Spirited Away (2001 Film) Hayao Miyazaki

Critical response

Spirited Away received widespread acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 96% approval rating based on 221 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them."[98] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 96 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[12]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a full four stars, praising the work and Miyazaki's direction. Ebert also said that Spirited Away was one of "the year's best films", as well as adding it to his "Great Movies" list.[99] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times positively reviewed the film and praised the animation. Mitchell drew a favorable comparison to Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and wrote that Miyazaki's "movies are as much about moodiness as mood" and that "the prospect of animated figures' not being what they seem – either spiritually or physically – heightens the tension."[37] Derek Elley of Variety said that Spirited Away "can be enjoyed by sprigs and adults alike" and praised the animation and music.[100] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised Miyazaki's direction and the voice acting, as well as saying that the film is the "product of a fierce and fearless imagination whose creations are unlike anything a person has seen before."[101] Orlando Sentinel's critic Jay Boyar also praised Miyazaki's direction and said the film is "the perfect choice for a child who has moved into a new home."[102]

In 2004, Cinefantastique listed the film as one of the "10 Essential Animations".[103] In 2005, Spirited Away was ranked by IGN as the 12th-best animated film of all time.[104] The film is also ranked number 9 of the highest-rated movies of all time on Metacritic, being the highest rated traditionally animated film on the site. The film ranked number 10 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.[105] In 2010, Rotten Tomatoes ranked it as the 13th-best animated film on the site,[106] and in 2012, as the 17th.[107] In 2019, the site considered the film to be #1 among 140 essential animated movies to watch.[108] The film was ranked at number 46 on Time Out magazine's list of "The 100 Best Movies of All Time".[109] The film is listed within the top ten on the British Film Institute's list of "Top 50 films for children up to the age of 14".[110] In 2016, it was voted the fourth-best film of the 21st century by the BBC, as picked by 177 film critics from around the world, making it the highest-ranking animated film on the list.[111] In 2017, The New York Times ranked it as the second best film of the 21st Century so far.[112] In 2021, the Writers Guild of America ranked Spirited Away's screenplay the 67th greatest of the 21st century so far.[113] In 2022, the film was ranked number 75 on Sight & Sound's greatest films list, being one of two animated films to make the list (alongside Miyazaki's own My Neighbor Totoro).[114][115]

In his book Otaku, Hiroki Azuma observed: "Between 2001 and 2007, the otaku forms and markets quite rapidly won social recognition in Japan," and cites Miyazaki's win at the Academy Awards for Spirited Away among his examples.[116]

Accolades