I saw it in a theater a few weeks ago, and really liked it.
I did notice that it was odd that Zeniba went from seeming as mean as her sister to being nice - I’ll have to get the DVD so I can watch the subtitled version.
Watching the movie with a young child is great, you get to see their reactions to the movie, and this movie evokes a lot of different feelings in everybody.
I think it makes sense that they called them spirits instead of gods. It would be confusing to young children who have only been exposed to Western religion, and to Westerners a ‘River Spirit’ seems to better describe what it’s role is than a ‘River God’, which implies a more powerful being in Western religions.
“Haku’s voice sounded all right at first, til I watched the sub.”
I had the same experience though it was also due to the patently phony presentation by the Haku voice-actor for the DVD special feature. After watching that it was difficult to take him seriously. And yes he was too old; Disney seems to have repeated that mistake for Castle in the Sky with Pazu.
In general my opinion of the dub went down after watching the original. I still think it’s OK and maybe the best Ghibli dub so far.
As for the script changes to some extent it’s unavoidable to make it match the lip movements and also to clarify certain things that wouldn’t be clear to an American audience. But yes they tend to go too far though this dub was better in that respect than Kiki’s Delivery Service where they completely changed the character of the cat(voiced by Phil Hartman) and made him a highly irritating comic side-kick of the coventional Disney kind. However from reading the online reviews many people seemed to like the cat so maybe they knew what they were doing at least for American audiences.
I went to both versions in the theater when it first came out here and loved both of them completely. ouisey, has your SO come up with a reason for his dislike yet? I’m wondering what a movie “like that” is “like.” Even if someone is uncomfortable with the story, the film is so visually stunning. There are passages that literally made me cry, not because of the story line but because the art was so beautiful. The train ride is one of the most poignant movie moments I’ve ever experienced. Maybe some folks don’t like it because they are uncomfortable with having those inarticulable (is that a word?), inchoate kinds of feelings stirred. They would rather deal with formula feel-good or stuff blowing up. Or maybe it just doesn’t stir the kinds of feelings in them that those who like it are experiencing, so it seems weird and pointless. I guess I could see that, but it’s a sad loss for them.
Thinking further, thank you Drastic and Pochacco, I like your explanations of the story line and the moving-to-a-new-place metaphors. It made me think of how Chihiro’s name is taken from her. That seemed very sinister and evil to me when I first saw the movie, but it’s a good picture of how one feels in a new place - no one knows who you are, you don’t even know who you are, you haven’t figured out how you fit into this place yet. You have to sort of make yourself a new identity that’s still you, find out who you are in this new place. That takes courage. I was impressed with the portrayal of Chihiro’s quiet courage, as well as the other traits you mentioned. The scene where Haku brings her the rice balls and she’s eating and crying at the same time is such a mix of comfort and despair and weakness and gathering strength, external and internal, physical and emotional. Gah. It’s powerful.
“Oh, and I loved the sootballs.”
Me too. I liked pretty much all the physical comedy in the film especially with the two creatures that Zeniba creates with her spell. The moment when the baby creature snubs Chihiro when she offers to take him on her shoulder is priceless.
I like the way Miyazaki doesn’t overdo the comic side-kicks ,like in most Disney films, with silly wisecracks. I doubt that Disney would have had the restraint to not give the sidekicks any lines.
Yep, if you loved the sootballs, you need to see My Neighbor Totoro. (I gather the only official region 1 disc out for it currently is a full-screen dub, which is a pity.) Of course, it should be seen anyway, but the sootballs are a good excuse.
The subdued humor of Chihiro’s uncomfortable silence in the elevator along with the giant but silently protective god was a strong nod to Totoro, too.
The sootballs in Totoro have much less character though. The totoros and catbus are a lot more interesting. Another connection: the creature that the baby was turned into was quite similiar to a small totoro.
I got the DVD a couple of days ago, and on the recommendation of some people on this board, I saw it in Japanese. I actually did like it a little better than the English version!
Has the Kaonashi (no-face) appeared in any other film? He’s my favorite character! I know what I’m going to be for Halloween…
BTW if anyone can find information on SA DVD sales please post it. I couldn’t find anything at boxofficemojo.com. SA is no.4 at amazon.com but I am not sure what that means for overall DVD sales. Hopefully SA as well as the other two DVD’s do well enough to persuade Disney to release the other Ghibli films.
Incidentally in response to an earlier comment I disagree that the Castle and Kiki ads at the begining of the DVD are redundant. SA has received a lot more exposure in the US with the Oscar and the theatrical release. There will probably be many people who watch the SA DVD who don’t know much about Miyazaki’s other films but who might become interested after watching the ads.
I don’t see any mention of this here, so I will. Just watched Spirited Away DVD last night and was dissapointed with the color. I know the European version had a RED cast. This one has a slightly YELLOW cast. Additionally all the color is somewhat muted. If you don’t believe me just compare the film itself to the scenes from Kiki’s Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky on the same disc. It is also apparent when they cut from Spirited Away footage to documentary footage that the color balance is off. Also note, in the feature, that the skies are torqouise - not blue. All other blues are also affected, sometimes turning green.
I saw the film in the theater not too long ago. And, as an artist, I can tell you that color memory can be tricky. But I’m sure it looked a lot better than this DVD transfer.
Having only just now discovered the joys of Anime, I also recently bought and watched Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies, all of which have the beautiful, rich, crystal clear color that this release of Spirited Away lacks. This is tragic as Spirited Away is one of the most beautiful looking films I’ve ever seen. For all the effort that went into preparing this film for a wide audience, how could it have possibly been mass-marketed in this condition?
I hesistate to say all this for fear of turning someone off who might be thinking of renting or buying the DVD. You should see this film anyway!
“If you don’t believe me just compare the film itself to the scenes from Kiki’s Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky on the same disc.”
I agree that SA had a muted look compared to other Ghibli films but I noticed this in the theatre itself and I thought of it as an artistic decision. I didn’t find anything wrong with the DVD. Anyone else have an opinion about this?
Ok, I just watched Spirited Away on DVD tonight, dub version.
Wow. Just… wow.
Now I wish I’d seen it on big screen.
I was captivated. And I liked Haku in dragon form, but then, I like dragons.
That little “cootie-shot” thing (putting your thumbs and forefingers together and having someone else break them apart) after Chahiro stepped on the black slug was cool. Nothing says “a different culture” like gestures like that. And when the little mouse stepped in Chahiro’s footprint and copied the gesture – priceless.
I may turn right around and watch it again. Sub, this time.
Absolutely priceless! I still smile when I think about it
Absolutely watch the sub now Talk about “nothing says ‘a different culture’,” in the sub the old boiler-man didn’t even have to tell Chihiro how to do it, she just did. The explanation was for Westerners’ benefit, not hers. It’s so cool to be able to watch both the sub and dub versions and compare and contrast.
“The explanation was for Westerners’ benefit, not hers.”
Although there is an amusing moment in the making-of documentary where Miyazaki is trying to explain what it means to the Chihiro voice-actor who doesn’t understand it either.
BTW there are any number of neat touches which you spot on repeat viewing.
Like when Chihiro and Haku fall from the sky, the baby-creature tries to stay afloat by doing a breast-stroke .
Or when the baby-creature is insulted by Yubaba watch his face go sad and then angry.
When Chihiro bows to Zeniba in her house, the bird gets entagled in a strand of her hair.
