Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is the expansion pack for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a real-time strategy video game by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released worldwide on July 1, 2003, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The Frozen Throne builds upon the story of Reign of Chaos and depicts the events after the main game's conclusion. The single-player unfolds from the perspective of two new protagonists—the Night Elf warden Maiev Shadowsong and the Blood Elf prince Kael'Thas—as well as returning protagonist Arthas Menethil. Additionally, the expansion contains Act I of a separate Horde campaign that is independent from the main storyline with Blizzard releasing Acts II and III via patch in December 2003, taking in player feedback of Act I when developing these chapters.

The expansion adds new units, buildings and heroes for each faction, two new auxiliary races, five neutral heroes (with three more later added by patches) as well as a number of tweaks to the gameplay and balancing. Sea units were reintroduced which were absent in Reign of Chaos. Battle.net-powered multiplayer was expanded by the addition of clans, automated tournaments and new maps and custom scenarios.

Development began in October 2002, shortly after the release of the main game and the expansion was announced on January 22, 2003. Public beta tests allowed 20,000 players in two waves to try the new features. Support continues even after release, with Blizzard adding new content and balancing changes as well as support for newer hardware.

The Frozen Throne received generally favorable reviews from critics. Most reviewers praised the mission design of the single-player campaign for positively deviating from the standard real-time strategy game formula. The design and audio of the new units was generally considered fitting, though a few critics bemoaned the graphics and some of the voice-acting. By August 15, 2003, it had sold more than one million copies.

## Gameplay

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy video game that puts players in control of a group of units and buildings in order to achieve a variety of goals. The expansion fine-tunes the gameplay of the main game rather than changing it. The food limit and the upkeep requirements, which dealt a penalty on resource gain when too many units were active at the same time, have both been increased slightly, leading to the ability to mobilize somewhat larger and more powerful forces. The cost of buildings has been decreased as well, allowing for a quicker start of the game. The weapon and armor type system has been completely revamped and a lot of units have had their weapon or armor types changed, and the weapon types are effective and ineffective against different armor types compared to Reign of Chaos. Changes to building costs and the addition of new early-game defensive structures serve to deter early-game tactics that relied on rushing the enemy with hero units. In addition to treasure items found in the main game, enemies now will also leave "runes" upon defeat that can be used to replenish health or mana. In addition, The Frozen Throne re-introduces naval battles, which were previously featured in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and its expansion, but almost completely absent in Warcraft III.

For each faction, The Frozen Throne adds several new units and buildings, including a player-controlled shop, and one new hero, a kind of powerful unit which each can only be recruited once, per faction. To complement the new shop, normal units can be upgraded to carry items. Two new Factions, the Naga and Draenei, have also been added. The Naga feature in all four campaigns and have their own production and defense buildings as well as unique units with separate skills. While enemies in some single-player missions, players can control them in others. The Draenei on the other hand are found only in one of the campaigns and are classified by Blizzard as creeps, i.e. neutral units that attack all parties equally. The expansion also added five neutral hero units, some of which appear in the single player campaigns. Neutral heroes can be used in melee maps via the Tavern, a neutral building used to hire them. The tavern can also instantly revive any fallen hero, with an increased resource cost, and reduced health and mana of the revived hero.

The single player missions have been given more varied objectives, ranging from controlling multiple armies at the same time to forcing players to make do with only a limited number of units. Unlike in previous Warcraft games, Blizzard did not include the orcs in the main campaign. According to level designer Tim Campbell, the company failed to come up with a plausible story-based reason why orcs should appear in the main story line. Blizzard instead decided to create a more RPG-driven campaign that focuses on controlling one or multiple heroes on a network of interlinked maps. As such, base building, resource gathering and unit training are absent from most of the campaign while heroes can be leveled up past the normal 10-level limit. The Horde campaign contains almost 40 items specifically created for it. Both campaigns combined add approximately 40 hours of new gameplay.

When playing against the computer on a custom map, players can now select a difficulty level for the computer opponent. The multiplayer aspect was expanded upon with the implementation of clans and automated tournaments that include a strict 30-minute time limit. It also added the ability to chat with others while waiting for a game. The expansion includes 62 new multiplayer maps and custom scenarios based on popular mods and allows up to twelve players at the same time. If an ally leaves the game, their resources are now shown in a separate window and can be transferred.

