Spirited Away Coming to a Theater Near You

[lrodk]

Disney announced that Spirited Away, in the wake of all of the attention it has received after winning the Oscar for best animated film, would be be shown in 800 theaters by this friday. Prior to this Spirited Away maximum coverage in the uS had been 151 theaters. For those who may not have heard, Spirited Away became the number one grossing film in Japan(surpassing Titanic) at over $230 million during it's theatrical release. It's rumored that Disney could announce even more theaters as early as this afternoon.

 

[mickeyminnie]

what is the rating? What is it about? Is it appropriate for young children (5 and 2). I am intrigued because I know several people have said it was just excellent, but I never caught, or I don't now remember, what it was about.

Thanks

 

[lrodk]

Here's the link to the official site, which should answer most of your questions.

http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/miyazaki/index2.html?

 

[mickeyminnie]

it looks beautiful, not sure about my kids though. It is PG so we will wait for at home viewing at least. The parentsguide link wasn't working so I will have to see what some other parents think. For myself it looks wonderful.

 

[hopemax]

This is good. Apparently, before the awards show Disney had said that if Spirited Away won, they would put it into a larger release. But with the DVD release only a couple weeks away, people weren't sure if it would actually happen.

 

[lrodk]

Apparantly the 800 theater count will hold at least through it's 4/15 video/dvd release. The campagn, according to the LA Times, is earmarked at increasing consumer awareness of the film in anticipation of it's video release.

 

[All Aboard]

Has anyone found a theater list?

 

[hopemax]

When it was released the first time, this website had a theater list. They already have a plea for people to share what theaters will be showing it this time, so I'd check there on Friday.

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen/theaters.php

 

[lrodk]

Another interesting development on the DVD/Video release plans for Spirited Away. Dick Cook was quoted as saying that if "Spirited Away" finds an audience, Disney may postpone its Video/DVD release from its scheduled date, April 15 so that the film continues a longer and possibly expanded run at the theaters.

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

To those wondering about how appropriate Spirited Away is....I took my 10, 14, and 16 year old kids to it last year. (I had to convince them to go.......Disney really booted the marketing). They all LOVED it. My daughter, 14, says it's the best movie that she has ever seen. My son, 10, gave it 300 stars....his highest rating ever! LOL! They all talked about it for weeks, and I ended up seeing it a second time with my daughter.

Anyway, there is nothing that I can remember that would have been inappropriate. The question to me is will kids under about 6 enjoy it? It is kind of a cross between "The Neverending Story" and "The Legend of Zelda", in the manner in which the story unfolds. I think that it is PG due to implied violence (The witch threatens to kill the little girl's parents, who have been turned into pigs), but nobody dies (well....not permanently anyway) and there is no sex. It's a bit creepy in parts when the spirits first appear.

I would recommend it to anyone over the age of about 8. It is much much better than the original ads conveyed. In fact, it stands in my mind with classic movies. It is exciting, very funny in parts, and leaves you with that feeling of awe that the very best films can do. The characters are inspired, and they just keep coming. There are no songs, but the movie has a "John Williamsish" kind of score that fits the story nicely.

Oh, and it had me and my wife riveted as well. The only film that I enjoyed more this past year was "Chicago", but that certainly couldn't be recommended as a family film.

Bottom line..........Go and see Spirited Away in the theaters. Then buy it on April 15th. Disney should be releasing more movies like this.

 

[alyssa810]

We saw spirited away last night, and the audience was a wide range of ages. We really liked it a lot, although it seemed to drag a little at the end. I think very young children might find it scary though...

 

[All Aboard]

Nat (age 5) and I saw it today. Nat was captivated, leaned forward in her seat early on and never moved and perhaps didn't even blink. She's fairly desensitized to scary stuff, but many other little ones seemed to have a problem with it. Several left with their parents.

I thought the film was very good. Very imaginative and highly creative. The story moved all over the place, but seemed fairly cohesive. I asked Nat on the way home what it was about, and her response was that the girl was trying to save her parents. Which, of course, was the core of the story.

However, when my wife came home, the following exchange took place:

Nat: I saw a movie today.

Phyll: Oh yea, what was it called?

Nat: "Spirit Returns", but Spirit and Rain aren't in the movie. It's about Kiki, her parents turned into pigs. She could only fly with the dragon, she lost her broom. She didn't have her talking cat with her either.

 

[jennymouse]

I took my DGD8 to see Spirited Away last night. We both enjoyed it although it was a little long and dragged at the end. The colors were beautiful to watch and the story, although a bit gross in a couple parts was fantastic. I'd recommend it!

 

[DISNEYDADINOREGON]

Hollywood video had it listed last night on the new release board for 4/15. I saw it Sat. I thought the animation was good. Story was very unusual and kinda strange. I felt it really reminded me of the Pokeman movies.