Why China is still spirited away by the movie magic of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki
- Chinese fans of the Japanese animator are lining up for the official release of a film – 18 years after it was made
Rather than wait for the weekend, Shanghai data analyst Wang Guyue decided to take a day off work to go to the movies.
The 35-year-old chose a time when her son would be at school because she “wanted to enjoy the movie quietly by herself”.
As she settled in to see the movie she first saw 18 years ago on a pirated DVD, Wang noticed that all the other people in the cinema were adults like her.
They were all there to see Spirited Away, a Japanese animated film produced in 2001 but only officially released in mainland China last month. Until now, the Oscar-winning movie has only been available illegally but it and others from Studio Ghibli, the production house co-founded by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, influenced a generation of Chinese viewers, connecting the two countries through some tumultuous diplomatic times.
Fans rushed to theatres, earning the movie over 300 million yuan (US$43.7 million) in the first week of its release on June 21.
Wang first watched the movie as a high school student with several friends squeezed in front of a small computer screen, their minds captivated by 10-year-old Chihiro’s adventures in what appears to be an abandoned amusement park.
