Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all had a good week! We celebrated Thanksgiving last night with my in-laws since they will be out of town next week. We had some really good food and had fun playing games! It was really fun!
Today's post is about Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away". This is probably his most well-known film. That is probably because it is the first foreign animated film to win an Oscar. It was up against, Ice Age, Treasure Planet, Lilo and Stitch, and a few others in 2003. I'd say that's pretty impressive!
The story is about a young girl named Chihiro. Chihiro and her parents are moving to a new town. She is not happy about it at all, and complains the entire drive to their new home. On their way there, Dad takes a "short-cut", but ends up in an unknown place. The parents think it's an abandoned theme park, but Chihiro feels uneasy about going in and exploring.
Chihiro's parents smell some delicious food cooking and decide to stop for a bite to eat. When they arrive at the food stand, there is no one running it. They then gorge themselves in the food with the intentions of paying when the owner gets back. Chihiro, however, refuses to touch the food. She goes out to look around since she is afraid they will get into trouble. She then starts to see all the spirit in habitants coming out of their homes. Scared, Chihiro runs back to her parents, but they have been transformed into very fat pigs.
Chihiro doesn't know what to do, so she starts to run back to where they came from, but can't get across the river. This is where she meets Haku, a young boy who wants to help her. Haku helps
Chihiro get to safety, but tells her if she doesn't want to suffer her parents' fate, she must get a job at the bath house.
Along Chihiro's journey she meets Kamajii, the boiler man with many arms; Lin, a bath house worker; Yubaba, the cruel bath house manager; Yubaba's huge baby; No-Face, the spirit that is not allowed inside the bath house since he will turn into a monster; and Zeniba, Yubaba's nice twin sister.
Chihiro's name is taken from her and she is called Sen in the spirit world. She has to remember her real name in order to save her parents and return home. It isn't as easy as it sounds though. She has to face many trials as a worker and also wants to help save Haku from Yubaba's control.
The English dub of this movie features a cast of Disney voice favorites:
Chihiro: Daveigh Chase (Lilo from Lilo and Stitch)
Haku: Jason Marsden (Max Goof from A Goofy Movie)
Kamajii: David Ogden Stiers (Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast and Jumbaa from Lilo and Stitch)
Lin: Susan Egan (Meg from Hercules)
Yubaba and Zeniba: Suzanne Pleshette (Zira from The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride)
Assistant Manager: John Ratzenberger (Ham from Toy Story, and a voice in almost every Pixar film)
If you haven't seen this film, do it NOW! Or in the very near future. It's one of the most beautifully made animated films of all time! I loved every moment of it. Just watching how much Chihiro grows up is one of the most amazing stories I've ever seen!
The verdict: 10/10! Perfect!
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Hugs and Kisses!
~Jewely
Good afternoon everyone! Today's been a pretty good day. I woke up to snow on the ground and it looks so gorgeous out in the apartment building's yard! I love the snow! (not so much when I have to drive in it, but it's so pretty!) Since I don't have to be at work til 4, I decided to watch "My Neighbor Totoro".
This is such a cute film! I think that Mei has to be one of the most adorable characters in all of Japanimation film history. The story is geared more toward younger children, but it has a lot of good real life messages.
"My Neighbor Totoro" is a story about 2 little girls named Satsuki and Mei. They just moved into a new house and are becoming familiar with their surroundings. They are also having a hard time with their mother being in the hospital. They want mother to come to the new home so they can show her everything and their family can be complete once again.
Mei is playing outside one day and catches sight of a small white creature and starts to chase it. The white creature then joins up with a mini version of Totoro and they try to run away from Mei. She then follows them into the forest and meets the big Totoro. Mei is not frightened at all by the sight of the lovable beast. She climbs up onto his stomach and introduces herself, and he does his best to communicate that his name is Totoro.
Throughout the film, Totoro appears randomly to either help the girls or comfort them. When they waited in the rain for their father to get off the bus, Totoro showed up and distracted them from their worries. When the 2 girls were losing hope of their acorns sprouting, Totoro and his companions appeared and encouraged the acorns to grow. And finally when Satsuki can't find Mei, Totoro and the Cat Bus come to her aid to find her.
The father in the story says that Totoro and his companions are the forest spirits and you can't see them unless they want you to. You never see Totoro interact with any characters other than Satsuki and Mei.
This is one of Hayao Miyazaki's and Studio Ghibli's most beloved films. Totoro is actually the "Mickey Mouse" of Studio Ghibli. The Japanese version was released in 1988, while the English version was not released until March 7, 2006. The English dub has an ensemble of well known actors such as:
Dakota Fanning: Satsuki
Elle Fanning:Mei
Tim Daly: Father
Lea Solonga: Mother
Pat Carroll: Granny
I give "My Neighbor Totoro" an 8/10! It's a very cute and heart-warming film, but it's not very high energy. It's great to watch if you just want to relax. The musical score, along with the animation is breathtaking! I think everyone should see this film at least once in their life!
That's about all I have for today! If you have any anime to recommend me, shoot me an e-mail at jjewelyj@gmail.com!
Hugs and Kisses!
~Jewely
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