Why 20 years later "Spirited Away" is still key for Studio Ghibli?

The film was the first foreign feature film to gross more than $ 200 million worldwide before landing in the United States.

‘Spirited Away’ , Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, returned to theaters to celebrate its twentieth anniversary since its premiere in his native country, since it hit theaters in Japan on July 20, 2001.

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The only animated film to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the only Japanese production to obtain the Oscar for best animated film, two decades later its importance and legacy continue to be fundamental not only for Studio Ghibli , but for the animation industry in general.

Considered one of the best films in the history of animation by Time Out magazine, the importance of ‘Spirited Away’ transcends its success at the box office (the first foreign feature film to gross more than 200 million dollars worldwide before of its landing in the United States) and of criticism, because for the factory it began to be important when its production began.

There is an essential factor in the filming of ‘Spirited Away’ and that is that it began three years after the premiere of what was Miyazaki’s masterpiece, ‘ Princess Mononoke’, with which he had announced, for the first time, his intentions to withdraw.

The feat of feudal Japan had left the filmmaker exhausted, to this was added the premature death of what was to be one of the generational relays of the factory, Yoshifumi Kondô , director of ‘Whispers of the heart’ , who died on 21 January 1998, victim of an aneurysm.

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This left Miyazaki deeply affected and devastated, who intended to retreat. However, in that period of time, ‘Spirited Away’ emerged, the result of the days off in which the filmmaker took the opportunity to stay in a cabin in the mountains together with his relatives and five girls who were friends of the family.

It was they who inspired him to create a feature film for 10-year-old girls, a film far from romantic clichés, with a heroine they could admire.

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Therein lies the initial importance of ‘Spirited Away’. It was the return to the ring of the acclaimed master of animation. Although the film managed to become the true masterpiece of the filmmaker, the truth is that ‘Princess Mononoke’ was his most daring film up to that moment, in which a bet on all or nothing was perceived.

20 years later, his historical legacy is still valid

However, Sen and Chihiro’s spiritual journey became the most representative film of the filmmaker’s career. First quantitatively, since it unseated ‘Princess Mononoke’ and ‘Titanic’ as the highest grossing film in the history of Japan, achieving 31,680 million yen and 23.5 million viewers , a title that it held until 2020, when the premiere of ‘Guardians of the Night: Infinite Train’ surpassed him (39.920 million yen and 28.76 million viewers).

But then it was qualitatively, because its legacy, in artistic terms, remains intact despite having passed 20 years since its premiere . First, because the following titles directed by Miyazaki, ‘The Howl’s Moving Castle’ , ‘Ponyo on the Cliff’ and ‘The Wind Rises’, although they have also had the majority support of the critics, have not managed to reach the level of recognition that ‘ Spirited Away ‘.

And then its historical significance. Although ‘Princess Mononoke’ is also a masterpiece, the strength and sense of solemnity in ‘Spirited Away’ remains as exceptional as in 2001.

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Proof of this was how, 18 years after its original premiere, its release in China made it the highest-grossing feature film on the Asian giant’s billboard, beating films like ‘Toy Story 4’. Beyond figures, it was the demonstration that his power of attraction among the public is still valid.

And in his legacy, there is also the aesthetic look. At the time when Hollywood studios strongly embraced CGI animation, Miyazaki opted for artisanal confection , taking advantage of elements of Japanese folklore and mysticism to introduce it to a fascinating and exceptional world, whose visual commitment continues to be an artistic waste of elegance. And beauty. Twenty years later, the great masterpiece comes to vindicate its position as one of the most exceptional feature films of this century.