It’s one of the most famous anime films of all time: Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is not only a classic film from the legendary Studio Ghibli, but it was also the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time worldwide until its box office record was beaten by Demon Slayer. As an Academy award-winning film, and possibly one of the greatest animated films ever made, the movie has a lasting legacy, one that makes it a prime opportunity for re-interpretation.
The original film follows the 10-year old Chihiro and her parents as they travel to their new home. Along the way, however, they stop to explore an abandoned village, crossing over a low-running riverbed. Chihiro is warned by a boy named Haku to cross back over the river before sunset, but it is too late, and Chihiro discovers that her parents have been transformed into pigs, and the river is now impassible.
As the film continues, Chihiro decides to try working with a local witch, who takes away part of her name, and she is warned that if she fully forgets her name she will be trapped there forever. It turns out the town is part of the spirit world and strange creatures exist within it, such as No-Face, a spirit who is capable of toying with people’s emotions in order to lure them close and devour them, gaining their personality in the process.
Obviously, there’s a lot of interesting ground for the story to unfold from there, and with that concept, plus the typically high-quality animation that Studio Ghibli is famous for with films such as Howl’s Moving Castle, Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is considered mandatory viewing for pretty much any fan of 2D animated films. Long-time fans, however, will be excited to hear that Japanese entertainment giant Toho will be adapting the film into a full-stage production in February 2022.
There is a catch though. The premiere will be in Tokyo, and the production hasn’t announced intentions to bring the Spirited Away show anywhere else. So, die-hard fans will have to either learn Japanese and make the trip to Japan themselves or settle for whatever happens to find its way online in the months following the performance.
Hopefully, the production will do well, and maybe a successful debut will spark interest in bringing some version of the Spirited Away show worldwide. Either way, fans all over the world can at least look forward to seeing some interesting costuming and set design as the team works to bring the classic film to a real-world stage.
Spirited Away is now available on Netflix.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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