Weird & Wonderful ...

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2003)

Looking at this film as an outsider, someone who knows very little about Miyazaki's films or ANY anime film for that matter, I've got to say that I found it to be a real breath of fresh air, and a welcome break from Disney films. It encourages me to go out and seek more anime films, but I also fear that I might be disappointed by those films if they aren't as great as this one.
Most of the film is set in a hotel for spirits which is ruled over by an evil witch and is staffed by a variety of extremely weird, but certainly original, monsters. A young girl named Chihiro (or Sen) finds herself trapped here after her parents trespass on the property, and must work there until she can find a way to escape with them. With it's cultural sensibilities, the film at times has a harsher edge than you would expect to find in your average American cartoon, but in the end it is also extremely heart-warming.
As I'm not really familiar with Anime, the closest Western parallel I can think of would be pixar's Monsters Inc., which was similarly interesting and original. Whether or not children will understand or enjoy this film I don't know, but adults will certainly find it interesting. It's worth noting that though I've only seen the subtitled version, there is an English dubbed version also available if you do want to show it to your kids.