Spirited Away as International Cinema
by Devin Baron
Despite being a culturally specific film with folkloric origins, Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001) encountered unprecedented international success, accomplishing global adoration through its accessible themes and characteristics, transnational marketing and distribution, and location within the legitimization of the animation genre.
Firstly, Spirited Away owes its admiration to its accessible themes, contrary to expectations for a film that draws many of its elements from Japanese folklore. The word kamikakushi, included in the Japanese title of the film, Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, is “a Japanese folkloric term used to explain the mysterious disappearance of a person who has angered the gods.” (Pyner 19) There is a specific cultural reference embedded in the title. It stands out from the very beginning. The folklore then continues in the text. The anthropoids resemble the ancient Heian period in Japan. The frogs and water spirits reference Kappa demons. Kamaji is a representation of a tsuchigumo, or earth spider (Cavallaro qtd. in Pyner 25). Miyazaki may also pull from a scene in “The Bush Warbler’s Home,” where a character gets lost in the woods and discovers a forbidden palace, or a scene from “Tabibito Uma,” where a character is transformed into a horse (Miyashita 3-4). There are undoubtedly countless nods to Japanese culture weaved and implanted throughout, but in the case of Spirited Away, that fact does not equate to inaccessibility.
With so many references from a plethora of periods, art forms, and societal spaces, Hayao Miyazaki can flatten a combination of cultural artifacts into a single, rewarding, throughline experience. This ability allows him to convey universal themes through an array of cultures, giving Spirited Away room to be considered a work of transnational cinema. According to Elizabeth Ezra and Terry Rowden, transnational cinema “transcends the national as autonomous cultural particularly while respecting it as a powerful symbolic force” (Ezra and Rowden 2). Hayao Kawai argues that being universal to humankind and peculiar to specific culture are the two aspects of folktales (Kawai qtd. in Miyashita 2). Miyazaki does this perfectly, as he often celebrates Japanese diversity instead of attempting to isolate it (Yoshioka qtd. in Pyner 25). Tanith Pyner says, “Japan is simultaneously made distinct in its aesthetics and allusions to Japanese mythology, while communicating universal messages of a world in flux and a plethora of iconography that in turn appeals to a mass audience” (Pyner 26). This theory concurs with Ezra and Rowden’s belief that nationalism is not an armored enemy for transnationalism nor an outdated relic, but rather a dialogical partner whose voice simultaneously grows stronger and fades away (Ezra and Rowden 4).
One reason universality is so strong in Japanese culture is that, though very spiritual and mythical in nature, Japanese stories are often about ordinary people. Protagonists tend to be small children, like Chihiro in Spirited Away (Seki qtd. in Miyashita 4). Another theory is that international audiences may have related to the film because of its use of spirituality. Katherine Buljan and Carole M. Cusack said, “The kami-filed quality of nature is one of the ways in which Japanese culture makes nature 'pure,' in that kami are beings, and people can therefore establish relationships with nature more successfully" (Buljan and Carole qtd. in Miyashita 10). Both the film’s ordinariness and spirituality bridge a connection between Japanese storytelling and international consumption. Along with these connection points, transnational elements are included in the text to serve as links to a more western audience. Most of the transnational elements attempt to deal with Western influence on Japan. One example is the Audi car that Chihiro’s family drives in the opening scene of the movie (00:00:00-00:04:40). Another example is the clothing. When Chihiro becomes Sen, she ditches her Western clothing for a Suikan (00:42:45-00:43:17, 00:45:18-00:45:31). Then, when she reunites with her family at the end of the film, she returns to Western-style clothing, but retains the headband Zeniba gave her (01:59:07-01:59:35). This could signal the unification of Japanese and Western cultures (“The Representation”).
