages fairy tale with an unbounded, almost psychedelic imagination.” 5 out of 5 stars, Guardian UK

“..the best animated film of recent years, the latest work by Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese master who is a god to the Disney animators…This is a wonderful film. Don't avoid it because of what you think you know about animation from Japan. Miyazaki's works ("My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki's Delivery Service,” “Princess Mononoke”) have a depth and complexity often missing in American animation. Not fond of computers, he draws thousand of frames himself, and there is a painterly richness in his work. He's famous for throwaway details at the edges of the screen (animation is so painstaking that few animators draw more than is necessary). And he permits himself silences and contemplation, providing punctuation for the exuberant action and the lovable or sometimes grotesque characters…This is one of the year's best films." 4 out of 4 stars Roger Ebert

“Anything but your regular 'toon, it's a (literally) fantastic experience.” Total Film

“Spirited Away is not just the best animated film of 2002, it is the best film of 2002, period. And perhaps one of the most artistically satisfying animated films ever made, in terms of both its visual splendor and thematic depth. It will amaze kids with its cornucopia of surprises—and the fact that it never talks down to them and gives them a role model more realistic than any live-action Disney Channel show. It will give adults plenty to talk about—artistically, politically, and philosophically—for years to come. When Uncle Walt built Disneyland, he wanted a place where children and adults could play together, for, as Miyazaki says, "the people who used to be ten years old and the people who are going to be ten years old.” The world of Spirited Away is one of those places, a Disneyland on screen, a palace of wonders." DVD Verdict