Spirited Away was a brilliant film fillled with numerous themes and symbols, but could also be enjoyed on a surface level. When I introduced it to the class I did mention that I couldn't quite pinpoint what was so appealing about it. The reason for its appeal I have yet to decipher, it could have been the characters, the setting or perhaps the really big baby, I guess we'll never know. Or perhaps it was the fact that Spirited Away reminded me of something I had seen before? This film has been compared to two important english films, "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz".
A) Do you think Spirited Away is similar to either of these films, which one and why?
OR
B) Choose a theme in the film and describe what you think the filmmaker was trying to say with it. Themes could include: Water, Greed, Food, Gold, Growing Up or the Duality of Good and Evil (Who were the good characters, were they truly good?) etc.
**B) “Spirited Away” is an anime created Hayao Miyazaki. It has many themes being shown through the film, but the main theme seems to be the “power of knowing who you are.” The power of names is a huge issue throughout the movie. Haku often tells Chihiro her name is an important part of herself. She should never forget it even if her name has been shortened to only Sen. If she does forget her name she will forever be trapped in this world and will never see her parents as humans again. They will always be wort hogs also known as pigs (in the movie) and she will always be Yubaba’s servant never to be free from her holding. Haku is an excellent example of what can become of you when you forget your name. He no longer knows who he is but at the end when he finds out who he once was however becomes free of Yubaba’s (Granny) control.
ReplyDelete**[B]: [MY ANSWER BLOG POST CONTINUED] Another theme in this movie is “growing up.” All the way through the movie Chihiro slowly learns that “you have to be an adult about things every once in awhile.” As a child we all seem to think that life is not for us to control; we’re just born to have things handed to us; for us to enjoy without any work put into it. Basically we do not understand that our parents are the ones who work there lives off to pursue our dreams and goals. At the very beginning of the movie Chihiro’s family and herself come across what appears to be an abandoned amusement park (ffound by walking through a dark shallow tunnel). Chihiro shows that she sticks to her mother as a little kid does and she has no courage and no adulterous to stand alone or guard her ground. Towards the middle of the movie she has changed. The biggest example of her change is when she goes to see Zeniba. she is showing how much more grown up she has become.[MY ANSWER BLOG POST CONTINUED]
ReplyDelete~WATER~: water represents the setup and freedom, life and death. When Chihiro tries to escape the abandoned theme park, she discovers that the formerly dry ground is now a huge body of water she can’t cross. In order to survive in the spirit world, Sen works at the bathhouse, which depends on water for its livelihood. In the course of Sen’s work, she rescues a polluted river spirit by pouring water over him. Sen nearly drowns in the process, but the spirit places her in a shielding bubble that keeps her from harm. ~GREED~: Both humans and the spirits are greedy in the film, “Spirited Away,” and their greed is always destructive. At the beginning of the film, Chihiro is greedy for her parents’ attention. She whines and complains about her old town. Chihiro’s parents’ greed leads them to eat the food that turns them into pigs. Even Haku is greedy for power to match Yubaba’s. Yubaba is the greediest of all. Her greed leads her to serve those who ultimately cause destruction, such as when No-Face rampages throught he bathhouse. She’s so preoccupied with gold she initially overlooks the kidnapping of baby Boh. ~FOOD~: Food has vast power in “Spirited Away,” and it can be a force of either good or evil. At the beginning of the movie, food sets Chihiro’s entire adventure in an adventure. When Chihiro’s mother and father overeat themselves on the food they find in the abandoned amusement park, they turn into pigs (I say wart hogs) and Chihiro must save them. For example, Haku urges Chihiro to eat food from the spirit world so she doesn’t disappear, and he gives her food he’s put a spell on to restore her strength, this is when she can see her true self again not the other side (she’s not fading away). ~GOLD~: Most of the characters in “Spirited Away” consume selfishly towards gold, and it almost always brings sadness. No-Face can make gold out of thin air, but those who take the gold find that it brings them no happiness. Yubaba (the granny) is so in love with her gold that she thinks of it first, even before her baby Boh, when Haku warns her that something precious has been taken from her. The gold eventually disappears. Though not all of the characters are evil, how they respond to gold in some cases determines their fate.
