Editing Spirited Away (section)

===Development and inspiration===

{{Primary sources section |date=February 2025}}

{{Quote box|width=30em|align=left|quote="I created a heroine who is an ordinary girl, someone with whom the audience can sympathize [...]. [I]t's not a story in which the characters grow up, but a story in which they draw on something already inside them, brought out by the particular circumstances [...]. I want my young friends to live like that, and I think they, too, have such a wish."|source={{mdash}}Hayao Miyazaki<ref name="nausicaa" />}}
During summers, [[Hayao Miyazaki]] spent his vacation at a mountain cabin with his family and five girls who were friends of the family. The idea for ''Spirited Away'' came about when he wanted to make a film for these friends. Miyazaki had previously directed films for small children and teenagers such as ''[[My Neighbor Totoro]]'' and ''[[Kiki's Delivery Service]]'', but he had not created a film for ten-year-old girls. For inspiration, he read the [[shōjo manga]] magazines (like ''[[Nakayoshi]]'' and ''[[Ribon]]'') that the girls had left at the cabin, but felt they only offered subjects on "crushes" and romance. Miyazaki felt this was not what these young friends "held dear in their hearts", and resolved to make the film about a young heroine whom they could look up to.<ref name="nausicaa">[http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/sen.html Miyazaki on Spirited Away // Interviews //] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425061730/http://nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/sen.html |date=25 April 2017 }}. Nausicaa.net (11 July 2001).</ref>

[[File:Hayao Miyazaki.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Close up photograph of Hayao Miyazaki, smiling and wearing a suit and tie in front of a gold-colored mosaic.|Hayao Miyazaki used [[shōjo manga]] magazines for inspiration to direct ''Spirited Away''.]]
Miyazaki had wanted to produce a new film for years, but his two previous proposals{{mdash}}one based on the Japanese book {{nihongo|''Kiri no Mukō no Fushigi na Machi''|霧のむこうのふしぎな町}} by Sachiko Kashiwaba, and another about a teenage heroine{{mdash}}were rejected. His third proposal, which ended up becoming ''Spirited Away'', was more successful. The three stories revolved around a bathhouse that was inspired by one in Miyazaki's hometown. He thought the bathhouse was a mysterious place, and there was a small door next to one of the bathtubs in the bath house. Miyazaki was always curious about what was behind it, and he made up several stories about it, one of which inspired the bathhouse setting of ''Spirited Away''.<ref name="nausicaa"/>

