Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away has a fascinating connection to Pixar. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the 2001 animated feature follows Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who finds herself in the fantastical world of Kami, which is full of supernatural beings. When her parents are mysteriously turned into pigs, she must work in the world and learn about the mysterious creatures' ways in order to free her mother and father. What ensues is an altercation with one of cinema's most terrifying witches: Yubaba.
Spirited Away is a modern fairytale movie, and while it looks bizarre and surreal on its surface, the Oscar-winning animated feature is actually rather whimsical and heartfelt. In that respect, it shares a lot in common with the films of Pixar. It's hardly surprising that there are two connections to the American animated studio in Spirited Away, as there's clearly some Pixar influence in the world of Kami. Pixar and Studio Ghibli are both regarded as being the gold standard of animation, whether it's hand-drawn or digital, and Spirited Away's success is intrinsically tied to Pixar.
Spirited Away Pays Homage To Pixar's Logo
Spirited Away is full of sentient objects, and this gave Studio Ghibli the perfect opportunity to pay homage to Pixar. When Chihiro is on her journey with Spirited Away's anti-villain, No-Face, she encounters a living lantern, which happens to look a lot like the iconic Pixar lamp introduced in the 1986 animated short film Luxo Jr. The lamp became Pixar's mascot and a big part of their production logo, appearing bouncing around and then replacing the "I" in the studio's name. In Spirited Away, the lantern hops along over to Chihiro, similar to how the Pixar lamp moves, and it's a great nod to one of Hayao Miyazaki's biggest influences.
Pixar's John Lasseter Oversaw Spirited Away's English Dub
John Lasseter, best known for writing and directing the first two little-known fact about Spirited Away is that Lasseter oversaw the movie's English-language translation. His duties included hiring writers to script dialogue that matched the existing Japanese version and casting English-speaking voice actors to dub the lines. The collaboration resulted in a terrific new incarnation of Spirited Away, and the partnership spawned from one talented animator seeing the greatness in another.
Lasseter became involved after seeing Spirited Away in its original form and convincing Disney to buy its North American distribution rights (via Pixar Times). While many Studio Ghibli movies were successful before Spirited Away, the 2001 movie became a huge worldwide hit, grossing $355 million (via Box Office Mojo). That was partly thanks to Lasseter and Disney bolstering the movie's visibility in America, but Studio Ghibli was also a huge influence on Pixar, as Lasseter itted he watched Miyazaki's films whenever he had a creative block (via THR).
