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Hayao Miyazaki is a filmmaker whose entire career is made up of many movies one might call his masterpiece. Whether you are partial to the engrossing beauty and simplicity of My Neighbor Totoro, the complexity of morals in The Wind Rises, or the epic stakes of Princess Mononoke, the case can be made for most of the entries in his filmography. One of his most popular films, the one that was the biggest breakthrough with Western audiences is Spirited Away. This coming-of-age story of a young girl that gets tangled up in the world of spirits while trying to save her parents from becoming pigs went from being a huge hit in Japan upon release, becoming the highest-grossing film in Japanese history for nearly 20 years, to winning the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in the United States (and remains the only foreign language film to do so.) Unsurprisingly, it was not an easy process bringing Spirited Away to the United States and only succeeded in spite of its release.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Animated Films Have Always Been Well Received
The films of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli having any impact in the United States is due in part to the efforts of Walt Disney Studios. In the mid-90s, Disney made a deal with Studio Ghibli to internationally distribute the Japanese studio’s films worldwide and on home video. Similar to Disney’s deal with Pixar, one company would provide the film, and the other would use its power and influence to have it widely spread across the marketplace. This also included the production of English dubs ensuring the Ghibli films would be more approachable for English-speaking audiences (particularly Disney’s target audience: kids.) It was an instant success for both studios at first, with Kiki’s Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky fitting in nicely with Disney’s family-friendly brand (My Neighbor Totoro had already been distributed by Troma Entertainment.) But things got more complicated when Miyazaki’s next film didn’t quite meet Disney’s expectations.
In 1997, Miyazaki debuted Princess Mononoke, a tale about nature hanging in the balance from the perspective of a cursed prince. Like the yet-to-come Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke was a historic box-office success in Japan (only to be outdone by Titanic and then Spirited Away) and a major critical success both locally and abroad. But with a much more adult tone and some graphic violence, Princess Mononoke was not the movie Disney was hoping for when they heard they had the rights to the Japanese box office success supposedly about a princess. The film was passed off to Miramax, a Disney subsidiary, and drama ensued including threats, vulgarity, and at one point a samurai sword, over how the film would be released. When the dust settled, Princess Mononoke only received a limited release and was not the success Disney had hoped for, and started to cause doubt these movies were worth the investment.
On Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ and the Anxieties of Growing Up
‘Spirited Away’ Could Have Been a Complete Failure, Thanks to Disney
The flop of Princess Mononoke slowed down the release of more Ghibli films by Disney (with Porco Rosso and other early films being put on hold,) but the relationship was still there. When Miyazaki announced a new film ten percent of the budget was an investment from Disney in exchange for the right of first refusal for an American release. Despite a personal stake in the film, Disney was not rushing to release Spirited Away domestically. Whether it was the financial failure of Princess Mononoke or simply prioritizing American productions, it took over a year for Disney to consider a release for the film. It wasn’t the success at Japan’s box office though, but rather a few key factors.
In early 2002, Spirited Away won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, their top prize, and the only animated film to this day to do so. With a prestigious win, the film became a little more desirable for the company, but it still took persuading. This persuasion came at the behest of Pixar founder John Lasseter, who happened to be an old friend of the famed animator Miyazaki. While details have not been made public, Miyazaki claimed Lasseter “bulldozed” the parent company into giving Spirited Away a proper release. After the recent string of successes from Pixar (Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bug’s Life, and Monster’s Inc.) Lasseter earned enough cachet with the company for his input to be taken seriously, and it likely helped Spirited Away featured less gun warfare, limb removal, and the beheading of a god compared to Princess Mononoke. Yet, Disney still had reservations.
Lasseter himself handled the production of the English language dub for Spirited Away which relied on the likes of Disney regulars Susan Egan (Meg from Hercules), David Ogden Stiers (Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast), John Ratzenberger (almost every Pixar movie), and for the lead Daveigh Chase, coming off her role in that same year’s Lilo & Stitch. The dubbed version of the film went on to premiere at that year’s Toronto Film Festival to much acclaim but only received a limited release after that. The film was released to a mere 151 theaters across the United States and grossed only 5.5 million in its initial release. It is speculated that Disney’s focus was more pointed to their own films, partly due to the lack of merchandising rights for any of the Ghibli films (not to mention rights for direct-to-video sequels, a television spin-off, video games, and more,) the only source of revenue Disney could count on would be its box office and eventual home video release, making promotion less of a priority for them. Spirited Away may have disappeared if it weren’t so phenomenal.
The Critics Got it Right
Spirited Away received rapturous praise from the critical community. Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and included it in his “Great Movies” collection. Nigel Andrews, writing for the Financial Times, broke his own scale and awarded it six out of five stars (and is still enchanted by it twenty years later.) Steven Spielberg was quoted saying that Spirited Away is, “one of the greatest animated films ever made, might be better than any Disney film I’ve ever seen.” Eventually, the film ended up on nearly every critic’s “Best of 2002” list before garnering a nomination (and eventual win) for the second-ever Best Animated Feature at that year’s Academy Awards (a ceremony Miyazaki did not attend, due to his protesting the Iraq War.) Spirited Away even triumphed over Disney’s nominated films that year Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet.
Despite a botched release, the legacy of Spirited Away lives on. Later this year GKIDS will re-release it as part of their annual Ghibli Fest which will also include a filming of the stage version of Spirited Away in addition to nine other Ghibli films returning to the big screen. In spite of Disney not knowing or wanting to do anything with Spirited Away, the film managed to carve a place in the consciousness of audiences everywhere.
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