Chihiro and No-Face ride a train through the ocean in a scene from "Spirited Away" that embodies the reflective, methodic pacing of many anime films. (Studio Ghibli)

Last week, the list of films being considered for nomination for a Best Animated Feature Oscar was released. The list mainly consisted of films that wouldn't get the time of day in a year with a stronger field, like "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2." Also on the list are films that are so avant-garde and detached from Western culture that they will never appeal to the tastes of the Academy voters, like the magical girl anime film "Madoka Magica Rebellion." That's right. A magical girl anime film is getting considered for an Oscar nomination. Just watch the trailer. It's not as far-fetched as you think. 

There are two films that are the top contenders. The first is Disney's "Frozen," a film that got critical acclaim while making the film festival rounds and is set to be released this week. (You can read our review here.) The dark horse contender is much more interesting. It is "The Wind Rises," a somewhat-controversial anime film about Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Mitsubishi A5M fighter jet, which was used by Japan in World War II. Regardless of the ickiness surrounding the plane in question, it is a gorgeous piece of work that pays homage to prewar Japan. More importantly, it is the final film that will be directed by legendary anime master Hayao Miyazaki, who broke his way into the American consciousness over a decade ago with the fantasy that will likely go down as his magnum opus: "Spirited Away."

This film blew up faster than a masked spirit corrupted by greed. "Spirited Away" won top honors at the Berlin Film Festival. It became the first anime film to win an Oscar. It passed "Titanic" as the highest grossing film in Japan. It has been hailed as a masterpiece that builds one of the most imaginative worlds every seen in movie history. The world of "Spirited Away" is simultaneously bizarre, terrifying, mesmerizing, awe-inspiring, and downright cool. If you want to know why anime has built such a fiercely devoted fanbase in the States, look no further. Here is a prime example of the unique brand of escapism that anime has produced since its inception.

When I first saw "Spirited Away", I was 10 years old and went into the cinema with absolutely no idea of what I was about to watch other than the title and the poster I saw outside. Let me try to roughly transcribe my thoughts at the time:

"Oh, this kid's moving to a new school, okay. She's kinda annoying. Whoa, what's this the family's found? Looks like a Japanese ghost town. Why are the parents eating that food? Why is that food out there in the first place with no one around? Why are parents always dopey in these stories? Wait, hold on. There's a boy here! This isn't a ghost town."

"Wait, why is the boy saying the girl in trouble? GASP. GHOSTS! Ghosts everywhere! Frantic music! Run girl! Get your parents and get out of OH MY GOD THE PARENTS ARE GIANT PIGS! WHAT'S HAPPENING?! WHY IS THERE WATER EVERYWHERE NOW?! What kind of movie is this?! AHHHH!!!"

I spent the next 30 minutes or so watching in a jumbled state of trembling fear and a slowly growing sense of curiosity, much like our dear protagonist, Chihiro. I had no idea what monstrosity or adventure was coming around the corner, but I couldn't wait to find out. Miyazaki's spirit world shares some of the traits of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. Instead of the Queen of Hearts, we have the bath house's name-stealing head bitch in charge, Yubaba. Instead of a white rabbit, we have a frog. Instead of mushrooms, we have dumplings. The major difference is that nothing about the weirdness of Miyazaki's world that is familiar to Western culture. There's no marching playing card soldiers or living chess pieces. Everything Chihiro encounters is completely alien to us. But that only adds to the world's allure, as every moment of the film is loaded with interesting concepts and creatures. By the time the film ended, I was yearning to return to the bath house that had terrified me when I first laid eyes on it.

Looking back on "Spirited Away" as Miyazaki's career comes to an end, I've gained an even deeper admiration for it. It finds a way to convey so many motifs and ideas without collapsing under its own weight. It has subtle commentary on the cost that Japan's rapid industrialization has had on the land's natural beauty. It's a coming-of-age tale about a girl that learns valuable life lessons when she's thrown light years out of her comfort zone. For that matter, it's a tale about a girl, PERIOD. Miyazaki designed Chihiro to be a character that young girls could find relatable and inspirational, and he definitely succeeds. 

But as I closely examined the plot of "Spirited Away," I noticed something that I also see in a lot of anime: deliberate pacing. In her review for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Eleanor Ringel Gillespie said that the one gripe some might have with the film is that "there is no rest period, no time out." I have to disagree with this. The story's pace may feel relentless with all the things being thrown at you, but it takes the time to slow down and let the audience just bathe in the atmosphere and reflect on what just happened. There isn't this need to immediately rush into the next part of the story like in many American animated films. It's not surprising that John Lasseter and the Pixar team consider Miyazaki to be their artistic idol, because some of their films like "Wall-E" and "Up" use a similar style of pacing, having their characters do something simple or relaxed that establishes setting them rather than advance the plot. I think Dreamworks caught on to this too, because anime pacing can also be seen in the "Kung Fu Panda" films.

Let's take a look at the train scene for an example. We've just come to the end of not one, but two big chase scenes. These chases involved hostile paper cutouts, a dragon with chicken feet, a giant talking baby that can break limbs, and a corrupt spirit that vomits black sludge. After all this madness, the pace of the plot slows to a snail's pace, as Chihiro leaves the bath house to meet Yubaba's sister. Once they get on the train, the dialogue stops. We see the train travel across tracks submerged in water, passing by islands with solitary houses on them. Shots of the shadowy passengers of the train picking up their bags and disembarking are shown. A tender piano piece is played underneath. Nothing of note is happening, yet the animators have gone out of their way to create these beautiful watercolor tableaus to slow things down. They really give the impression that there's more to this spirit world beyond the bath house that we aren't being shown. Imagine if this film had been done with the same narrative style used in "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs." The imaginative creatures would still be there, but they would come in at such breakneck speeds that they'd be fighting for attention and screen time. The ebb-and-flow at which Miyazaki presents his craft makes it more likely that viewers will be in awe rather than exasperated.

Never say never, but I don't think I will ever see a work of escapism more beautifully crafted than "Spirited Away." Hayao Miyazaki created a bath house where everything and everyone in it has purpose and symbolism, though it may not be obvious at first glance. If you have kids that can handle being a little scared, show this one to them without warning or a synopsis. Then let the magic unfold.   

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