ReplyDelete*B)Of the many themes in the animated movie "Spirited Away" the one that stands out to me the most would be "Greed". It stands out to me the most because throughout the movie, greed is represented in different ways(example of Chihiro's parents filling up on food like animals, being selfish only wanting the food for themselves). What I think the film maker was trying to say with this theme is to not let greed take over and control your spirit. As it was shown in the movie, the stranger known as "NoFace" was able to produce large amounts of gold. When the workers of the bath spa had realized this ability they started treating NoFace like gold; gave him the best treatments, and as much food as he desired, all in hopes of receiving more gold by the pay load. Of all the people who went crazed for riches, only one had passed the test of not demeaning themselves and letting greed take over; Chihiro, when offered hand fulls of gold, had denied NoFace not thinking of greed and all the riches, but instead could only think of saving her friend Haku from death. I believe that is what the film maker was trying to promote: Humbleness over Greed. Chihiro was indeed a great example of this and her innocence.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, I also have access to the internet and can google symbols in "Spirited Away". Right?
ReplyDeleteMy response towards Mike Mazzocca's comment is quiete fair, Greed has played a big role in the movie through some of the non-important character such as Chihiro's parents. It was queite selfish of them to eat all the food for themselves and not share it with others. However being turned into pigs was a sign of Karma and Karma struck them for being so greedy and just. When someone is greedy; all they want is to be number one and does not want to share such things with others. Such as her parents, they saw the food and kept it for them selves not caring where it was from; in other words, they fulifilled there hunger not knowing it was for others aswell. Basically, when Mike mentions "no face," he is a gullable character of the film, he acts as if he is the biggest of everyone and makes sure of it too. He eats everything knowing its not his; also has no respect for others. Another saying would be, he could have asked for it but instead he looked at it and grasped it. Haku was a great example of a heroic figure especially towards Chihiro. He displayed much discipline. I would say more, but I am not that sure that greed was the most cleared out theme in the film, in other words, "adulthood" is a big role because Chihiro passes many obstacles passing through the adultness.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Clarence Boddicker, or as I may say. Mr. Sylvestre. I have proof that those are in my own words. You should be surprised that this is the first of all work(s) i have done in the year. Interesting much. I can not fail! .. This culminating task is the only way I can pass this course. . . any more questions please blog me back. Thank you. Karma.
ReplyDeleteKanak my response to you is if you have the ability to do the culminating task so well, why wouldn't you just try this hard the whole year. You wasted all this time and now you have to try extra hard.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mr. Sylvestre, that comment made my day.
The theme I’m choosing to do is the duality of good and evil. Much like in real life and the symbol of the ying yang, there’s always a little good in evil and evil in good. And in this movie, every character has a mixture of good and bad qualities. For example, No-Face was bad because he ate people. But then again, he also gave them gold. And Haku was there for Chihiro when her parents turned into pigs but sometimes he’d be rude to her. And just like in real life, usually when you do good for someone, they’ll carry that on kindness for someone else. So all of Chihiro’s choices influenced everyone around her. The people you thought were bad, such as Zeniba, Kamaji, and Lin, show you that they are good aswell by helping Chihiro escape. Even Chihiro changes throughout the movie. When she becomes Sen, she’s a lot less bad than she was in the beginning. Yubaba was the only person who stayed the same throughout the movie but because she loved Boh so much, it kept her from being completely evil. As the movie goes on, all the evil gets triumphed by the good choices the characters make. I think the filmmaker was trying to show that not everyone is as a bad as you think or as good, and not to judge a book by it’s cover because you never know what surprises life can bring you.
ReplyDelete(A) Good Morning everyone well anyway down to buissness. Spirited Away is very unique it is the single most weirdest creepiest movie EVER!! mind you it is no way shapeor form simmiler to wizard of Oz or alice in wonder land. Sure they were both weird movies but Spirited Away is just...... spireted away its that unique. Im at a loss of words thats how weird it is and so diffrent it is. No wonder it won an award for best annimated movie. If you compare all three movies you cant. Thre all there own unique movie all having diffrent messages depending how you look at it. All and all spirted away is just to unique to even say that it could be similer to wizard of oz or alice in wonder land each of those movies are their own movies there all very unique and they are all very diffrent.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion of this very very very long comment( not as long as Kanaks?) all i have to say film class KICK SOME SERIOUS ARS!!! and that is all. ( wow i sound alot like a blogger its kinda creepy but it adds that unique touch wouldnt you say???.....Um ya now im just typing for no reason.......great..)
"Good Night Austin,Texas where ever you are!!!"-Frank Zappa
Best regards DVD
One of the interesting themes in "spirited Away" was Good vs Evil. In most films it is pretty clear cut who is good and who is evil; but in this film every character has both good and evil qualities. For example, No Face seems good at the beginning he helps Chihiro get the bath tablets when she has to clean the big tub. But later in the film we see No Face luring everyone with gold, eating everything in the bathhouse, even the spirits who work there. Then when he leaves the bathhouse he's kind and peaceful, and even stays with Zeniba to be her assistant. Then there's Yubaba, who is supposed to represent evil, has her good traits especially when it comes to protecting her baby.
