The latest film from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi ('Spirited Away') is about to set the all time movie box office record for Japan, surpassing the $160 million earned by Miyazaki's previous film, Princess Mononoke. The story of Spirited Away takes place in modern times and centers around a young girl, Chihiro, whose parents are turned into pigs. She must enter the spirit world in order to save them and return them to human form. Written and directed by Miyazaki himself, Spirited Away benefits from the brilliant animation techniques of the Ghibli team led by chief animator Mashashi Andou, who performed the same function for Princess Mononoke.
A recent article on the Inside.com website noted that Disney, which has the American rights to Spirited Away, doesn't know what to do with the film. The studio spent considerable money on the English version of Princess Mononoke , which was written by Neil Gaiman and voiced by top Hollywood talent. Unfortunately Mononoke, with its difficult ecological themes, stiffed at the box office in the U.S. Will Disney attempt to release Spirited Away theatrically? Having kept their 'hands off' Princess Mononoke and failed, will the studio try to 'Disneyize' Spirited Away?'