Spirited Away is an animated film
about Chihiro, a 10 year old girl whom finds herself trapped in the alternate
reality of a spirit world while moving to her new home. With her parents
transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro is forced to work in
Yubaba’s bathhouse to find a way to save her parents and herself. Initially
spoiled and bratty, Chihiro evolves throughout the film to draw out the
headstrong, courageous, and responsible attributes within her. Spirited Away is
a much loved movie, and was the highest grossing movie in Japan at the time of
its début. It also happens to be one of my favorite movies, and I was curious
to try and examine it more deeply because of this.
When
we first encounter Chihiro, she is clearly apathetic about moving, and puts all
of her energy into sulking in the back of the car. Lackluster about responding
to her parents, Chihiro rebuffs all of their attempts to cheer her up. Now
introduced to the character, we see that Chihiro is an ordinary, slightly spoiled
little girl, but maybe with some promise. Her character design reflects this;
she has a typical child’s body and colorful clothes, but also a pudgy face. Her
pudgy looks denote the fact that she is spoiled, just like the average little
girl she was based off of (Miyazaki). Chihiro’s expressions also add to this;
she only seems capable of being pouty or scared. In order for the film to
appeal and speak to that range of little girls, Chihiro needed to be believable
as an average 10 year old girl, and thus her design reflects this. As the story
progresses, we are slowly introduced to more of Chihiro’s character. Surprised
and unknowledgeable about the small shrines for the kami, and later a stone
statue, we are again shown Chihiro’s child like nature. However, we are also
presented with another characteristic; a slight distance from Shinto beliefs,
and thus her heritage. However, in her excitement and fear towards these Shinto
representations, there is also a sense of awe and respect towards them. Spurred
on by her parents, Chihiro enters the tunnel which serves as the gateway to her
passage into the world of kami (Reider).
Chihiro’s parents also have important
character designs; together they provide a representation of the normalization
of greed. They differ greatly from the normal parent role in Miyazaki’s films;
instead of caring, dedicated and understanding, they are more self absorbed, and
distant. Chihiro’s father displays more jock-like characteristics, and her
mother is responsible, but still seems a bit cold. These traits are essential in making them
appear as more plausible parents, and thus as normal people. Their greed is unassuming;
they presumably spoil Chihiro, and posit that they can literally pay for their
actions with ‘cash and credit cards’, both of which do not seem that strange in
the context of the current society. As people, their designs allude to their personality
traits, with Chihiro’s father’s build, and her mother’s uncaring face, but
overall normal appearance. As pigs, their true meaning comes out; we see how
two seemingly normal members of society really are connected with greed, and
their normalcy is equated to that of a mindless farm animal. This thought is
backed by the rundown amusement park they encounter; a mark of Japan’s bubble
economy, and another example of greed in society. Chihiro, a marker of youth
and innocence, is spared from this fate.
As the story progresses, Chihiro is thrust into the spirit world to save her parents and herself. Here, we are heavily exposed to the concept of ‘ma’, which can roughly be translated as ‘space’, ‘gap’, ‘pause’, etc. and refers to the in between; which then relates to something in a grey area or a transitional space. Chihiro’s entry into the spirit world is our first look into this principle; she enters a space which is neither world, and then proceeds to exist as a member of neither. While we expect the town to be old fashioned, it appears as something more out of the Meiji area, combining western and eastern architecture, rendered as a bit of both. The characters that exist here also show this principle in their personalities and actions; none of the spirits in the bathhouse could really be categorized as strictly good or evil (Boyd, Nishimura).
Yubaba is the witch who holds control over the bathhouse and the surrounding area. She is the one responsible for turning Chihiro’s parents into pigs, and uses her powers and wealth to maintain her status. At first, she seems all bad, a representation of greed herself, with her lavish, western style room, large amounts of jewelry, and her love for gold, but Yubaba still manages to have some redeeming characteristics. She is forced to give anyone work who asks for it, giving the spoiled Chihiro a chance to prove her worth and take responsibility. Although she tries to scare Chihiro away from working, takes her name, and then later gives her the hardest work to do in the bathhouse, Yubaba still gives Chihiro a chance and even praises her when she does well. She also deeply cares for her baby, Bou, showing that she does have love and kindness in her to an extent. In this way, Miyazaki carefully presents a character that still serves the role of the antagonist while not partitioning her to one side of ‘good’ or ‘evil’.