There are critics of Spirited Away being too westernized. This has less to do with Miyazaki and the production, and more with the distribution. Some speculate that the film’s global success comes from the western appeal to exotic Orientalism. Sheridan Prasso says the “Oriental style is not really Asian. It is Western, a reflected image of what Westerners think Asia looks like” (Prasso qtd. by Carter). Laz Carter reinforces that “the marketability of Orientalism is a tool deployed repeatedly by Disney throughout the American campaign for Spirited Away” (Carter). Much more can be said on the topic of whether the tool of Orientalism is proper or respectful to use. Used respectfully or not, however, it certainly fostered greater accessibility for the film.
Another accessible trait of Spirited Away is its different viewing options, subbed and dubbed. By retaining a subbed version, the film keeps its critical acclaim intact. It remains appealing to high-brow audiences. On the other hand, producing a dubbed version lowers the barrier to entry for the populace. The English dubbed version reaches out an inviting hand to so many who would not join otherwise, a multitude of low-brow audiences who prefer not having to read during their viewing experience. Again, some hesitate to embrace the Westernized version, arguing that it becomes a different movie with an alternate tone. Derek Elley writes, “Revoicing cartoons from Japanese into English is always problematic, given the totally different flavors of the two languages, and some of the child-like lightness of the original has necessarily vanished in the harder, Anglo-Saxon dub. Dialogue has also been completely Americanized” (Elley). Whether aspects of the original have vanished or are still present, the choice between multiple versions creates a much wider audience for the film.
The accessibility of the text was a significant factor, but the film also had to be well-marketed. Transnational marketing was the second reason for Spirited Away’s global appeal. No Studio Ghibli film before or after Spirited Away has ever had so much success. Studio Ghibli’s partnership with Walt Disney Studios for distribution is exceptionally notable. Disney’s involvement in the project was treated with carefulness because of prior tensions between Miyazaki and American distributors (Moon). Though no cuts were made to the film this time around, the marketing of the film looked greatly different in the west than in the east.
The first difference is the title. It is changed from “Sen to Chihiro no kamikakishi” to “Spirited Away.” Through translation, some connotations and meanings are slightly altered, but the English title is far more marketable to a Western audience. Secondly, the American poster takes a different approach to contextualize the film by placing a prominent spirit on the right side of the poster. It also chooses to display brand names that are more popular in the West, such as Walt Disney Studios, Studio Ghibli, and Hayao Miyazaki, instead of displaying Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, and Bunta Sugawara, voice actors who are very popular in Japan. Finally, while the Japanese trailer mainly focuses on the premise of the story (“Spirited Away Trailer World”), the American trailer relies on a hypeman’s voice, title cards with recognizable good traits, and phrases like “from master filmmaker” and “experience a magical movie phenomenon” (“Spirited Away Madman Anime”) (Carter). All these choices, and many more, detract from the film’s Japaneseness to fit it into a more traditional Western distribution format. As Kubo Maskazu observes, it is “easy to produce international versions by erasing Japanese language signs as much as possible” (Masakazu qtd. in Carter). Through transnational marketing strategies, the film becomes less Japanese and more international, allowing for greater global success.
One reason Spirited Away’s success can be termed unprecedented is the state of its genre, animation, in 2001. Over the history of motion pictures and filmmaking, the animation art form has not been as widely accepted as its live-action counterpart. The global view of animation is still evolving today in 2022, but it was certainly progressing in 2001, the year of Spirited Away’s release.
The legitimization of the animation genre cultivated the film’s success. When Spirited Away won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, “people were starting to say, wow, what’s all this about animation that it’s getting its own category, that it’s considered a real art form” (Napier qtd. in Moon). The category of Best Animated Feature had just been created the year before, a sign of validity and respect from the Academy. Not only did the film win an Academy Award, but it also won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Alongside its critical acclaim, Spirited Away became the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. It is still second on that list today.
