Introduct|on

1hls asslgnmenL wlll explore and dlscuss how Lhe Lhemes and lssues represenLed ln Lhe fllm SplrlLed
Away are expressed Lhrough Lhe fllm's orlglnal producLlon deslgn lL wlll focus on Lhe key elemenLs
of
nvlronmenLal lssues
Creed
Consumerlsm
1hls wlll be done by Laklng reference from Lhe followlng sources 1he ArL Cf Mlyazakl's SplrlLed Away
(Payao Mlyazakl) SLudlo Chlbll 1he lllms of Payao Mlyazakl and lsao 1akahaLa (Mlchelle Le 8lanc )
Payao Mlyazakl MasLer of !apanese AnlmaLlon lllms 1hemes ArLlsLry(Pelen McCarLhy) and
!apanese vlsual CulLure exploraLlons ln Lhe world of Manga and Anlme(Mark MacWllllams)
roducLlon deslgn and concepL arL have always been a key elemenL ln Lhe creaLlng of a fllm buL only
recenLly Lhese areas have been acknowledged as an arL ln Lhelr own rlghL 1he Production desiqner
is the heod of the ort deportment ond it is their job to creote o desiqn concept for the fi/m which
wi// define how the who/e fi/m /ooks on screen 1hrouqh the use of spoce vo/ume /iqht co/our ond
texture they oim to creote o visuo/ environment thot supports ond strenqthens the story ond
chorocters (1he Cuardlan 26) There are many famous concept and production artists such as
Ryan Church (Transformers 3) and Victor Jonsson (Crisis 2).
,f|n body
Payao Mlyazakl ls a concepL arLlsL producLlon deslgner and dlrecLor and ls regarded by many as a
masLer of !apanese anlmaLlon and has creaLed many sLunnlng fllms such as 'nowls Movloq costle'
(2004) 'ltlocess Moooooke(1997) and Lhe award wlnnlng 5pltlteJ Awoy(2001) Mlyazakl's work ls
noL only beauLlful buL lL also holds many moral messages and confronLs lssues ln socleLy Lhrough Lhe
deslgn of hls fanLasy worlds and characLers
5pltlteJ Awoy ls an anlmaLlon fllm and so everyLhlng we see has been creaLed from a concepLual
deslgn from characLers Lo seLLlngs all were carefully deslgned Lo creaLe a speclflc meanlng ln Lhe
fllm Mlyazakl's work ls known for belng an alLernaLlve represenLaLlon of our world 1he fi/ms before
5pirited 4woy ore set in the post ond fontostic events toke p/oce within the reo/ wor/d of the fi/m
1hose fi/ms do not direct/y depict contemporory lopon spirited owoy is the first to do so"
(MacWllllams 2008 273) '5pltlteJ Awoy' ls Mlyazakl's flrsL fllm Lo be seL ln Lhe presenL and so could
be seen as a dlrecL deplcLlon of modern socleLy Cne of Lhe key Lhemes whlch Lhe fllm dlrecLly
approaches ls LhaL of Lhe envlronmenL and Lhls ls done Lhrough Lhe represenLaLlon of a 'SLlnk SplrlL'

