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Albert Dominic Crisostomo 03/28/16 ENG 2 C5 An Analysis on How Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001) Conforms and Departs Extensively from Fairy Tales Thesis Statement: Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001) follows a standard pattern that has been used by many fairy tales, and at the same time deviates from it, contributing to the success of the film. INTRODUCTION Hayao Miyazaki has been known for making films that are thematically fantastic.\ Lane (1993) defines the word “fairy tale”. The film conforms and at the same time deviates from traditional fairy tales. The film has three elements that conform to the traditional fairy tales. Mythical creatures such as the Radish Spirit and River Spirits, among others exist in the film. The main protagonist has friends to ask for assistance when needed; sometimes, those friends help the protagonist whether they need it or not. The film involves a happy ending for the main protagonist when he solves the problem given by the main antagonist. The film has two elements that deviate from said fairy tales. How they develop their main character, specifically Chihiro, is different from traditional fairy tales. Some of the characters such as Lin, Yubaba, Kamaji, Haku, and others show complex characteristics. Miyazaki’s technique of storytelling that is evidenced by the elements present in his film contributed to the success of his award-winning film. Hayao Miyazaki has been known for making films that are thematically fantastic. They have been the existing proof that Miyazaki is one of the best animated filmmakers. Some of the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki are Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). Some of his films that are purely fantastic in theme conform and at the same time depart extensively from fairy tales, such as his film Spirited Away (2001) which will be the focus of this essay, and this technique of storytelling contributes to the success of the said film. Lane (1993) defines the word “fairy tale” as: "My own definition of fairy tale goes something like this: A fairy tale is a story-literary or folk-that has a sense of the numinous, the feeling or sensation of the supernatural or the mysterious. But, and this is crucial, it is a story that happens in the past tense, and a story that is not tied to any specifics. If it happens "at the beginning of the world," then it is a myth. A story that names a specific "real" person is a legend (even if it contains a magical occurrence). A story that happens in the future is a fantasy. Fairy tales are sometimes spiritual, but never religious." With this definition in mind, the film qualifies as a fairy tale as it involves magical elements and occurs in the past tense. The film, then, has three elements that conform to fairy tales. The first element is the mythical creatures being present in the film, the second is having friends assisting the main protagonist, and the third is the existence of a happy ending for the main protagonist. In fairy tales, it is common that there are mythical creatures such as fairies, goblins, ogres, dragons, dwarves, and others. Likewise in the film there are also mythical creatures such as the River Spirits, Radish Spirit, bird spirits, cow goblin spirits, and the frogmen, among others. Common in fairy tales are friends or allies who assist the main protagonist along the way. This is true for Chihiro who is helped by her friends Kamaji, Lin, Haku, Zeniba, the River Spirit, and the Radish Spirit; each of them has given the protagonist help whether she needs it or not. Throughout her journey in the Spirit World, the main protagonist Chihiro encounters many obstacles that she needs to overcome in order for her to achieve her ultimate goal in the film. Along the way she meets the main antagonist Yubaba, one of the obstacles that whom she must overcome. To achieve the happy ending in a fairy tale, the main protagonist must overcome the final challenge that the main antagonist will give to him. Near the end of the film, Chihiro returns to the front of the bathhouse together with Haku, Boh, and Yu-Bird; Yubaba was at the front of the bathhouse waiting. Yubaba challenged Chihiro for the last time with the contract at stake. After a few moments, all of the spirit people, except for Yubaba, celebrated as Chihiro emerged victorious on her quest to save her parents. With the people of the Spirit World celebrating for the success of Chihiro in saving her parents, and with Chihiro returning to the real world with her parents, the protagonist finally achieved the happy ending. Moving on, the film has two elements that deviate from fairy tales. The first element is the uncommon kind of character development present in the film, and the second element is characters having complex characteristics or traits unlike the character archetypes of many fairy tales. Baker (2001) states that a dynamic character is the one who goes through an essential change throughout the story. Chihiro, when she was still in the real world, has shown characteristics that are absent in conventional main protagonists of other fairy tales. As evidenced by her