Congratulations to Hayao Miyazaki for winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film with his brilliant movie, Spirited Away. For historical purposes we thought we'd preserve this page, which we originally posted on our website on August 5th, 2002. Within an hour of getting confirmation from the American Cinematheque that Hayao Miyazaki would be attending the Sept. 10th U.S. Premiere of Spirited Away in Hollywood California, we posted the information found below. We greatly respect the works of Mr. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, and we're proud to have done our part to bring his works to the attention of North Americans. You can also read about the Hollywood Premiere of Spirited Away.

And now... the original announcement:

NEWS FLASH! SPIRITED AWAY PREMIERE SCREENING SOLD OUT!

The venue for the screening of Spirited Away has been moved to the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood (just up the block from the Egyptian Theater). Tickets for the showing SOLD OUT in an unprecedented two days!

The Tuesday, September 10th program begins at 7:30 PM with Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY
(SEN TO CHIHIRO NO KAMIKAKUSHI), (2002, Studio Ghibli, approx. 120 min.)

Try to remember your astonishment the first time you saw THE WIZARD OF OZ or SLEEPING BEAUTY, and be prepared for a fantasy of truly wondrous dimensions. A young girl, Chihiro, on holiday with her parents accidentally stumbles into an enchanted village where ancient Japanese demons go for rest and relaxation. After her parents are unfortunately transformed into enormous pigs, Chihiro is forced to take a job as a cleaning girl in a devil-filled onsen (Japanese bath house), where she contends with eight-legged spider-men, gorgeous sky-dragons and a silent, love-struck wraith.

Truly magical from start to finish, with a stunning score by longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi. Winner of the 2002 Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture, and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Discussion following with Director Hayao Miyazaki. Creator of some of the most breathtakingly beautiful films in the history of animation, including PRINCESS MONONOKE, LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO and KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, Japanese Director and Animator Hayao Miyazaki has combined ageless, mythic storytelling, a profoundly spiritual approach to man and the natural world, and a gallery of fearless young heroines into his own unmistakable Art. Born in 1941 in Tokyo, the son of an airplane manufacturer (Miyazaki's love for planes and flying shows in almost all his films), he grew up influenced by writers such as Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Rosemary Sutcliff, and the tremendously popular manga comics of Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro-Boy.

After apprenticing on a number of anime features and TV series in the late 1960's and 1970's, Miyazaki emerged as a director with CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO in 1979, followed soon after by the astonishing NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (based on his own manga) and LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY. Working with his own animation house, Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki has exerted an amazing degree of individual control over the design and production of his films.