Editing Spirited Away (section)

=== Supernaturalism ===
The major [[Theme (arts)|themes]] of ''Spirited Away'', heavily influenced by Japanese [[Shinto]]-[[Buddhism in Japan|Buddhist]] folklore, centre on the protagonist, Chihiro, and her [[Liminality|liminal]] journey through the realm of spirits. The central location of the film is a Japanese bathhouse where a great variety of Japanese folklore creatures, including [[kami]], come to bathe. Miyazaki cites the solstice rituals when villagers call forth their local kami and invite them into their baths.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Chihiro also encounters kami of animals and plants. Miyazaki says of this:{{blockquote|In my grandparents' time, it was believed that kami existed everywhere&nbsp;– in trees, rivers, insects, wells, anything. My generation does not believe this, but I like the idea that we should all treasure everything because spirits might exist there, and we should treasure everything because there is a kind of life to everything.<ref name="ReferenceA" />}}Chihiro's [[archetype|archetypal]] entrance into another world changes her status as one somewhere between child and adult. Chihiro also stands outside societal boundaries in the supernatural setting. The use of the word ''[[kamikakushi]]'' (literally 'hidden by gods') within the Japanese title, and its associated folklore, reinforces this liminal passage: "Kamikakushi is a verdict of 'social death' in this world, and coming back to this world from Kamikakushi meant 'social resurrection.'"<ref name="reider">Reider, Noriko T. 11 February 2009. "Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols." ''[[Film Criticism (journal)|Film Criticism]]'' 29(3):4–27.</ref>

Additional themes are expressed through No-Face, who reflects the characters who surround him, learning by example and taking the traits of whomever he consumes. This nature results in No-Face's monstrous rampage through the bathhouse. After Chihiro saves No-Face with the emetic dumpling, he becomes timid once more. At the end of the film, Zeniba decides to take care of No-Face so he can develop without the negative influence of the bathhouse.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gomes, Paul|title=Lesson Plan&nbsp;– Spirited Away|url=http://web41.its.hawaii.edu/manoa.hawaii.edu/eastasia/wp/wp-content/uploads/2004/10/spiritedaway.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105170315/http://web41.its.hawaii.edu/manoa.hawaii.edu/eastasia/wp/wp-content/uploads/2004/10/spiritedaway.pdf|archive-date=5 November 2013|access-date=12 August 2013|publisher=UHM}}</ref>

==== Fantasy ====
The film has been compared to [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' and ''[[Through the Looking-Glass|Through the Looking Glass]]'', as the stories are set in [[fantasy world]]s, involve disturbances in logic and stability, and there are motifs such as food having metamorphic qualities; though other developments and themes are not shared.<ref>{{cite web|author=Sunny Bay|date=22 June 2016|title=Beyond Wonderland: 'Spirited Away' Explores The Significance of Dreams in the Real World|url=http://moviepilot.com/posts/3975727|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814000655/http://moviepilot.com/posts/3975727|archive-date=14 August 2016|work=moviepilot.com}}</ref><ref name="Spark">{{cite web|date=2004|title=Influences on the Film {{!}} Spirited Away|url=http://www.sparknotes.com/film/spiritedaway/section5.rhtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814185733/http://www.sparknotes.com/film/spiritedaway/section5.rhtml|archive-date=14 August 2016|work=SparkNotes}}</ref>{{rs?|sure=yes|date=February 2025}}<ref name="NYT review" />

Yubaba has many similarities to [[the Coachman]] from the 1940 film ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'', in the sense that she mutates humans into pigs in a similar way that the boys of [[Pleasure Island (Pinocchio)|Pleasure Island]] were mutated into donkeys. Upon gaining employment at the bathhouse, Yubaba's seizure of Chihiro's [[true name]] symbolically kills the child,<ref name="satoshi3">Satoshi, Ando. 11 February 2009. "Regaining Continuity with the Past: Spirited Away and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." ''[[Bookbird]]'' 46(1):23–29. {{doi|10.1353/bkb.0.0016}}.</ref> who must then assume adulthood. She then undergoes a [[rite of passage]] according to the [[monomyth]] format; to recover continuity with her past, Chihiro must create a new identity.<ref name="satoshi3" />