The first spirit who Chihiro encounters is the mysterious Haku, a figure whom first seems helpful, but turns out to be connected to Yubaba. However, Haku’s guidance, continued acts of kindness, and strange connection with Chihiro soon forms a bond between the two that lasts for the entire length of the film. Haku’s two forms illustrate his differences in personality. His human form is designed with old fashioned dress, and eyes that seem to look into the distance. Together, these add to his sense of mystery and feeling of kami nature. However, these are contrasted by his childlike body, which makes him relatable to Chihiro and the target audience. Haku’s dragon form also enhances upon the sense of Haku being of kami nature, and his mysterious feeling. However, one of its main purposes is to add danger to Haku’s character and to strengthen his connection with Yubaba. This also places Haku as a character neither good nor evil, gives room for growth, and also allows Chihiro to work past Haku’s darker side.
The whole of the bathhouse carries the same feeling of both security and danger. The viewer knows that Chihiro is supposed to grow during her time in the bathhouse, but they also have the knowledge that Chihiro is being forced to work out of necessity. Many of the workers in the bathhouse seem friendly, but they also discriminate against Chihiro for being human. The kami present there also seem benign, yet their powers and motivations are unknown. The designs of both workers and kami illustrate well illustrate this fact. Workers in the bathhouse range in various degrees of human like appearance, with Rin, Chihiro’s mentor appearing the most like a human, and some of the frog-men appearing the least like humans. The kami there range from cute unassuming ducks, to masked, intimidating figures, both familiar and unsettling (Napier). This sets up a nice scale of trustworthy to untrustworthy, although none of their designs could be said to be particularly threatening. The worker Kamaji is a good example of this in between as well, with his grandfatherly face yet spider-like body.
Perhaps the biggest example of a character in the film that stretches beyond the limits of good and evil is No Face. No Face acts as a ‘hungry ghost’ figure, unfulfilled and feeding off of the emotions of those around him, he constantly seeks Chihiro’s attention for most of the film. His ingenious design only has one constant element; his mask like face, while the rest of his form is left to be shaped by what he consumes, playing perfectly into the idea of a hungry ghost and also allowing No Face’s character to physically grow with his emotions. The first look at No Face is mildly unsettling; his Noh-like mask like face belies just enough emotion; and because his design is crafted from Miyazaki’s imagination and a mix of sources, he is both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. However this form of No Face is still relatively tame compared to what he becomes later in the film.
Our real look into the full extent of No Face’s character comes after he has consumed not only most of the food in the bathhouse, but also 3 workers. Again, we see physical representation of greed; the greed of the workers he devoured, his own greed, and the greedy actions of the other workers all manifested in his new body. In this scene, No Face has grown to a monstrous size, now clearly mutable, with three legs and pulsing, shimmering coloring. We also see now that his face is indeed a mask, and that his true mouth is large and gaping, stemming from his neck. Overall, there is a sense of distortion and volatility from this form. His mask of a face hides any actions he may make, while his huge and grotesque body shows his hunger and the danger associated with him. Together, through the persona of a hungry ghost, he represents the evils of all of the greed in the bathhouse around him, and how easily these problems can spiral out of control (Napier). The background enhances the overall feeling, with heaping piles of wasted food and the leering faces of demons contributing to the sense of greed and danger. However, all of this is contrasted by No Face’s return to his original form, where instead of threatening to eat Chihiro; he instead helps her on her journey after she has treated him with kindness. In this way, No Face shows both extremes of the spectrum and shifts between them. He is the epitome of the combination of security and danger present in the world of the kami. This shows Chihiro and the target audience how much influence their actions can have.
This very real sense of danger, trust and uncertainty is part of what helps Chihiro to develop into a mature character. Chihiro essentially loses her childhood when Yubaba steals her name, robbing her of her identity. Without her parents’ moderation over her life, Chihiro is forced to face real world danger and responsibility. Thus, the entire bathhouse, while still existing in fantasy, serves as a microcosm of the ‘real world’ which Chihiro has been shielded from. However, Chihiro’s induction into the bathhouse is also symbolic of her reconnection with more traditional Japanese views, represented by the kami, nostalgia, and the lessons that she learns there (Reider). Instead of being spoiled, Chihiro must work, and instead of relying on her parents, Chihiro’s parents rely on her.
Benefits of hard work are seen in Chihiro’s encounter with the ‘stink god’, where her caring, dedication and inability to back down lead her to be granted the medicine that saves Haku, No Face, and ultimately, herself. Here we see not only Miyazaki’s environmental influence when the stink god is cleansed to reveal the river god underneath, but also a cleansing of Chihiro. Since she is representative of a normal girl, this also likens to a need of cleansing society (Napier). Here, she is finally freed of her spoiled attitude, gaining the ability to work and do things for herself.
