“Spirited Away” has aged insanely well and produced interesting theories over the last 13 years. That being said, there’s one theory that continues to color my view of the film. Chihiro is abandoned by her parents and left at a bath house. The evil old Witch there works as a madam and makes her sign her identity away. As Sen, Chihiro meets a man named No-Face that keeps offering her money for services. Draw your own connections.
There’s a reason why this film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002. Not a ton of animated films tackle issues of childhood identity and innocence in the face of exploitation. It’s heavy material that either goes dark fast or makes light of the issue. I’m not saying that this film answered all questions within a two hour time limit. But, it tried.
The Blu-Ray comes with featurettes, the Nippon TV special, original promo spots and an intro by John Lasseter as the special features. The A/V Quality blows away the old DVD. The 1080p transfer is flawless and stands as the best animated Blu-Ray that I’ve seen in 2015. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track is the best I’ve heard since I crammed into the Kentucky Theater on Opening Day to see it. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
Release Date: 6/16/15