2001
Immediate Acclaim in Japan
The film won major honors including Best Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Director at the Mainichi Film Awards, establishing it as both a commercial and artistic success.
Spirited Away was not only a critical success when it was released, but has continued to grow in reputation as one of the most celebrated animated films ever made.
Rotten Tomatoes score
Metacritic score
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
Critics praised Spirited Away for its animation, imagination, emotional depth, and direction. It earned widespread acclaim from major outlets and has remained one of the highest-rated animated films ever since. Review aggregators reflect this lasting admiration, with exceptionally high scores and repeated inclusion on lists of the greatest films of all time.
The film won major honors including Best Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Director at the Mainichi Film Awards, establishing it as both a commercial and artistic success.
Spirited Away won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and later the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, helping bring Japanese animation to wider global recognition.
Over the following decade, the film appeared on numerous “best of” lists from outlets like Empire, the BBC, Rotten Tomatoes, and The New York Times, cementing its status as one of the defining films of the 21st century.
Its reputation has only grown, with continued recognition from publications such as Sight & Sound, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. The film has also inspired artists across media, including stage adaptations and musical references in popular culture.
Spirited Away is frequently described as one of the greatest animated films ever made. Filmmakers and critics have praised its visual invention, emotional seriousness, and artistry, and it has influenced later films from major studios such as Disney and Pixar.
The film helped prove that animation could be treated as a major art form rather than only children’s entertainment. Its international success also challenged assumptions about whether a Japanese-language animated film rooted in Japanese folklore could resonate with global audiences.
The film’s legacy extends beyond cinema. A stage adaptation was announced in 2021, premiered in Tokyo in 2022, and later reached London in 2024, demonstrating the story’s continued popularity and cultural power decades after its original release.