Maybe it's 'cause you saw the dub, and the translation was bad.

Or perhaps the projection bulb burned out before you entered the theater?

no... i'm pretty sure it was because it was reeeeeeally stupid, and utterly random.

characters transform from cloyingly obnoxious to happy-best-friend and back again *constantly*...

major "plot" (i use the word very loosely) points just pop in at the last second, like magic coins in super mario world ("oh... i apparently took an oath sometime for some reason that I have to give you a job. darn." ... "oh... i fell into a river years ago, and i think your name is hossamama river! *poof*"...)

no conflict resolution. even when the evil people stay evil long enough to decide you hate them, the end of the movie is "they get away". Not "she defeats the woman enslaving hundreds of people, and eating the poor parents of less-successful little girls"...

god, they didn't even board up the stupid tunnel after they left.

and is one of the morals of the story "your parents are a bitch and a gluttonous moron, so don't trust them or follow their example"?

can you explain the bouncing heads or lady-headed bird, other than maybe some bad acid?

baffling. remember the conversation we had in the cab the other day about "entertainment must be more than simply fun to watch"? If that's true, this is indefensible. Jerry Bruckheimer is all *over* this hack, as far as plot development.

Many of the creatures/elements of the story DO make sense in Japanese, if seen with a japanese background. A lot of them are from Japanese myths or stories. The heads are an example, as is the giant baby. The woman-headed bird is a harpy reference, because for some reason Miyazaki is obsessed with Greek myth, especially Homer.
As for your plot attacks, you condemn the film for letting the bad guys get away. That is part of the point. Miyazaki intentionally wants his viewers, most of whom are little kids, not anime-freak adults, to see that the good guys don't always win, and that evil is not always punished. This isn't written to comply with the comics code, and I think that is a good thing. Finally, the film is meant to be a kids' story with a moral or message, like a fairy tale or fable. As such, the idea that the plot should be realistic is absurd. The plot was carefully constructed to send a message or messages to children, and it does this well. I reccommend that you watch this with a ten-year-old girl and then talk with her about it afterward to more accurately acess how well it was made.

thank you!

I don't necessarily agree with all your points (as a matter of fact, i don't), but at least you've given me a small forkful of perspective, which I think was what PISSED me off so much about this thing... i was screaming "WHAT THE FUCK??!?" from the mountaintops, and no one could even give me a hint, 'cause they were waxing rhapsodically about the whimsical beauty of the thing.

if it's just a kid's tale told for the (very) simple minds of kids, (and specifically, Shinto Japanese kids who're familiar with the mythical backstory) and that those who're writing reviews about the awesomeness of this film are speaking strictly about it's technical merit as an example of the anime style of art, and of it's message to children with exteeeeemly short attention spans (putting aside the question of how those spans got so very very short in the first place), then I can accept it, and at least begin to understand why i (personally) disliked it so intensely. At least now i have the seed with which to begin "agree to disagree".

(although, i'd bet money that the number of children in the U.S. who saw this film is a tiny fraction of the number of stoned hipsters who saw it twice.)

Now i can (at least) rationalize to myself ("I'm not japanese, I'm not a 10-year-old girl.") I just wish i'd gotten the industry "heads up" that comes pre-packaged with most Martin Lawrence movies. ("I'm not black, I'm not suffering from a head wound.")

However, I still think that 90% of those who're peeing their pants over this film are poseurs and feux-nipponophiles who don't get it any better than i do, and wouldn't ever admit it. And I know now that i've got a real personal issue with excessive build-up of art that's really polarizing at best. I can appreciate the art form (and i admit the film is beautiful in places), but the story is (from my perspective) unconsumable.

The "Wilco" album that the entire "cool" world prostrated itself to, and this film are examples where I get really pissed off when someone tells me "this is amazing", and it's really only certain people's cup of tea, and i resent any implication that not having my face melt off at the divine ass-kickingness of it all makes me any less human.

"My Sassy Girl" kicked ass. "Spirited Away" was stupid. I stand by my (now less passionate, but better formed) opinion.

I liked Spirited Away a lot. But that may be because of my 10-year-old girl mind...

I agree that most critics are plainly crack-addicted morons. Beware of anyone in the US talking about any anime, because most of them have lost the ability to discriminate between good and bad when it comes to their mania. Living in Japan has given me a better perspective, such that I now view some of my friends' collections and think 'Why do they have a bunch of so-so kids' network TV?'. However, some of it, like some kids' cartoons in the US, is really great, either as entertainment or art. You should see 'Whisper of the Heart', a really greaat animated film that you don't have to be a ten-year-old Japanese girl to like.

However, I still think that 90% of those who're peeing their pants over this film are poseurs and feux-nipponophiles who don't get it any better than i do, and wouldn't ever admit it.

Although I am probably a poseur and a faux-nipponophile, (although I hate Wilco), I think I can safely say that I understood the film better than you.

Anyone peeing their pants over the film, however, are possibly smoking crack. This is not the director's best work. It's pretty mediocre for a Miyazaki film, and any real anime fan knows this. Let it also be known that most true anime fans are more drooling perverts than they are pot smoking hipsters (example: Rick).

However, I must argue that the film is not "stupid." It is a highly intelligent film with a couple of plot failures. Although it IS meant to be enjoyed by 10-year-old girls (why just girls?) there are several very important elements meant only to be understood by adults.

I'll have to get back to this in a minute.

I am neither a poseur nor a faux-nipponophile, but I enjoyed the movie immensely. Out of all his movies though, I liked Kiki's Delivery Service best.

i definitely agree that most of y'all understood this movie more than I did... that was what worked me up so much, that it was, from my utterly unprepared point of view, BAFFLING.

Imagine an Eskimo seeing "Alice in Wonderland", but not having ever seen playing cards before. Or seeing "Shrek", but not being remotely familiar with mother goose characters. That's me, here. I hated *my viewing* of the film, and I think most of those gushing over the film (not you guys, whom i'd never step to re: anime) don't get it, either, but either *dig* not getting it, 'cause they're on the "wacky-tobaccy", or 'cause they can appreciate abstract sillyness (like my loving girlfriend)... or that they don't get it, and won't admit it.

It's those people i'm mad at, for tricking me into an uncomfortable,long, weird movie. If it'd just been maggie dragging me to this, i could have at least gone in thinking i might not like it, but try to. Instead, i expected fantasia, and got "the wall".

I've posted my essay-like, epic review of the film on by blog:

http://erinfinnegan.com/blog/archives/000012.html

I've never been able to sit through all of Fantasia in one viewing. The new Fantasia, yes, the old one... no.

But yeah, you have a point. If you're totally unfamiliar with anything Japanese, Spirited Away doesn't make any sense.