The story and the art are in the detail

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2005)

There are numerous and inevitable comparisons of Spirited Away and Alice in Wonderland but I think they all miss the mark. The vision that Hayho Miyazaki conjures up is so unique and quirky that many critics seem to reach for a comparison just to attempt to get their minds around what they have just seen. My view is such comparisons do disservice to both works.
Chihiro is something of a tiresome brat at the beginning of the story, an easy place to start that everyone can recognize. (Already we have diverged from the story of Alice) It seems that only her diminutive size renders her appealing. She needs rescuing, but not from the forced relocation she deplores as you might think, but from her own ennui and, possibly, the unintentional neglect of her own parents. This is a situation that most children can recognize or relate to, even ones who were children decades ago as well as those too young to recognize what is going on.
This is where much of the true art comes in, and what makes so worth watching. Chihiro becomes more real in each frame. Her story of growth is pieced together meticulously but with nearly unbreakable mortar. She starts out passive and rightfully afraid of nearly everything that is happening to her, but with believable resilience, some luck, and some help from odd strangers she graduates from simply enduring to actively engaging her challenges in a way that is truly inspiring.
One of the most important aspects to the story is that once Chihiro is in the spirit world, she is treated like an adult. She may not be cherished at first (actually actively despised due to no fault of her own), but she wins the chance to sign an employment contract, an act not common to 10 year olds. Once she does, she has made her own place and is accepted. She still must deal with derision from most of the creatures who populate the world ("not for a human") and the unwelcome regard of her employer (sorceress Yu-Babba) but at least she finds a low rung on the social ladder. She must give up even her own name and take the name Sen, becoming someone else that must win Chihiro back, as well as the restoration of her parents.
A key insight of the artwork lies in the fact that Kamajii, the spider-like boiler room attendant, Yu-Baaba and Zeniiba the twin sorceresses with way over-sized heads, and Bou, Yu-Baaba's gigantic baby, appear the way they do not because that is the the way an adult would see them, but the way a 10 year old girl might. Miyazaki-san has managed to reach back in his mind to see this, helped with his observations of a daughter of a friend who was about that age. An overbearing old woman's face would dominate the field of view of a girl as small as Chihiro, and the busy workman's arms would seem numerous and far reaching.
One thread that I would have like to see played out more is the story of Lin, the hardworking and seemingly human girl who takes risks on Chihiro's behalf before she secures a contract, and then is delighted to take her as an apprentice, although she publicly hides it. ("Don't dump her on me!"). She is kind to Chihiro when she doesn't have to be, and looks after her. Rin has her own story that hasn't been told, in a respite moment she tells Chihiro that she wants to leave the bath-house where they work. Following Rin's lead most of the rest of the bath-house workers, who once despised all humans, are cheering for her to succeed. But Rin and Chihiro don't even get to say goodbye.
Much has and will be written about the fantastic paintings come to life, and the incredible attention to detail that makes the movie more lifelike in many ways than a conventional reel would be. This is probably better experienced than discussed, but there is no flaw or fault in any frame that you can find. I am completely floored by critiques of this film that have anything bad to say about the animation  don't listen to them. You will only be cheating yourself; it does not get any better than this.
Update: I got around to watching this again with the Japanese soundtrack, and as others have mentioned there are some fairly significant deviations between the Japanese and English versions of dialog. Further, the English subtitles to the Japanese track are not always perfect translations -- mostly pretty good. (When Chihiro says "Hai!" it can mean, "Yes," "Yes 'm," or "right.") Unlike some other reviewers I think the English version is in many ways superior. In many cases dialog is not dependent on lip-sync, and the American writers took advantage of this to interject some things that would otherwise be unclear. I would recommend everyone watch both versions.