See it. Just go. 'Nuff said.

Rating: 10/10 (25 September 2002)

If there's a reason Japanese animation is so popular in our American culture, I'd guess its something with the conventions. Anime doesn't have the same basic rules American animation has, and therefore it can show us things we've never dream of. For example: A witch with a head the size of a grocery cart that runs a day spa for demons and spirits.

Trying to describe the rest of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" is like trying to describe a dream you can barely remember. There are key images you can't forget, specific emotions that felt too real, and for the life of you, you can never accurately explain how they all connected.

Now since this is an animated film from Japan, I feel I need to clarify one very specific thing. I am not a big fan of anime. There is only one anime movie on my shelf of movies, and its "Princess Mononoke." It's not a coincidence that this film was also directed by Miyazaki. He is the single best director of animated movies because his characters have depth, his stories tell about the most basic human emotions, and he draws or redraws a majority of the frames himself.
"Spirited" has been compared to Alice in Wonderland, and I can't think of a simpler way of explaining it. Chihiro, a wiry 10-year-old girl, is our Alice. The movie opens with her and her parents moving to a new town. A wrong turn brings them to an abandoned theme park. But when the sun sets, the exit disappears, and Chihiro finds her parents under a curse. She is alone in a world full of spirits, demons and really big headed old women.
Chihiro's quest is not an easy one. She must save herself, she must save her parents, and she must find a way home. These quests are side-tracked as she meets employees and guests at the day spa. There's the boiler room operator, a man with six arms whose mood lightens when Chihiro visits. There's a river spirit that's so polluting no one can stand the smell of him, Chihiro stops at nothing to help him. She befriends the misunderstood No Face, a demon that won't stop eating anything, including the not-so-lucky day spa staff.

What I find most amazing about the animation is how little computers were used throughout the production. There are a few backgrounds that are sparsely rendered, but they look more like moving oil paintings and are used as a contrast. All the onscreen action, all the character's faces and emotions, all the minute details of this Wonderland have been perfectly realized by the world's best animators and the great Miyazaki.

Go see this movie. It is a feast of sensational visuals; it is an amazing story of meager people doing epic things, and as long as you're outside, go rent "Princess Mononoke." Films such as these can not disappoint.