Spirited Away (volume 1 of 5)

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The house where she will be staying belongs to a tiny old lady, who seems perpetually angry and delights in putting people on the wrong foot. The original Japanese cast perform this extraordinary production with wildly imaginative puppets, dazzling set and costume designs and a live orchestra playing the magnificent original film score by Joe Hisaishi . Australian television audiences premiered Spirited Away on March 24, on its SBS channel. The movie had been heavily marketed previously, and was featured in the Australian TV Guide; no edits were made during viewing.

Miyazaki also included a theme advocating the prevention of greed: those swallowed by No-Face were attempting to receive the gold he made. Similarly, in a monomyth format, Yubaba's rich accommodations and interest in gold dominate the "road of trials" portions of the film, while Zeniba's rustic home and grandmotherly demeanor arguably mark Chihiro's gain of the "boon" in her quest. Also, Chihiro's parents' grotesque transformation after consuming too much food not meant for them is another representation of human greed, and may also be a reference to The Odyssey. In 1971, he moved to A Pro with Isao Takahata, then to Nippon Animation in 1973, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next five years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Conan, The Boy in Future, then moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.Hayao Miyazaki and Rumi Hiiragi, the actress who played Chihiro Ogino, photographed at the Edo Tokyo Open Air Park on March 26, 2001. Chihiro's distress at losing her parents is compounded by the discoveries that the world around her has changed and that her body seems to be disappearing. A mysterious boy named Haku appears, comforts Chihiro, and gives her a red berry to eat, which makes her solid again. He smuggles her into a large bathhouse owned and operated by the witch Yubaba, where thousands of spirits come to refresh themselves. Haku tells Chihiro that the only way she can remain in the spirit-world long enough to rescue her parents is by gaining employment in Yubaba's bathhouse. When Chihiro asks Haku how he seems to know her so well, Haku replies that he has known Chihiro since she was very small. Hayao Miyazaki sought authenticity in the representation of the bathhouse, admitting to having been inspired by the buildings at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, which was near the studio where he liked to walk. Its park indeed offers a reconstruction of the Japanese capital, between the 17th and the beginning of the 20th century. For Miyazaki, to represent this place is to plunge the Japanese viewer into a certain nostalgia. Ghibli staff conducted location scouting at this park on March 17, 2000. The public bathhouse Kodakara-yu was Miyazaki's favorite exhibit, and many of its details were used as reference when designing the bathhouse in the film. The main building at Dōgo Onsen in Matsuyama was also referenced, following a past Ghibli company trip. The interiors of Meguro Gajoen and the ceilings of Nijō Castle was used as reference. Kamajī's workplace was based on the Takei Sansho-do (stationery store) at the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Meanwhile, the film's bathhouse's girl's dormitories was based on the Japanese garment factories from the 1950s. The National Sanatorium Tama Zenshōen's multi-tenant room also served as inspiration.

Speech is a force. In the world where Chihiro got lost, the act of uttering a word constitutes an act of decisive weight. At the baths run by Yubâba, if Chihiro pronounces the words: "I don't want," "I want to go home," the witch immediately throws her outside; all that remains is to wander with nowhere to go and disappear, or be turned into a hen and lay eggs until eaten. Conversely, when Chihiro says: "I will work here," witch she is, Yubâba cannot ignore it. Today, the word has an unlimited lightness, you can say anything, it is received like a bubble and only restores a reflection of reality. Yet the fact that speaking is a force is still true today. A word is only vain, without force, because it is emptied of its meaning. The story is about the adventures of a young ten-year-old girl named Chihiro as she wanders into the world of the gods and spirits. She is forced to work at a bathhouse following her parents being turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba. The closing song, Always with Me (いつも何度でも , Itsumo Nandodemo, literally, Always, No Matter How Many Times) was written and performed by Yumi Kimura, a composer and lyre-player from Osaka. The lyrics were written by Kimura's friend Wakako Kaku. The song was intended to be used for a different Miyazaki film which was never released, Rin the Chimney Painter (煙突描きのリン , Entotsu-kaki no Rin). Yubaba's opulent apartment floor was inspired by places like Romkumeikan (Top) and Meguro Gajoen (Bottom). The first European television showing of the film (both the subtitled Japanese and dubbed English versions) was in the UK on December 29, 2004, on Sky Cinema 1, and it has since been repeated several times. The first UK terrestrial showing of this film (dubbed into English) was on BBC2 on December 30, 2006. The Japanese subtitled version was first shown on BBC4 on the 26th January 2008.For the dubbing, Hayao Miyazaki chose confirmed actors to embody the voice of his characters. The young actress Rumi Hiiragi, aged 13, known in Japan for a morning drama on the NHK channel, was hired while Miyu Irino was given the role of Haku. Their interpretation is marked by accuracy and moderation. Bunta Sugawara, with a 45-year acting career, lends his voice to Kamajī and Mari Natsuki, truly transcends her slim figure and her soft voice to embody an earthy and directive Yubaba. The most surprising thing is to discover that the enormous baby Boh is played by Ryûnosuke Kamiki, a little boy of 4 or 5 years old, considered a little genius in Japan.