SPIRITED AWAY (2001)

Often hailed as one of the greatest films of the 21st century, Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece opened the door for Japanese animation to audiences around the world. It clearly established that animated films could appeal to adults as well as children. Inspired by the daughters of family friends with whom he often vacationed, Miyazaki crafted the tale of a young girl, Chihiro, who stumbles upon an abandoned amusement park with her parents. After consuming enchanted food, her parents are transformed into pigs. To save them, Chihiro finds work in a bathhouse in the spirit world, signing a contract with the witch that cursed her parents. In addition to drawing on Japanese folklore, Miyazaki comments on commercialism and the ways Western culture have threatened Japanese traditions. Yet its simple rite-of-passage story and inventive animation spoke to audiences around the world, eventually winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. 

d. Hayao Miyazaki, 125m, DCP

Courtesy of GKIDS.

Co-presented by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.