8elow are Lwo lmages of Lhe 'SLlnk SplrlL' whlch Mlyazakl deslgned ln order Lo represenL hls personal
vlew on Lhe sLaLe of Lhe envlronmenL Cnce Chlhlro dlscovers LhaL Lhls splrlL has a 'Lhorn' ln lLs slde
she Lrles Lo help by pulllng lL ouL and flnds LhaL lL ls acLually Lhe handle of a blke
1hls deslgn of Lhe 8lver SplrlL ls done ln such a way LhaL we can clearly see Lhe amounL of fllLh and
dlrL whlch has Lurned Lhls splrlL lnLo Lhe dlrLy and sllmy creaLure deplcLed above lL capLures
Mlyazakl's LhoughLs on Lhe sLaLe of Lhe envlronmenL very well as Lhls splrlL has become polluLed and
conLamlnaLed Cnce Lhe 'Lhorn' has been removed Lhe splrlL reLurns Lo lLs orlglnal form and rewards
Chlhlro wlLh a blessed dumpllng Mlyazakl's own llLLle lncenLlve LhaL looklng afLer Lhe envlronmenL
can be rewardlng 1hls scene ls ln facL lnfluence by a cleanup of a rlver near Mlyazakl's home Lown
whlch he parLlclpaLed ln and Lhls added Lo hls own personal vlew on how we LreaL Lhe envlronmenL
1he debrls LhaL ls removed from Lhe splrlL Lurns Lo gold nuggeLs and Lhe workers of Lhe baLhhouse
rush Lo collecL lL whlch leads onLo Lhe second ma[or lssue represenLed ln Lhls fllm greed
Creed plays a large role ln Lhls sLory and ls anoLher lnfluence from Mlyazakl's vlew on our world
1his is o qrotesque version of our own wor/d where qreed ond ombition mix with kindness ond
comoroderie 1he difference /ies in extent ond consequence" (Cdell 2009 119) ln Lhls fllm Lhere ls a
consequence for every acLlon LhaL Lhe characLers Lake and Lhls ls ofLen a LralL LhaL runs Lhrough
many of Mlyazakl's fllms such as '-ooslcoo of tbe volley of tbe Wlnd' 1here ls one characLer LhaL ls
Lhe maln references Lo greed ln '5pltlteJ Awoy Lhls characLer ls a splrlL named no lace


|gure 1 ,|yff|s or|g|nf setch of Ch|h|ro Sen fnd the k|ver Sp|r|t |gure 2 |nf des|gn of the k|ver Sp|r|t

no lace ls an embodlmenL of greed and Lhls ls shown Lhrough Lhe characLers deslgn very well Creed
ls a faceless sln ln whlch Lhere ls a passlon Lo devour everyLhlng ln one's paLh and Lhls ls exacLly
whaL no face ls he ls deslgned wlLhouL a face [usL a mask whlch reveals noLhlng abouL hlm
Lherefore maklng hlm sLrange and mysLerlous Pls body ls black and shapeless suggesLlng LhaL he
can Lake any form [usL llke greed lLself 1he orlglnal deslgn for no lace was much dlfferenL as he was
orlglnally [usL anoLher splrlL flller for Lhe baLh house and was noL supposed Lo be a maln characLer
however Lhe sLory was changed and so was no face










1here ls an earller reference Lo greed ln Lhe fllm when Chlhlro and her parenLs flrsL enLer Lhe splrlL
world and flnd a sLall full of food Chlhlro's parenLs dlg ln and begln Lo gorge on Lhe banqueL Lurnlng
Lhemselves lnLo plgs 1hls ls Lhe reason why Chlhlro ls Lrapped ln Lhe splrlL world ln Lhe flrsL place
|gure 3 No fce ur|ng worers w|th god |gure 4 Ch|h|ro fpprofches No fce
|gure S No fce or|gonf des|gn
5he is shocked to reo/ite thot she ond her fomi/y ore couqht in o stronqe other wor/d becouse of
her porents iqnoronce ond qreed" (MacWllllams 2008 240) 1herefor lL ls posslble Lo presume LhaL
because of greed and lgnorance Chlhlro ls LaughL Lhe error of her ways by belng Lrapped ln an
alLernaLlve world where she musL defeaL our slns ln order Lo escape
1he represenLaLlon of Chlhlro's parenLs ln Lhe fllm ls very lmporLanL as Lhey are Lhe llnk Lo Lhe sLaLe
of socleLy ln Lhe real world chihiros porents ore better personificotions of lopon durinq this
period 4ccordinq to the officio/ movie description found in komon orubomu {komontic 4/bum)
chihiros fother is thirtyeiqht ond her mother thirtyfive yeors o/d {5oito et o/ 2001 5) 1his
meons thot they were in their /ote teens to twenties durinq the bubb/e economy" (MacWllllams
2008 270) 1he bubble economy was a perlod ln !apan where consumerlsm was aL lLs helghL and
many Lhlngs from houslng Lo car sales where Lhrough Lhe roof ln Lhe fllm Chlhlro ls ln a large 4x4
vehlcle drlvlng Lo her new home ln a suburban area her parenLs appear Lo be well off afLer Lhe
collapse of Lhe bubble economy and so have many valuable lLems Lhey are from a consumerlsL
llfesLyle