ReplyDeleteHayao Miyazaki's "Sprited Away" is a good illustration on the blurred line area between good and evil. Especially in our reality, no one person is completely good or completely evil. Every person holds both traits.
Spirited Away could easily be compared to Alice in Wonderland in many ways, including conflicts, setting and surreal characters. Chihiro begins her strange journey going through the tunnel, like when Alice falls through the hole. She meets many different characters along the way who either help her, become her friend/enemy, or create challenges that get in her way. Spirited Away’s characters that Chihiro meets are even similar to the ones Alice meets; Haku is like Alice’s White Rabbit (their best friends and leaders), No-face and the Big Baby are like The Chesire Cat and the Caterpillar (helpers along the way), and Yubaba is like The Queen of Hearts (the main villains who try to prevent them from completing their journey). Both Alice and Chihiro fall into this new world of wonders having no clue what to do, with the endless hope of finding the door to their way out. But what they don’t realise is that there is no ‘Exit’ to lead them back home, and they must overcome various challenges, discover strange new places, and adapt to the unexplainable world that they were thrown into. The challenges they face help them grow and change into brave, independent, fearless girls, which ends up being the real key to their escape.
ReplyDeleteIn response to nic, I agree that none of the characters show a specific notion towards good or evil, but the fact that they hold both traits is very true. I think the writer wanted us to believe some of them, like No-face, are evil when in fact they aren’t, just so we could see how Chihiro reacts to them.
And to dvd, it was a very strange movie but you shouldn’t expect anything really ‘normal’ from a foreign country like Japan. It is very similar to Alice and Wonderland and The Wizard of OZ, you just need to consider the different choices one might make in film, compared to someone writing a script in America.
A) Do you think that Spirited Away is similar to either one of these films, which one and why?
ReplyDeleteI believe that Spirited Away is similar to The Wizard of Oz. Each have similar traits, plots, and encounter some of the same issues. Each girl in these works are taken out of their regular/real world and are put into strange worlds. These strange worlds bring up many situations in which each girl faces. The journey's that these girls encounter, reveals their courage, curiosity, strength and resourcefulness. Each go through a series of troublesome events such as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz and Yubaba in Spirited Away. These are the true evils which slows down the girls journey back home. Each girl helped the people they met along the way. Chihiro helps her new friend Haku from a near death experience. And in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy helps the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow get to Emerald City to see the Wizard. The girls are left to discover their true selves and to find their true strength. With a little help from Zeniba in Spirited Away and The Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz, they are able to defeat the evil and return to the real world. The gifts gained from their endeavours include: self reliance, strength, and wisdom. Each character is left with a memory of what happened and how they used their true strength to overcome their battles.
A) Spirited Away is very similar to both of those particular movies, but mostly it relates more to The Wizard of Oz. The reasons are obvious and have been stated continuously. Some examples are:
ReplyDelete1. The two movies consist of both good and evil sides (as every other story does). But they have similarities regarding both sides having a relationship with one another. In Spirited Away, the villain Yubaba is twins with Zeniba, who helps Chihiro against her sister. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy comes across two witches; Glinda, The Good Witch of The North and The Wicked Witch of The West.
2. Both Heroines are accompanied by friends as they all continue on with their journey. Chihiro is accompanied by Haku, No-Face, and Boh (Yubaba’s baby turned into a mouse). Dorothy is also followed by The Scarecrow, The Lion, The Tin Man and Toto. All of their friends are benefited from the heroine’s journey. Haku is healed and turned back into a human, No-Face stayed back with Zeniba as her assistant, and Boh is turned back into an un-normally large baby. As for the companions of Dorothy; The Scarecrow receives a brain, The Lion obtains courage, and the Tin Man gets a heart. As for Toto, he just goes home safely with Dorothy.
3. Both main characters return to their original setting with the understanding that they had gone through their journey, although it seems surreal. Chihiro leaves the Spirit World and finds her parents again, but they act as though no time has gone by. However, Chihiro knows that she’s experienced the Spirited World because she still has the hair tie Zeniba gave to her. Dorothy wakes up, but she still believes that she visited the land of Oz although her family tells her that it was all a dream.
There are many more similarities which are self-explanatory while watching both movies. The story of a young heroine coming across a strange world, and proceeding with their journey of returning home, has been repeated many times. The unique difference between Spirited Away and rest, are that it is creatively well thought out. Each character has an original and artistic description, as does the plot.
