By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * *)
Yes, the stars are getting flung around with abandon this week. This is the DVD to get for the midwinter school holidays, a stunning, Oscar-winning, Alice in Wonderland-like tale that has been called "the best animated film of recent years" (and there's been
quite a roll-call), by the Japanese genius, Hayao Miyazaki.
Chihiro (voice: Daveigh Chase), a 10-year-old girl, and her parents explore a mysterious tunnel in the woods and come upon what seems to be an old theme park.
Chihiro wanders away from her parents and finds a bathhouse. A boy named Haku appears as her guide, and warns that Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the magician who runs the bathhouse, will try to steal her name and identity.
In the boiler room Chihiro finds a man named Kamaji (David Ogden Stiers), who has eight limbs and seems scary but will turn out to be Chihiro's protector against Yubaba and other mysterious beings like Okutaresama, the spirit of the river who has absorbed the rubbish and sludge that has been thrown into the water, as she continues her quest and returns to her strangely changed parents. Marvellous.
DVD features: movie (125min); introduction by John Lasseter; 2 features, The Art of Spirited Away,
Making Of ...; Storyboard-to-scene comparison; Behind the Microphone with Suzanne Pleshette and Jason Marsden.