Chlhlro's faLher ls also heard Lo say dont worry doddys here hes qot credit cords ond cosh"
when she aLLempLs Lo sLop Lhem from eaLlng Lhe food aL Lhe sLall ln Lhe splrlL world and hls
lgnorance leads Lo Lhem belng Lurned lnLo plgs
Mlyazakl once sLaLed LhaL he creaLed '5pltlteJ Awoy ln order Lo Leach young women abouL Lhe rules
of llfe and suggesL whaL Lhey may wanL from lL Cn Lhe surface Lhe fllm may appear Lo be a llghL
hearLed falry Lale ln whlch a young glrl musL escape a sLrange world however lL ls much more an
advenLure movle where a quesL musL be compleLed ln order Lo reLurn home Chlhlro aLones for her
|gure 6 Ch|h|ro's pfrents dr|v|ng through the woods
parenLs' generaLlon's mlsLakes whlch are represenLed ln Lhe form of splrlLs ln Lhls world and Lhls
could be Mlyazakl's way of expresslng a warnlng LhaL lf we do noL make changes now fuLure
generaLlons may have Lo pay for Lhe mlsLakes we have made
1he producLlon deslgn for '5pltlteJ Awoy ls deslgned Lo clearly represenL Lhe Lhemes and lssues
whlch Lhe fllm ls based upon and does so ln a subLle yeL preclsed way 1he deslgn of Lhe characLers
ln Lhe fllm helps Lo emphaslse Mlyazakl's LhoughLs and oplnlons on Lhe sub[ecLs of Lhe envlronmenL
greed and consumerlsm and creaLes a fllm whlch ls boLh beauLlful Lo behold and offers a unlque look
on our socleLy and Lhe world Loday

|b|ogrfphy
1he Cuardlan unknown now to Moke lllms Oolloe 5ootce
MacWllllams Mark W (dlLor) SchodL lrederlk L (loreword by) (2008) Iopooese vlsool coltote
xplototloos lo tbe wotlJ of Mooqo ooJ Aolme Armonk n? uSA M Sharpe lnc
Cdell C (2009) 5toJlo Cblbll 1be lllms of noyoo Mlyozokl ooJ lsoo 1okoboto Parpenden kamera
8ooks 2009
Imfge L|st
llgure 1 Crlglnal Mlyazakl skeLch SLlnk SplrlL Payao Mlyazakl ln 1he ArL Cl Mlyazakl's SplrlLed
Away 2001 Pong kong vls CommunlcaLlon lnc
llgure 2 llnal ueslgn of Lhe 8lver SplrlL Payao Mlyazakl ln 1he ArL Cl Mlyazakl's SplrlLed Away
2001 Pong kong vls CommunlcaLlon lnc
llgure 3 no lace Lurs workers wlLh gold Payao Mlyazakl ln 1he ArL Cl Mlyazakl's SplrlLed Away
2001 Pong kong vls CommunlcaLlon lnc
llgure 4 Chlhlro approaches no lace Payao Mlyazakl ln 1he ArL Cl Mlyazakl's SplrlLed Away
2001 Pong kong vls CommunlcaLlon lnc
llgure 3 no lace Crlglnal ueslgn Payao Mlyazakl ln 1he ArL Cl Mlyazakl's SplrlLed Away 2001
Pong kong vls CommunlcaLlon lnc
llgure 6 Chlhlro's parenLs drlvlng Lhrough Lhe woods Payao Mlyazakl ln 1he ArL Cl Mlyazakl's
SplrlLed Away 2001 Pong kong vls CommunlcaLlon lnc