Predictably, the person at the center of this film is the individual most responsible for the legitimization of animation. As briefly mentioned earlier, Hayao Miyazaki had become known as a master filmmaker. His auteur status generated more attention for himself, Studio Ghibli, Japanese anime, and the entire animation genre. The auteur title held a clout that served very important for getting eyeballs on Spirited Away. Timothy Corrigan asserts that “auteurist marketing of movies through the reverberations of directorial names across titles [guarantees] a relationship between audience and movie [through] a kind of brand-name vision whose contextual meanings are already determined” (Corrigan qtd. in Carter).
Laz Carter supports this by saying, “the brand name of Hayao Miyazaki is the foundation upon which the (re)marketed promotional strategies of his films are built” (Carter). Miyazaki continues to garner much praise. Ryman Arts Board President, Phil Hettema said, “His incredible work has advanced the art of visual storytelling and influenced the entire genre of animation, while inspiring us all” (Hettema qtd. in Bell). John Caird said, “I have for many years now regarded Miyazaki Hayao as one of the pre-eminent geniuses of world cinema and the greatest ever proponent of the anime form” (Caird qtd. in Brzeski). Dr. Shiro Yoshioka attributes Spirited Away itself to be a leading force in the recognition of animation, commenting that its commercial success led to “a very significant, legitimate film genre in Japan” (Yoshioka qtd. in Moon). Both Miyazaki and Spirited Away have shown their transnational gravity through what has followed. Toy Story 3 and Inside Out, two animated Disney Pixar films, and Pan’s Labyrinth, a live-action film, include references to Spirited Away. There is also a 2022, John Caird directed, stage adaptation of the movie (Moon). Spirited Away came at the perfect year, being legitimized by past animation feats and legitimizing the feats that followed it.
Miyazaki’s Spirited Away was a transnational achievement and international phenomenon because of its deliberate positioning to be globally accessible, its transnational marketing that hybridized its Japanese origins, and its place and timing among the landscape of film and animation.
Works Cited:
Bell, BreAnna. “Animation Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki to Be Honored with 2019 Sklar Creative Visionary Award.” Variety, Variety, 16 Aug. 2019, https://variety.com/2019/film/news/hayao-miyazaki-2019-sklar-award-1203304853/.
Brzeski, Patrick. “Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away' to Get Stage Adaptation.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hayao-miyazakis-spirited-away-to-get-stage-adaptation-4138972/.
Carter, Laz. “Marketing Anime to a Global Audience: A Paratextual Analysis of Promotional Materials from Spirited Away.” East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 4, no. 1, Apr. 2018, p. 47. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.libdata.lib.ua.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.535943826&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Elley, Derek. “Spirited Away.” Variety, Variety, 20 Sept. 2002, https://variety.com/2002/film/awards/spirited-away-1200546082/.
Ezra, Elizabeth and Terry Rowden, Eds., Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Miyashita, Hiroko. “Comparative Motif Study between Japanese Folktales and Modern Manga and Anime Case Study of Spirited Away.” Academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/31140735/Comparative_Motif_Study_between_Japanese_Folktales_and_Modern_Manga_and_Anime_Case_Study_of_Spirited_Away.
Moon, Kat. “Spirited Away Changed Animation Forever. Here's How.” Time, Time, 20 July 2021, https://time.com/6081937/spirited-away-changed-animation-studio-ghibli/.
Pyner, Tanith. “Spirits, Modern Monsters and Saving the World: Re-Defining Traditional Japanese Culture in Millennial Anime Film.” Academia.edu, Queen Mary, University of London, 2016, https://www.academia.edu/28684100/Spirits_Modern_Monsters_and_Saving_the_World_Re_defining_Traditional_Japanese_Culture_in_Millennial_Anime_Film.
“Spirited Away (2001) Official Trailer.” YouTube, Trailer World, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHCUkXUPkFM.
“Spirited Away - Official Trailer.” YouTube, Madman Anime, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByXuk9QqQkk.
The Representation of Japanese Cinema as a National Cinema, through the Duality of Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” (2001). https://www.um.es/educarlamirada/?cine=the-representation-of-japanese-cinema-as-a-national-cinema-through-the-duality-of-miyazakis-spirited-away-2001.