Spirited Away

What’s it about?

A young girl and her parents wander into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits. To return home, she must rely on her determination, newfound friends, and kindness.

The facts

• Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro)
• Japanese language or English dub
• Runtime: 125 minutes
• Animated film by Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke)
• Won the Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards.

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Horror

The way some characters look could be disturbing for younger viewers. For example, one character has a slug-like appearance, covered in mud, and various tentacles, with a sad expression.

Characters are quirky and unique, such as spirits or ghosts, animals with human features, an abnormally large baby that can talk, and characters with different-sized heads and even a trio of heads with no bodies.

There is a character that becomes more terrifying. We first see them as a friendly and reserved spirit that often disappears. They however become more visible as the film progresses, appearing larger in size crawling on all fours, sporting a longer neck and bigger mouth. Their behaviour becomes more violent and spontaneous, and their voice also has an unsettling tone. This can be disturbing for younger viewers.

Some characters get eaten by a creature. They are later puked out. The same large creature chases Chihiro. This is a tense sequence, where we see Chihiro runs for her life, while the creature chases her.

Chihiro’s parents turn into pigs. She is disturbed and shocked.

Violence

A fair amount of blood is shown. In one scene, an injured dragon has blood spilling out of its mouth. We also see blood splatter around the room after it hastily flies away. Brief moments include Chihiro showing her hand with dried blood to scare another character.

A character is enraged. They breathe out fire and their hair wraps around another character.

A character has a tantrum and trashes their room. We see them kick down a door while another character tries to calm them down.

Characters often threaten each other. For example, one character threatens another that they will rip their mouth off. Another character threatens to break another character’s arm while they restrain them.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Kiki’s Delivery Service guide
• Howl's Moving Castle guide
• The Wind Rises guide
• Ponyo guide
• Porco Rosso guide
• Castle in the Sky guide