When Haku and No face begin to cause problems, Chihiro truly showcases her ability to be selfless, brave, and caring. She now works to cleanse the evil from the two unknowns, Haku and No Face, because she believes in their potential for good. The medicine she received breaks Yubaba’s control of Haku, and greed’s control over No Face. In these scenes, we see Chihiro’s selflessness and courage pour through, as she confronts both a dragon and a hungry ghost. Thus, both Haku and No Face are cleansed as well, and the symbolism of the bathhouse, it’s relation to Shinto purification, and the merits of compassion really start to become apparent (Boyd, Nishimura).
To fully save Haku, Chihiro must journey away from the bathhouse, completely separated from her parents. She must place trust in both the bathhouse and herself and reach the ultimate point in her growth. This climax in Chihiro’s growth is represented by the scene is which Chihiro takes the train by herself. This also serves to remind the viewer that Chihiro started out as an ordinary 10 year old girl. Riding the train alone is an experience most will go through in their lives, especially in Japan, where transportation is so largely train based. The background and figures on the train are purposely nondescript, forcing focus on the train ride itself. With a backdrop of sea, only flashes of places seem to stand out, again reinforcing how one does not remember much of what transpired other than the train ride itself during their first trip (Miyazaki). Chihiro successfully reaches her destination, and completes her transformation as an individual, represented by this impactful, but easily relatable scene.
Past this point, Chihiro’s growth allows her to befriend Zeniba, find a place for No Face, and ultimately save Haku. From her personal growth, Chihiro manages to aid much of the characters in Spirited Away in a positive manner, culminating in the return of Haku’s identity and his power to control his own destiny. By shedding the skin of his dragon form, we ultimately are shown that he has regained his humanity. Both he and Chihiro’s eyes are bright and alive; both have helped advance each other to reach their full potential out of love and kindness. As Haku projected his powers in the human world to save Chihiro as a small child, she now uses her strengths in the spirit world to save him (Boyd, Nishimura). We see that through her good actions, this ordinary 10 year old found love in return and helped not only herself but those around her. Armed with all that she has learned, she and Haku return, and she passes Yubaba’s test to restore her parents with full support from the bathhouse.
Leaving the spirit world, Chihiro now regains her previous identity, with a restoration of her true name. She is instructed not to look back, and hesitates only for a moment before becoming resolute and joining her parents in the tunnel. With the hair band she received from Zeniba as a token of her time in the spirit world, Chihiro returns to her place in her own world, now much grown and full of life (Miyazaki). After her glittering hair band reminds us that Chihiro will not forget what she has learned, we are shown the same animation as when Chihiro first clung to her mother in the tunnel, which enforces her return to normalcy and childhood. Although it is not clear whether the actual events that transpired will be remembered or not, the otherworldly hair band provides security in that her journey was not for naught (Reider).
Thus, we see how this ordinary girl went on an amazing adventure, and helped others, all through love and strength of character. Relatable to all of the girls who see the film, Miyazaki hopes to use Chihiro as a means to show them that there is mystery and intrigue to life, and that one can still be a child and yet influence others through their actions. He also shows the viewer that cultural heritage and modernity still live side by side (Reider). By creating such a relatable heroine, Miyazaki also touches all of those whom have ever been children in that situation, and creates a broader audience overall.
My initial question is to why what seemed like a typical children film might be so appealing. As I went through this process, the best answer that I could come up with was that it was because of the fact the main character, Chihiro, is an ordinary child, she is relatable. The setting and plot are also very reminiscent of a children’s fantasy. Chihiro is separated from her parents, and she alone posses the power to save them. While this situation is not favorable for Chihiro, it plays off of a child’s desire to have control of their own world, independent from their parents, and the desire to be the hero of one’s own story. In the end, Chihiro does accomplish her goals, and becomes a better person because of it. The world that Chihiro is thrown into also reflects a child’s fantasy; composed of the spirits and gods that are right on the edge of believability for a child and capture their imagination with their sense of nostalgia and danger (Napier). The grouping of characters in the movie also coincides well with a child’s imagination. Overall, there is a hierarchical society present; with Yubaba at the top, and nameless, shadowy figures to fill in all of the unimportant members of society at the bottom. Together with a rich cultural backdrop, and a realistic sense of right and wrong, Spirited Away connects with childhood while still projecting a message and a little bit of magic.
Interview with Miyazaki- http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/hayao_miyazaki.shtml