I definitely feel as if this movie relates to the wizard of oz. In the beginning neither girl wants to be where they are, Dorthy dosent want to be in Kansas and Chihiro does not want to be moving. They encounter situations which make them learn about themselves and their true ability's like Chihiro's strength and ability to succeed at what she is determined to do. Also throughout each characters journeys they encounter mythical creatures that help guide them and help them discover more about themselves. At the end of the movie both character learn to be thankful about where they are and learn to love it.
ReplyDeleteUhhh yeah spirited away csn easily be related to the wizard of oz. I mean both have a little girl who mysteriously gets lost in a strange world, then strangers start helping her and find out what a good person she is and then they all love her. Also like in the wizard of oz dorothy had to go visit the wizard and in spirited away the little girl had to go see that old hag sisster.....
ReplyDeleteI believe spirited away is like Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz because just like Alice in Wonderland is takes you this new and bizarre world, and like Wizard of Oz she is on a special mission to get home and has a final task to do so, just like Dorothy. The way it is like Alice in Wonderland is the creative story and weird characters, for example some characters are; the stink monster, no face, three bouncing heads, multi-armed furnace worker and a giant baby. The story is easy to understand but something's are indeed left unsaid and some parts of the story are totally off topic. This reminds me a lot of Alice In Wonderland and how her story can go off topic as well. It is alike to Wizard of Oz by how Chihiro has to complete tasks like Dorothy did in Oz when she had to get the witches broom so she could go home back to her family. Chihiro had to pick out her parents among the pigs under the spell, so she could go home with her family and no longer having to work in the ghost world. Overall, all the movies are inventive, imaginative and inspiring. They all have their own special qualities and send good messages to their audiences, as well movies I would recommend for all to see.
ReplyDeleteSonya Del :)
I think that Spirited Away is very simular to Wizard of Oz. Chihiro was not happy the fact that she had to move away from friends and family. when watching the movie i noticed they have a lot in common, the fact that no one was listen to Dorothy when she had something to say, connected with Chihiro when she was trying to convince her parents not to go to the shortcut on their way to thier new house. Even the shortcut reminded me of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was given the chance to travel down the yellow brick road to get to a faster root to the Oz. on her way she runs into many different characters along the way, like Dorothy, Chihiro met many other characters as well. She met Haku who was helping her find her way back home after her parents turned into pigs. Haku tells Chihiro to find the master to get her to work. (just like Dorothy looking for Oz). The genre is drama fantacy in Spitrted Away and Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the two movies are almost exsact; girl upset at first, wants to leave, gets pulled into a whole new world, force to find help, gets into trouble, has help, goes home.
in the end, they are both movies that send the same message; Never give up and open your mind to new great things and people.
I agree with Jessica, i think as well at the end of Wizard of Oz and Spirited Away that good over comes evil and the world is set straight. I think this is important point at the end of movies like Spirited Away because it gives people a sort of closure, when your mind is taken over so many bizzare topics !!!
ReplyDeleteSonya :)
My responce is towards nic. I too also feel that this film is unperdictable. Its hard to debate wheter or not this film has good characters or bad characters. When i was first intruduced to NoFace, i thought he was nice, but after i saw him eating people; and i didn't get that.
ReplyDeleteSpirited Away defenitly uses Yin and Yang telling us, even bad peoples hold a bit of good, and good holds a bit of bad.
I think that Spirited Away is very simular to Wizard of Oz. Chihiro was not happy the fact that she had to move away from friends and family. when watching the movie i noticed they have a lot in common, the fact that no one was listen to Dorothy when she had something to say, connected with Chihiro when she was trying to convince her parents not to go to the shortcut on their way to thier new house. Even the shortcut reminded me of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was given the chance to travel down the yellow brick road to get to a faster root to the Oz. on her way she runs into many different characters along the way, like Dorothy, Chihiro met many other characters as well. She met Haku who was helping her find her way back home after her parents turned into pigs. Haku tells Chihiro to find the master to get her to work. (just like Dorothy looking for Oz). The genre is drama fantacy in Spitrted Away and Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the two movies are almost exsact; girl upset at first, wants to leave, gets pulled into a whole new world, force to find help, gets into trouble, has help, goes home.
in the end, they are both movies that send the same message; Never give up and open your mind to new great things and people.
