In the Ghibli film, Chihiro saves her parents from a life as pigs. Actually, that would be a happy ending for the family. But Hayao Miyazaki never intended for the end of Chihiro’s journey into the spirit world to be a happy ending.
Why doesn’t Chihiro’s journey into the spirit world have a happy ending? It actually seems like Chihiro and her parents can happily return to their old life together. But therein lies the problem, according to Miyazaki, the creator of the film.
In a 2002 interview with the French film magazine POSITIF, Miyazaki revealed (via French Bloom Net) that there is a deeper message behind it. He does not believe that Chihiro has saved her parents. Because the parents have only changed their appearance, but not their behavior. This would symbolize many parents who are currently “hanging around” in Japan.
Miyazaki turned the two parents in the film into pigs because that is exactly what society in Japan is like today: greedy creatures that would consume everything. He does not want to show the children watching the film “good and evil,” but the truth.
The English trailer for Chihiro’s journey into the spirit world can be seen here:
Children would have no chance of saving their parents
Why wouldn’t the parents change anymore? Unlike their parents, children can still make mistakes and start anew. For them, it is not too late yet. For adults, however, this is not possible because they have lost their innocence.
However, this would also partially be the case for children. Not all children possess this purity. Even Chihiro is not always sweet, but like millions of girls in Japan. Yet she has the chance to experience this journey and to change something. Thus, at least she could change.
Miyazaki confirmed in another interview, that the current generation of parents has become more foolish due to a certain series. He has a poor image of that generation.
To what extent did the journey help? In another interview for Turning Point, Miyazaki explained that what Chihiro experienced was real. This would become evident, among other things, by the dust and leaves on the family’s abandoned car and the hairpin that Chihiro finds in the other world.
But as Miyazaki suggests, not every person remembers everything that has happened to them in life. The memories are stored somewhere but are not always retrievable. By this, he means that experiences can change a person, even if they do not always remember them directly.
According to IMDb, Chihiro’s journey into the spirit world is the best Ghibli film. The fantasy story ranks 0.1 points ahead of another film that was not created by Miyazaki himself. You can find all other films from the animation studio in the ultimate ranking on MeinMMO: All Ghibli films ranked by IMDb
