Spirited Away: Joseph Campbell's Monomyth

There’s no doubt that Star Wars is one of the most impactful films of all time, having changed the movie-making game ever since it premiered in 1977. It quickly became a global phenomenon and has accumulated some of the most passionate fans in the universe. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope is a great example to use in order to illustrate the properties discussed throughout the course. In this paper, I will analyze the entire movie. To begin, I will start by giving some basic information about the motion picture, such as the director and type of film. Next, I will provide a brief summary of the film.

Miyazaki’s childhood was short as he was born January 5, 1941 during World War II, thus without exception, his films main characters are children, deal with growing up and often consist of one young female lead and one young male lead. This is evident in My Neighbor Totoro (1988) as the two main characters are young girls who, unlike adults, can see and befriend the spirits of the spirit world. In Spirited Away (2001), the leading character Chihiro is a young girl who must deal with growing up, similarly to Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989). Princess Mononoke (1997) also features these stock characters in the form of young San, adopted daughter of the wolf goddess Moro and Prince Ashitaka, a young girl and boy. Hayao Miyazaki has expressed strong feelings about childhood, saying that it's a paradisiacal time when, "you're protected by your parents and unaware of the problems around you". Miyazaki’s upbringing during World War II would explain another unique mark of his films, that being his interest in flight.

Heart of Darkness is a book about one man’s journey into the depths of the African Congo. He travels to a place where, "’the changes take place inside’"(Conrad 15). For a man named Kurtz, his journey went deeper into Africa then he could have ever expected. Kurtz’s journey into Africa ended up being a journey into the darkness within himself.

But to fully grasp an audience, with twelve to fifteen steps is a lot to explain. Joseph Campbell gisted the essential components of the mononmyth as a whole, “The standard path of the mythological hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rights of a passage: separation—initiation—return” (23). In these simple steps Campbell identified the foundation of all monomyths. In separation, the hero ventures astray from their later “prosaic” life into a region of supernatural wonder (23).Initiation, overzealous figures/forces are encountered and a decisive victory is won (23).Lastly,the now master of the narrative returns from the surreptitious journey with bestowed power

Edward Johnson wrote a bibliography on Joseph Campbell and included Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Edward Johnson explained that the monomyth is, “the underlying uniform structure of the adventure of the hero (which can be mapped on all people attempting to make their way through life).” Think about all the different movies, books, or stories that have been created. Most of them always have a hero, and he or she has to go on a journey. However, each journey has a different path. This journey is called the monomyth or the hero’s journey. The monomyth explains the course every hero takes to be changed and made new. This course is exemplified in more stories then people realize. For example, in the movie Osmosis Jones a

The brilliant animated film Spirited Away gets it magic from its dynamic and highly interesting characters. Characters such as Chihiro and Haku get more developed as the story moves forward, however the character No-Face does not show much personality throughout the film. No-Face shows all of his emotion through expressions and slight sounds, and is a fairly emotional character. While at first his intentions were unknown, it becomes increasingly clear as the story unfolds that No-Face is a spirit who lost his identity and is looking for his purpose.

With the help of their companions, the main characters must overcome a series of obstacles before they can discover their full potential. In the beginning of the story, Chihiro is a spoiled child forced into the fantastic world. Chihiro becomes completely separated from everything she has known and must find her way back to reality. Her adult guidance is stripped away from her when her parents are turned into pigs after being greedy and eating plenty of food that did not belong to them. Chihiro is then forced to step up and save her own parents: “I'm sorry my sister turned your parents into pigs, but there's nothing I can do. It’s just the way things are. You'll have to help your parents and Haku by yourself” (Miyazaki). Never having been cast such responsibility, Chihiro does a pretty good job. In order to survive in the spirit world, Chihiro takes a job at the bath house run by Yubaba. There she performs hard tasks most kids her age would not be able to grasp. Chihiro taking a job is a first step into her reaching adulthood, as providing an income and hard work are grown up responsibilities. While she is working there, she faces some difficult challenges which the other

Throughout the history of film-making, the most viewed and highest rated films have typically been in the Comedy, Adventure, or Action genres. Because of this, it is not surprising that films in other genres do not receive the same level of advertising, interest, and even viewing as those in these three categories. Nevertheless, these other films are often hold no less meaning to their viewers than the more popular ones. Penny Marshalls’ Awakenings is one such film. Released January 11, 1991, the drama biography grossed $52 million with an original budget of roughly $31 million. Despite the fact that the pg-13 Columbia Pictures Corporation and Parkes/Lasker Productions movie did not gross even double the original budget,

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a film that will surely make you want to fall out of your chair laughing, and make you want to get up and dance. This film is an absolute classic. It is hilarious, adventurous, and makes you feel good about yourself. The most unique thing about this film is the main characters break out of jail for the wrong reason, and then go on a wild chase trying to get home. Another unique part about this film is that the main character is currently divorced and wanting to remarry his ex-wife. The film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a classic comedy because it has well-rounded characters, adventure, and a little bit of love.

