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Tuesday, April 05, 2022
‘Spirited Away’ Makes Live-Action Theater Debut on Stage in Tokyo
mymodernmet.com: The beloved animated film Spirited Away officially made its debut on the stage. The acclaimed Studio Ghibli film has earned devoted fans around the world since its release in 2001. It tells the story of 10-year-old Chihiro and her parents.
Seeing a Studio Ghibli film but on stage as a theatre piece just brought me so much joy. Ever since it came out, I’ve been looking at the production photos all of the time because they are just so stunning. The puppetry is just absolutely unbelievable, they capture so perfectly the beautiful animation of Miyazaki’s style and just the fun and whimsy of Spirited Away. Spirited Away is definitely one of my top Ghibli films, It just has the most fascinating and fun character design that I have ever seen. I can’t even imagine the wonder of seeing this live, with the combination of the wondrous story and all of the tech elements, it must be such a spectacle. I think that it can be really hard to put something that is originally animated into any other medium but just from looking at these photos its clear how much effort and care was put into this production.
I have seen tons of people posting photos from this show on social media, and it is understandable; it is one of the most well-loved movies of the 21st century, and the photos from the production look amazing, with lots of attention to detail and high-quality materials. The show seems like it would be very difficult to design and produce, because the film has so many fantastical elements that are rendered perfectly in the animation. However, the team behind the show did a great job based on the photos I have seen; they have been innovative with their puppet work and captured the characters that audiences love from the original movie. With this show opening as well as the Studio Ghibli theme park opening later this year, the legacy of Miyazaki’s films has been firmly solidified. I would love to see productions of adaptations of Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle.
I would give my left leg to see this production on god. I think that it is so cool and so fun. I loved how they were able to incorporate the fluidity and the fun little details of the movie into the stage play. It brings me so much joy and I would love to see it but I can’t because it is in Japan. I love the puppetry that they used in the production as well. I love that they didn’t make them weird humanoid characters- which I believe almost never works- and decided to make them true to the characters in the movie. I was interested though in the choice to have a mostly non Japanese design team for this production though. I thought it looked amazing, but I just wonder why was the case. I wonder if it is because that they are hoping that once things open back up again, they are going to expand it to a western audience? I know that the West in particularly obsessed with Miyazaki’s films, so I suppose that makes sense.
THE PRODUCTION OF ‘SPIRITED AWAY’ LOOKS SO INCREDIBLE! Growing up, Studio Ghibli films have always been a big part of my childhood. I’ve only watched ‘Spirited Away’ last year but the film’s aesthetics and storytelling have definitely put it on my list of favourite movies of all time. A few days ago, I also saw the production photos on Instagram and I was amazed by the designs of the show. The production seems to have successfully captured the fantasy world of Kami with the use of puppets and scale-bending set dressing. I’ve never really imagined the film on stage, but from what Imperial Theatre has produced, I think it has brought the story even closer to audiences. It is a shame that the epidemic has stopped tourists from entering Japan; otherwise, I will really love to watch the show in person. Hopefully, with the rising popularity and success of the production, it will soon be touring worldwide.
I hold this movie quite close to me, as it was a childhood staple of mine. I was so disappointed that the show will be closed by the time I go to Japan in the summer. The costume design and special effects, especially with the onsen water and the puppets were incredible. Like Olivia said, these pictures have been blowing up over social media, and it is truly understandable and this publicity is well deserved for this production. I love that Miyazakisan was so willing and excited about opening his movie to the theater realm, and from what I have seen John Caird has delivered this above and beyond. When I first heard that this animated film was going to be on stage, I was a bit worried. It is such a fantastical animated film, and I couldn't even imagine it being a live action. The magic of theater really delivered on this one and made something beautiful even more incredible.
The iconic animated film Spirited Away being developed as a theater production? What truly exciting news! Studio Ghibli and their extraordinary animated movies were a huge part of my own childhood, so seeing Spirited Away actually being put on as a legitimate theater show really brings out the nostalgia. Reading through this article on how the elements of the original movie were brought to life on stage was super interesting; I remember the film had featured some really crazy characters and plot points and seeing how those were executed on stage was really cool to look at. The costume design of many of the film’s more outlandish characters were particularly insane; they were surprisingly accurate to the film’s original designs but were also uniquely theater-esque. I really hope to see this production live at some point in the near future, as I am very interested in seeing how it compares to the original animation.
