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Spirited Away | 2002 | PG | - 0.4.0

Japanese anime film from Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of "Princess Mononoke." Similar to Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" in narrative style, it follows the adventures of a young girl named Chihiro who travels into the world of spirits in order to save her parents, who've turned into pigs after eating magical food. With the voices of Daveigh Chase, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan, Lauren Holly and Jason Marsden. [2:20]

SEX/NUDITY 0 - We see the bare buttocks of a huge baby.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - The film is full of strange looking creatures; some look like birds, others like blobs, and others transform themselves into various shapes. A creature with gold coins entices other creatures to come close and then eats them. A dragon is chased by birds made out of paper and he ends up with bloody wounds and a bloody mouth. A girl finds her parents and they have been transformed into slobbering, squealing pigs. A creature that turns into a woman panics when she realizes that her baby is missing; she yells and her mouth fills with fire. A girl is threatened by a woman/creature who flies over her head and drags her long nails across the girl's neck. A girl remembers almost drowning when she was younger (we see a flashback). A girl is chased by a creature. A woman says about a creature that "he'll be dead soon." A girl and a dragon fall through a hole and through a fan blade (the dragon gushes blood from its mouth and it goes into convulsions after the girl puts something in its mouth). A creature eats something that makes it vomit repeatedly: we see a lot of goo and other creatures pour from its mouth. A girl's mouth is literally "zippered" shut by a woman/creature's spell and a woman/creature flies at and tries to bite a girl. A girl falls into a tub full of water and hits her head on the wall, a girl falls into a tub and gets stuck in sludge on the bottom. A stair breaks under the feet of a girl sending her tumbling down and crashing into a wall at the bottom of the stairs. A girl climbs along a pipe on the outside of a building and it breaks, she clings onto a ladder and falls through an opened window. A huge baby grabs and twists the arm of a girl. A girl trembles and cries when she realizes that she is beginning to disappear. A girl is frightened by what looks like ghostly figures appearing around her. A dragon carrying a girl on its back breaks into crystals and then turns into a boy and the boy and girl plummet toward water below, but begin to fly just before they hit. Disembodied heads bounce around through most of the movie. A stink creature slithers down a road (creatures it passes faint from the odor), oozes over a bridge leaving sludge behind, and into a tub. Creatures pull on something that appears to be stuck in the side of another creature and a huge pile of trash and rubble pours out. A girl watches strange-looking creatures coming off a ferry. A man/creature has six legs and they can stretch very far, a boy turns into a dragon (serpent-like) and a woman turns into a bird. A girl is pulled into a room where she meets a woman/creature who has a beak-like nose. A girl works in a bathhouse and cleans a large tub that is really filthy, covered with grasses and grime. A man drives his car on an unpaved road (he appears to be driving too fast since his passengers are jostled about) and he slams on the brakes just before he hits a stone statue. A girl is frightened when her parents lead her into a dark tunnel (wind blows and they hear various sounds). Creatures panic and run when they see a human girl. A girl walks through dark woods. A girl wanders away from her parents through a deserted marketplace. Tiny bug-like creatures work in a mine (they're cute rather than scary); one is nearly squished under a rock and others drop rocks on their heads on purpose to get help moving them. Creatures argue over a roasted newt and a woman ends up eating it. There are references to creatures turning back into soot. A girl appears ill, quakes, and moans. A huge baby kicks a woman in the face and kicks a wall down.

LANGUAGE 0 - None.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Spirits and strange creatures, alternate worlds, relocating, adventures, shrines, spells, greed, witches, love.

MESSAGE - Change is an adventure, do not fear it.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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