The movies “Spirited Away” and “Ponyo” show audiences how conflicted the lives of the main protagonists, Chihiro, Ponyo, and Sosuke were between love and family. In both films, there were several similarities between the main characters where they all tried to fit into their current world, were trying to save their family, or wanted to be with a loving family. Director Hayao Miyazaki illustrated in both films how negatively the perceptions of the protagonists were perceived because they were seen only as children. That people should not rush to judge someone because of their age or what they look like and that people should be judged based on their character, even children, and that age should not be used as a measure of a person’s capabilities.

Spirited Away, titled Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi in Japan, follows a young girl named Chihiro on an adventurous, yet threatening journey into a magical realm after her parents are turned into pigs. She forms relationships with people that will help her find her way back home such as Haku, Zeniba, and Mr. Kamaji. She also encounters those like Yubaba who try to make her time in the realm of spirits difficult. Spirited Away quickly became Japan’s highest grossing film of all time. It received many great reviews in every aspect of filmmaking. It won several awards, including A Golden Bear in 2002 at the Berlin International Film Festival, and an Academy Award in 2003 for Best Animated Film. Hayao Miyazaki, the film’s writer and director,

Spirited Away is an Oscar award winning, 2001 animated film from Japan, written, directed, and animated by Hayao Miyazaki (IMDb: Spirited Away). The story follows Chihiro, A young girl who is dealing with separation from family, tradition, and self-identity. Studio Ghibli films often have younger protagonists in their films, but in an interview with Miyazaki commented that “[he] felt [Japan] only offered such things as crushes and romance to 10-year-old girls” and that “ [Studio Ghibli] has not made a film for 10-year-old girls, who are in their first stage of adolescence” (Miyazaki 2001). Here, Miyazaki is signifying the lack of, what he sees to be, a proper presentation of a tweenaged girl. Miyazaki refrains from making the main plotline

The way Hayao Miyazaki entices his viewers to accept his idea about a new relationship between nature and humanity was never really talked about or discussed in the past couple of years. The film ‘My Neighbor Totoro,’ with all the religious elements and the social impact it had established the director Miyazaki as one of the best animators not just in Japan, but around the world. What really gives this film power and fame is not just the mysterious and magical world it has or the cute character that Miyazaki created, but also the film’s way of influencing the audience by conveying an unfamiliar message about this three-layered relationship between nature and humans. Comparing both Miyazaki’s childhood memories and the story depicted helps him connect the audience’s feelings with the characters and making this realistic representation of human emotion in the film believable and realistic not only to children, but even to adults. What also makes the world more familiar to the spectators is the director’s use of a common fear from many people’s early years in this unknown and magical world. This common fear is clearly illustrated when the girls meet Susuwatari, a black spirit in the old empty house that stays in dark spaces and prefers to be left alone, and only children can see it. The introduction of this spirit is a good transition between the world of magic and reality. It confirms and insists about the existence of the unknown, and introduces a world of illusion and

For this film review, I watched the film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It tells the story of Percy, son of Poseidon, and his quest to discover both who he is and who stole the mighty lightning bolt of Zeus. The film is aimed at families, and generally shows an accurate representation of the Greek myths. There are a few key differences though, which are mostly used to present the Greek Gods in a better, more likable tone for the movie.

The Thor: Ragnarok story involves the mighty Thor finding himself imprisoned in a different part of the universe. Hence, in a race to safe is home Asgard from the powerful Hela, he leads a quest for survival that involves him fighting the Hulk. Taika Waititi directed the movie, and his trademark is seen all over the movie with the movie's sense of humor and vibrant nature. The movie time frame is after the Avengers: Age of Ultron, which explains why both the Hulk and Thor are not present in Captain America: Civil War. The movie is a quirky cosmic adventure comedy that features some of the most colorful supporting characters in the Marvel universe such as Loki, the Incredible Hulk, and Valkyrie. The movie through the assembled cast translates very well on the screen throughout their performances.