6 comments:
Seeing a Studio Ghibli film but on stage as a theatre piece just brought me so much joy. Ever since it came out, I’ve been looking at the production photos all of the time because they are just so stunning. The puppetry is just absolutely unbelievable, they capture so perfectly the beautiful animation of Miyazaki’s style and just the fun and whimsy of Spirited Away. Spirited Away is definitely one of my top Ghibli films, It just has the most fascinating and fun character design that I have ever seen. I can’t even imagine the wonder of seeing this live, with the combination of the wondrous story and all of the tech elements, it must be such a spectacle. I think that it can be really hard to put something that is originally animated into any other medium but just from looking at these photos its clear how much effort and care was put into this production.
I have seen tons of people posting photos from this show on social media, and it is understandable; it is one of the most well-loved movies of the 21st century, and the photos from the production look amazing, with lots of attention to detail and high-quality materials. The show seems like it would be very difficult to design and produce, because the film has so many fantastical elements that are rendered perfectly in the animation. However, the team behind the show did a great job based on the photos I have seen; they have been innovative with their puppet work and captured the characters that audiences love from the original movie. With this show opening as well as the Studio Ghibli theme park opening later this year, the legacy of Miyazaki’s films has been firmly solidified. I would love to see productions of adaptations of Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle.
I would give my left leg to see this production on god. I think that it is so cool and so fun. I loved how they were able to incorporate the fluidity and the fun little details of the movie into the stage play. It brings me so much joy and I would love to see it but I can’t because it is in Japan. I love the puppetry that they used in the production as well. I love that they didn’t make them weird humanoid characters- which I believe almost never works- and decided to make them true to the characters in the movie. I was interested though in the choice to have a mostly non Japanese design team for this production though. I thought it looked amazing, but I just wonder why was the case. I wonder if it is because that they are hoping that once things open back up again, they are going to expand it to a western audience? I know that the West in particularly obsessed with Miyazaki’s films, so I suppose that makes sense.
THE PRODUCTION OF ‘SPIRITED AWAY’ LOOKS SO INCREDIBLE! Growing up, Studio Ghibli films have always been a big part of my childhood. I’ve only watched ‘Spirited Away’ last year but the film’s aesthetics and storytelling have definitely put it on my list of favourite movies of all time. A few days ago, I also saw the production photos on Instagram and I was amazed by the designs of the show. The production seems to have successfully captured the fantasy world of Kami with the use of puppets and scale-bending set dressing. I’ve never really imagined the film on stage, but from what Imperial Theatre has produced, I think it has brought the story even closer to audiences. It is a shame that the epidemic has stopped tourists from entering Japan; otherwise, I will really love to watch the show in person. Hopefully, with the rising popularity and success of the production, it will soon be touring worldwide.
I hold this movie quite close to me, as it was a childhood staple of mine. I was so disappointed that the show will be closed by the time I go to Japan in the summer. The costume design and special effects, especially with the onsen water and the puppets were incredible. Like Olivia said, these pictures have been blowing up over social media, and it is truly understandable and this publicity is well deserved for this production. I love that Miyazakisan was so willing and excited about opening his movie to the theater realm, and from what I have seen John Caird has delivered this above and beyond. When I first heard that this animated film was going to be on stage, I was a bit worried. It is such a fantastical animated film, and I couldn't even imagine it being a live action. The magic of theater really delivered on this one and made something beautiful even more incredible.
The iconic animated film Spirited Away being developed as a theater production? What truly exciting news! Studio Ghibli and their extraordinary animated movies were a huge part of my own childhood, so seeing Spirited Away actually being put on as a legitimate theater show really brings out the nostalgia. Reading through this article on how the elements of the original movie were brought to life on stage was super interesting; I remember the film had featured some really crazy characters and plot points and seeing how those were executed on stage was really cool to look at. The costume design of many of the film’s more outlandish characters were particularly insane; they were surprisingly accurate to the film’s original designs but were also uniquely theater-esque. I really hope to see this production live at some point in the near future, as I am very interested in seeing how it compares to the original animation.
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