In response to dvd's comment. i feel that Spirited Away can be directly related to both Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. they are both taken out of their natural world and come across struggles along the way in order to get home. I understand what you are saying and all... its just that i feel that they are very similar in many ways
ReplyDeleteI think that Spirited Away is very simular to Wizard of Oz. Chihiro was not happy the fact that she had to move away from friends and family. when watching the movie i noticed they have a lot in common, the fact that no one was listen to Dorothy when she had something to say, connected with Chihiro when she was trying to convince her parents not to go to the shortcut on their way to thier new house. Even the shortcut reminded me of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was given the chance to travel down the yellow brick road to get to a faster root to the Oz. on her way she runs into many different characters along the way, like Dorothy, Chihiro met many other characters as well. She met Haku who was helping her find her way back home after her parents turned into pigs. Haku tells Chihiro to find the master to get her to work. (just like Dorothy looking for Oz). The genre is drama fantacy in Spitrted Away and Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the two movies are almost exsact; girl upset at first, wants to leave, gets pulled into a whole new world, force to find help, gets into trouble, has help, goes home.
in the end, they are both movies that send the same message; Never give up and open your mind to new great things and people.
B)Choose a theme in the film and describe what you think the filmmaker was trying to say with it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most common themes used in films, not only today, but in film history, is the struggle between those considered "GOOD" and those considered "EVIL". We have seen this so often that we barely even recognize it now. Think of any movie you ever watched. Who was the "good guy" (or the PROtagonist)? Who was the "bad guy" (or the ANtagonist)? In most films, there is a very distinct line between those who are good, and those who are evil. However, a very interesting factor of this particular movie is that it doesn't really fall under the "GOOD VS EVIL" war. Yes, there are good and bad characters, but are they not each the opposite as well. Hayao Miyazaki played with the boundaries of good and evil in "Spirited Away", and it was really interesting to see how he did it. A common theme studied when reading "The Lord of the Flies" is that, instinctually, no matter how "good" of a person you are, you are "evil". Miyazaki certainly follows this idea, and extends it to work both ways. Most characters in this film are much deeper than what appears at first. For example, the first person Chihiro meets who seems even remotely interested in helping her is Haku. And he is the one who saves her from suffering the same fate as her parents. However, we are told later that EVERYTHING Haku says is not to be trusted, that he is here to steal Yubaba's powers. Which one are we to believe in? Or are they both true? Can a person truly be both good and evil? These are the questions that Miyazaki answers with this film. No-Face is another character who seems to be nice, then turns out to really be a frog-eating fraud, destroying much of the bath house, and even swalling some of its employees. And yet, it listens to Chihiro and wants to help her. Again, how can we be sure which of the "two" No-Face's to trust? It is this sort of REALISM that attracts audiences and keeps them captured throughout the entire film. No body is ONLY good or evil in the world, so why should they be in movies? How can it be BELIEVABLE? "Spirited Away" is a clear example of Miyazaki's ability to show the "gray" in things, especially in what is called "GOOD" and "EVIL".
And to dvd & karina...
Karina is completely right here. You definitely cannot say that they are not even the slightest bit alike. karina made some very good points about their similarities, especially in those of the two heroines' companions. Assuming things because of a short, quick look is just that: an assumption. Think a little more about it and you'll see how alike they really are.
Spirited Away and The Wizard Of Oz both do have a similar in their own wasy. Both films had started in their own unique way but i'd come to realize in the very early stage of the films, are that they both Chihiro and Dorathy had thier disagreements with the their family. Chihiro and her parent had never seem to pay her any mind, as for Dorathy it is simular because her anut was alway too busy with the farm. In these films they both had entred a strange and unfamilar world by sence of fear. For Chihiro she was too afraid to wait at the begin of the tunnel for her parent so she had followed along, as for Dorathy she was not of what is to do because a tornado was passing. Chihiro and Dorathy both had Friends to help them to get through their jurney. Chihiro had Haku, Rin, No face, Zeniba and as for Dorathy she had Toto, The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow all have simular traits to one another. Haku friendship with Chihiro is unforgetable, untouchable, and unbreakable. It is though they would do anything for each other and go through many lenghts to make sure there together somehow. As for Dorathy Toto is her Haku someone who she would never want to loose or to evey let go always wanting that between them to stay. Rin and Zeniba has some similarities towards Glinda. Rin went out of her way to make sure that Chihiro was always safe. Zeniba was alway kind to her when she'd given her a hint about what Haku's real identity is. No face has some trait toward all three of Dorathy's friend because they were all so giving and caring and over protective toward Dorathy just the same for Chihiro as the No face cared for her. Overall the real meaning to this movie is that friendship is always their in some hidden way,but keep mind open to unexpected friendships.
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