As an animator and filmmaker, the creator of the widely acclaimedSpirited Away,Hayao Miyazaki has pioneered masterpieces that have consistently garnered revered cultural recognition from the late ’90s to recent times. The prodigious creative is well-known for evocative films that portray the intricate connections between humanity and nature.
With his disposition, it’s no surprise that he included personal details or day-to-day historical happenings in his work. However, these subtleties are so well-woven that they are easy to miss. In fact, they are gently infused into hisaward-winning masterpiece,Spirited Away.
InSpirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki intertwines an environmental theme traceable to a real-world situation. It takes some digging to discover the connection; viewers need to delve into the circumstantial elements behind the film’s production to uncover the big picture.
Spirited Away Is A Masterpiece Born From More Than Folklore
Origins Rooted In Folklore, Personal Experiences, And The Awkward Transition Between Childhood And Adolescence
Unlike many Hayao Miyazaki works inspired mainly by folklore or fantasy novels,Spirited Awayhad a traceable origin. The film targeted the transition between childhood and adolescence; it was born from a moment of Miyazaki’s observation of his friend’s ten-year-old daughter.
With the desire to create a story of courage and finding one’s way in an unfamiliar world, Miyazaki created Chihiro Ogino, the character driving the substance behind his goal. The underlying mission behindSpirited Away’screation was Miyazaki’s desire to create something more, something “relatable.”
“I felt this was not what they held dear in their hearts, not what they wanted… And so I wondered if I could make a movie in which they could be heroines… Every time I wrote or drew something concerning the character of Chihiro and her actions, I asked myself the question of whether my friend’s daughter or her friends would be capable of doing it.”
Spirited Away’sstory featured personal connections to Miyazaki’s life, particularly because he set out to create a story focused on ten-year-olds that blended fantasy and reality. However, this challenging goal was not the true hidden gem inspiring the successful work.
The real magic trick hidden in plain sight isn’t the spirits or soot sprites; it’s the details within the movie’s muck and grime. More particularly, the scene with the oozing, foul-smelling Stink Spirit.
Spirited Away Has A Subtle Personal Detail Hidden in Plain Sight
Most Fans Overlook Miyazaki’s Emotional Connection To The Environment, And It’s Easily Missed In Spirited Away
Spirited Awaywas heavily influenced by the intricacies of humanity and young girls as they navigate adolescent life. Although adolescence seems to be the story’s predominant theme, Miyazaki infuses his environmental convictions ingeniously into the story. The astute filmmaker iswell known for the themes of ecological consciousness and respect for the natural worldhe portrays in his works.
UsingSpirited Awayas a biospheric muse, Hayao Miyazaki cleverly infuses an environmental saga with scenes that allude to reality. TheStink Spirit inSpirited Awaywas Miyazaki’s direct attack on a real-world problem.It was a direct, pointed commentary that Miyazaki employed to address Japan’s pollution problem.
“There are so many things we can’t do anything about if we think about generalities. Things won’t go well because there is a huge gap between the generalities and the particulars. If we see generalities from the top of a mountain or from a plane, we feel it’s hopeless, but if we go down, there is a nice road running about fifty meters, we feel this is a nice road, and if the weather is fine and shining, we feel we can go on… Since the people in the community are cleaning up the river in my neighborhood, I join them when I have the time. A human can often be satisfied with the particulars. That’s what I like best these days.”
Improvements have been made to Japan’s water quality in recent years, but at the time ofSpirited Away’s production, industrial waste polluted Japan’s waters. In his neighborhood, Miyazaki would help clean the river. Consequently, he sought to communicate the power of collective environmental action through the sequence involving the Stink Spirit’s transformation into the noble River Spirit after cleansing.
The Stink Spirit Scene Isn’t Just For Laughs, It Addresses A Real-World Problem
Miyazaki Didn’t Just Create A Fantasy Moment; He Turned A Childhood Memory Into A Call For Environmental Action
At first glance, the Stink Spirit scene is just another one where Chihiro fulfills her duties and helps out a spirit at the Magical Bathhouse. However, for Miyazaki, this was a personal reflection of a societal issue he witnessed firsthand. It was a tribute to restoring nature rather than polluting it with human waste and negligence.
Interestingly, the scene in which Chihiro pulls out a rusted bicycle handle from the spirit’s side directly mirrors Miyazaki’s life, showing that it was a moment that lingered with him for a long time. And withSpirited Away, he was able to communicate both the problem and a call to action. It’s no wonder he was once referred to as “the auteur of anime” byThe New Yorker.
Hayao Miyazaki Has A Habit Of Blending Personal And Fictional Worlds
Other Personal Touches In His Studio Ghibli Films Are What Makes His Storytelling So Authentic
Spirited Awaywas not Hayao Miyazaki’s first hybrid mix of his personal life and fiction, and it certainly wasn’t his last. This inspiring technique accounts for many of his impactful filmography; it makes his various shows seem less like far-fetched fantasies and more like fantastical versions of the real world.
For Miyazaki’s movies, even the smallest scenes are weighty if only viewers care to explore their underlying meanings. They often serve as windows into humanity, history, and the difficulties and solutions of everyday life from Miyazaki’s point of view. These qualities add an authentic value to his films; they are the virtues that account forStudio Ghibli’s global success.
Many Hayao Miyazaki films, likeMy Neighbor Totoro,Princess Mononoke,and evenPorco Rosso,also serve as a window into the animator’s take on polarizing subjects like post-war effects and the conflict between humans and nature. Genuinely, Hayao Miyazaki is not just an animator and filmmaker but a storyteller who weaves pieces of his life and experiences into his richly layered fictional worlds.
