A fiercely imaginative animated odyssey from Miyazaki

Rating: 8/10 (4 October 2008)

Coming into this film I had recently watched a trio of Miyazaki's earlier efforts and was looking forward to seeing his most highly regarded film. I can now say that I have never seen anything quite like this, though the unbridled creativity turned out to be a bit of a double-edged sword in my case.
Outwardly the story is simple enough as Chihiro and her parents stumble upon a seemingly abandoned amusement park and unwittingly trespass into a world governed by spirits. It is then up to Chihiro to gain passage for herself and her parents back to the real world.
The story's characters and events are probably not as original to Japanese viewers but as a North American viewer I found the content to be exceptionally weird and imaginative. In fact, I found it so original that I was half the time slack-jawed, saying to myself, "What is going on here?" Thankfully, by the end of the film the world of "Spirited Away" made a bit more sense.
The voice cast (for the Disney dub) is fine but unremarkable. There's no-one worth singling out, either for a stand-out performance or a particularly lackluster one.
The visuals are top-notch, as is typical of Studio Ghibli. I don't know if Disney meddled with the score like they did with other Miyazaki films but, if they did, it is none the worse for their efforts.
If you're looking for originality, look no further. "Spirited Away" was a more-than-worthy winner of the 2003 Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Definitely a must-see for animation fans young and old.