Pleasing visual qualities and it's interesting characters

Rating: 8/10 (8 November 2002)

The things I enjoyed most about this Japanese animated feature are it's pleasing visual qualities and it's interesting characters. I've heard it compared to Alice in Wonderland which I can definitely see, but I was also reminded of The Neverending Story as I watched it...maybe because of the dragon/boy character Haku. Regardless of what you might compare it to, it's a tale of a young girl who is thrust into an alternate world full of strange, but interesting characters. If it has a flaw, I felt it ran a bit long at over 2 hours...though I admit I was a bit tired while watching it. It's quirky characters and stunning animation are pleasing to watch, but it didn't quite live up to the hype I had heard about the movie prior to watching it. One other note, I've read others say it's good for the entire family, I think really young kids might not appreciate it that much.

*** (Out of 4)