Mainland Chinese cinema audience eager for big screen debut of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away
- Academy Award winning animation is second of Japanese director’s hits to arrive
- Thousands of fans join internet frenzy to welcome the film and ask for more
Eighteen years after its official release, Hayao Miyazaki’s award-winning animated movie Spirited Away will finally be shown in mainland Chinese cinemas.
An official account on China’s Twitter-like Weibo brought a message from Sina Movie on Friday that “Spirited Away will arrive soon!”
“Life is a one-way train. Very pleased to meet you at this stop. It’s a long wait of 18 years. Please treat me well,” the film announcement on Weibo said. “This will be our first official meeting after 18 years of climbing mountains and crossing seas,” it said, accompanied by a photo of heroine Chihiro riding a train with No Face.
The official opening date for the film has yet to be announced.
This will be the second Miyazaki movie officially released on the mainland. My Neighbour Totoro appeared last December, 30 years after its official release, and pulled in box office returns of 173 million yuan (US$24.5 million).
Winner of the 75th Academy Award for the best animated feature, the film had never been officially released on the mainland in spite of its huge popularity. It is the highest rated Miyazaki’s movie, with a rating of 9.3 out of 10 on mainland rating site Douban.com, while more than 70 per cent of 1 million viewers gave it a five-star review.