lack of enthusiasm about moving in a new home with her parents and her consistent demands of going back from what seems to be an abandoned theme park to their family car, she has shown to be a whiny and easily-frightened child. These characteristics have been magnified particularly in the collection of scenes beginning from the scene where she attempts to escape to the tunnel, to the scene where she must walk down the long stairs to reach the boiler room, until the scene wherein she must ask for work from the bathhouse witch Yubaba. As the story continues, her characteristics have begun to change. This period of change began from the scene where she, with the assistance of Lin, must accommodate the Stink Spirit, to the scene where she must decide which of the pigs are her parents. She has begun to demonstrate acts of courage and resolve to face her challenges, showing resemblance of the characteristics of a conventional main protagonist. In the end of the story, she has changed much from being easily-frightened and whiny to being brave and having the resolve to face the trials that she will encounter in the future. Thus, with the evidences of character development present in the story, Chihiro, who is the main protagonist, is a dynamic character. Bernardo (n.d.) states that, “a rounded character is anyone who has a complex personality.” This means that a rounded character is not a one-dimensional archetype (conventional characters), wherein, for example, the hero is clearly defined “good” character. On the other hand, some of the characters in the film seem to display both kinds of qualities or characteristics, but not at the same time, which are the good and bad ones. These characters are Chihiro, Haku, Kamaji, Lin, Yubaba, Zeniba, and No-Face. Chihiro, the main protagonist, has been child-like, easily-frightened, and whiny in the earlier part of the film, but later on she has gained the resolve to face her conflict in the story and therefore has become courageous. Haku, the deuteragonist, has shown kindness, helpfulness, and bravery most of the time; however, he is once caught stealing a precious item from Zeniba, adding up to the rumors around the bathhouse Yubaba orders him to do “bad things”. Kamaji, as Chihiro first met and tried to persuade him into working for him in the boiler room, was treating Chihiro in a cold manner and does not seem to care about her request to be a worker; however, as the scene in the boiler room progresses, he showed a concern for Chihiro, advising her to go and ask Yubaba for a job. Lin, on the other hand, showed a brief display of irritability towards Chihiro whilst guiding her the way to Yubaba’s home that is located at the top floor of the bathhouse; she later became friendly towards Chihiro. Yubaba, the main antagonist, displays some of the characteristics of a conventional antagonist, and those are being unappealing and greedy; however, she clearly depicts motherly qualities, whenever she hears or sees her son Boh, and she shows joyous appreciation of the efforts of Chihiro as she successfully removed the pile of garbage from the River Spirit. Zeniba appears to be another antagonist in the film, for she looks the same as her younger sister, uses magic to project her physical form and threatens Chihiro at the first time that they met; on the contrary, later in the film she has become friendly and kind towards Chihiro and her new friends. Last, No-Face is a special kind of character in the film because he has no own traits that exactly define him. He is a quiet and an innocent-looking spirit during his first appearance, but as the story continues he learns new traits which came from the spirits that he swallowed; these traits are greed towards money and food, and obsession towards Chihiro. However, this is only temporary as he eats the green medicine that Chihiro gave him to eat, making him spew everything he ate numerous times until he vomits out the workers and finally the frog spirit. This makes him return to his former self as he loses the traits that he learned from the spirits that he swallowed. Each of these characters showed instances of displaying their characteristics. Some of those characteristics are not included in the archetypal description of a character of a specific role, but are included in their specific character. This results into characters being more believable in the eyes of the audience. Thus, they are rounded characters; additionally, this means that each of these characters have more depth in terms of personality. After his fantasy film Princess Mononoke (1997), Hayao Miyazaki has proved once again through the story elements that deviate from the fairy tales that his film Spirited Away (2001) is one of his award-winning best films in his career. Bibliography Baker, L. A. (2001, March 7). Critical Concepts: "Static" and "Dynamic" Characterization. Retrieved from http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english320/cc-static_vs_dynamic_characterization.htm Bernardo, K. (n.d.). Types of Characters in Fiction. Retrieved from http://learn.lexiconic.net/characters.htm Lane, M. Picturing a Rose: A Way of Looking at Fairy Tales. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1993.