[[File:Ogata Gekko - Ryu sho ten edit.jpg|thumb|A [[Japanese dragon]] ascends toward the heavens with [[Mount Fuji]] in the background in this print from [[Ogata Gekkō]]. ''Spirited Away'' is heavily influenced by Japanese Shinto-Buddhist folklore.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>]]
Production of ''Spirited Away'' commenced in February 2000 on a budget of {{¥|1.9 billion|link=yes}} (US$15 million).<ref name="howe" /> The film was produced in association with [[Tokuma Shoten]], [[Nippon Television Network]], [[Dentsu]], [[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment|Buena Vista Home Entertainment]], [[Tohokushinsha Film]], and [[Mitsubishi Corporation|Mitsubishi]].<ref name="Elley 2002">{{cite magazine |last=Elley |first=Derek |title=''Spirited Away'' |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=2002-02-18 |url=https://variety.com/2002/digital/features/spirited-away-2-1200551257/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127164558/https://variety.com/2002/digital/features/spirited-away-2-1200551257/ |archive-date=2024-11-27 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]]'s 10% investment allowed for the [[right of first refusal]] for North American distribution.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hill|first=Jim|date=14 April 2020|title=The Making of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away"&nbsp;– Part 1|url=http://jimhillmedia.com/alumni1/b/michael_howe/archive/2003/04/15/1391.aspx|access-date=11 October 2020|website=jimhillmedia.com|archive-date=30 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330025215/http://jimhillmedia.com/alumni1/b/michael_howe/archive/2003/04/15/1391.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="fps">{{cite web|url=http://www.fpsmagazine.com/comment/spirited.php|title=Spirited Away by Miyazaki|work=FPS Magazine|access-date=11 August 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519193618/http://www.fpsmagazine.com/comment/spirited.php|archive-date=19 May 2014}}</ref>{{sps|date=February 2025}} As with ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'', Miyazaki and the [[Studio Ghibli]] staff experimented with computer animation. With the use of more computers and programs such as [[Softimage 3D]], the staff learned the software, but used the technology carefully so that it enhanced the story, instead of "stealing the show". Each character was mostly hand-drawn, with Miyazaki working alongside his animators to see if they were getting it just right.<ref name="howe">[http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/michael_howe/archive/2003/04/15/1391.aspx The Making of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away"&nbsp;– Part 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312093531/http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/michael_howe/archive/2003/04/15/1391.aspx |date=12 March 2009 }}. Jimhillmedia.com.</ref>{{sps|date=February 2025}} The biggest difficulty in making the film was to reduce its length. When production began, Miyazaki realized it would be more than three hours long if he made it according to his plot. He had to delete many scenes from the story, and tried to reduce the "eye candy" in the film because he wanted it to be simple. Miyazaki did not want to make the hero a "pretty girl". At the beginning, he was frustrated at how she looked "dull" and thought, "She isn't cute. Isn't there something we can do?" As the film neared the end, however, he was relieved to feel "she will be a charming woman."<ref name="nausicaa"/>
[[File:Dogo onsen honkan long exposure.jpg|thumb|210px|alt=A medium shot photograph of a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku, Japan.|[[Dōgo Onsen]]]]
[[File:Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum-insideabuilding.jpg|thumb|210px|alt=A wide photograph of a hallway from the Takahashi Korekiyo residence in the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, which was one of Miyazaki's inspirations in creating the spirit world's buildings.|The [[Takahashi Korekiyo]] residence in the [[Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum]] was one of Miyazaki's inspirations in creating the spirit world's buildings.]]During production, Miyazaki often sought inspiration by visiting the [[Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum]] in [[Koganei, Tokyo]]. He based some of the buildings in the spirit world on the Pseudo-Western style buildings from the [[Meiji period]] that were available there. The museum made Miyazaki feel nostalgic, "especially when I stand here alone in the evening, near closing time, and the sun is setting&nbsp;– tears well up in my eyes."<ref name="nausicaa"/> Another major inspiration was the {{nihongo|Notoya Ryokan|能登谷旅館}}, a [[Ryokan (Japanese inn)|traditional Japanese inn]] located in [[Yamagata Prefecture]], famous for its exquisite architecture and ornamental features.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tenkai-japan.com/2010/05/29/notoya-in-ginzan-onsen-stop-businees-for-renovation/ |title=Notoya in Ginzan Onsen stop business for renovation. &#124; Tenkai-japan:Cool Japan Guide-Travel, Shopping, Fashion, J-pop |publisher=Tenkai-japan |date=1 July 2010 |access-date=6 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028211832/http://www.tenkai-japan.com/2010/05/29/notoya-in-ginzan-onsen-stop-businees-for-renovation/ |archive-date=28 October 2012 }}</ref>{{rs?|date=February 2025}} While some guidebooks and articles claim that the old gold town of [[Jiufen]] in Taiwan served as an inspirational model for the film, Miyazaki has denied this.<ref>{{cite web|title=Focus Newspaper: Hayao Miyazaki, 72-year-old Mischievous Youngster (from 3:00 mark)| date=13 September 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ9BnbkRzOg|publisher=TVBS TV|access-date=5 July 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710213935/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ9BnbkRzOg|archive-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> The [[Dōgo Onsen]] is also often said to be a key inspiration for the ''Spirited Away'' onsen/bathhouse.<ref>[http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5502.html Dogo Onsen] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613043628/http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5502.html |date=13 June 2009 }} japan-guide.com</ref>{{rs?|date=February 2025}}

[[Toshio Suzuki (producer)|Toshio Suzuki]], the producer of the film, also cites European inspirations and influences in the production of ''Spirited Away''. He specifically invokes the structure of the film as European-inspired due to Miyazaki's own influences by European films such as [[The Snow Queen (1957 film)|''The Snow Queen'']] and ''The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mizukubo |first=Momoe |date= |title=It's Child's Play for Studio Ghibli |url=http://www.lookjapan.com/LBsc/02JuneCF.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020629065833/http://www.lookjapan.com/LBsc/02JuneCF.htm |archive-date=29 June 2002 |access-date=27 April 2022 |website=Look Japan}}</ref>