The Frozen Throne also includes an improved version of the World Editor program that can be used to create custom maps and scenarios to play against the computer or other players. The improved World Editor allows the user to do more custom work with regards to editing skills, providing more functions in the triggers, new units, more global map settings, and three new tile-sets to work with. Creators can now link multiple maps together and make events on one map affect another map. The Horde campaign was specifically made with the goal in mind of showcasing what the new World Editor was capable of. While Blizzard does not officially support the World Editor, the Frozen Throne version offers more options and documentation.

## Synopsis

### Settings and characters

The Frozen Throne takes place on the fictional high fantasy world of Azeroth. In the main game, the human paladin Arthas Menethil was corrupted by the Lich King Ner'zhul, an undead sorcerer entrapped in ice (the titular "Frozen Throne"), and became his lieutenant. Arthas invaded the High Elven kingdom and killed its general, Sylvanas Windrunner, whom he resurrected to serve him. He then paved the way for an invasion by the Burning Legion—a demonic force from another realm—who were ultimately defeated by an alliance of elves, humans, and orcs. In the events leading up to the victory against the Legion, Night Elf leader Tyrande Whisperwind freed the imprisoned Illidan Stormrage. However, Illidan consumed a demonic relic, becoming half-demon himself, and was cast out. After the Burning Legion's defeat, Illidan was contacted by Kil'jaeden, one of the remaining masters of the Legion, who tasks him with destroying the rebellious Lich King.

The expansion introduces new factions to the game's universe: The Blood Elves, former High Elves that now suffer from addiction to magic; the Naga, mutated former Night Elves; the Draenei, the original inhabitants of Draenor, the orc homeworld now known as Outland; and the Pandaren, a race of globetrotting, anthropomorphic pandas. The Frozen Throne follows the quest of the Night Elf warden Maiev Shadowsong to recapture the renegade Illidan Stormrage, Blood Elf prince Kael'thas' struggle with the Alliance and subsequent service to Illidan, Arthas' attempt to rescue the Lich King from Illidan's assault, and Sylvanas Windrunner's fight for independence. The Horde campaign is separate from the other three, being a stand-alone story and using more role-playing game mechanics over real-time strategy game mechanics. The campaign chronicles the early days of the Horde's newly established kingdom from the perspective of the beastmaster hero Rexxar.

### Plot

Maiev Shadowsong pursues the fugitive Illidan to a set of islands. There, she finds Illidan has allied himself with the Naga and obtained an artifact called the Eye of Sargeras, forcing Maiev to call on Illidan's brother Malfurion Stormrage and Malfurion's wife Tyrande Whisperwind for aid. Illidan flees with the eye to the kingdom of Lordaeron. When Tyrande is swept away by a river while helping a group of Blood Elves led by the prince Kael'thas, Maiev convinces Malfurion that she died to maintain their pursuit of Illidan. They capture Illidan and destroy the Eye, which Illidan reveals he was using to destroy the Lich King. When Kael'thas informs him that Tyrande may still be alive, he uses the Naga to help Malfurion find and rescue her. In thanks, Malfurion pardons him for his past crimes. With Maiev still in pursuit, Illidan flees to Outland.

In Lordaeron, the Blood Elves are in an uneasy alliance with Garithos, the racist human commander of the remaining Alliance forces. When their prince Kael'thas is only able to complete a number of demeaning tasks with the help of Illidan's Naga, Garithos imprisons Kael'thas and his forces for treason. The Naga leader rescues them and leads them to Outland, where they join forces with Illidan, who promises to satisfy their addiction to magic. Together, they take over Outland. Illidan's master Kil'jaeden finds Illidan and plans to punish him for failing to destroy the Lich King, but decides not to when Illidan claims that he traveled to Outland to recruit forces for a new assault.

Arthas returns to the Undead-controlled regions of Lordaeron where three dreadlords loyal to the Burning Legion - Balnazzar, Detheroc, and Varimathras - rule. Arthas informs them of the Legion's defeat and retreat before declaring himself king. While purging the kingdom of the remnants of the Alliance aided by Sylvanas Windrunner and the Lich Kel'Thuzad, Arthas notices that his powers have diminished. The Lich King telepathically contacts Arthas and explains his loss of power is a result of Illidan's attacks, and summons him to defend the Frozen Throne. Arthas leaves for Northrend where he, with the help of the Lich King's minions, defeats Illidan in a duel. Arthas shatters the ice of the throne and dons the Lich King's helmet, thereby joining their souls and becoming the new Lich King. Meanwhile, in Lordaeron, Sylvanas is freed from the Lich King's control. With the help of Varimathras, she kills the remaining two dreadlords and Garithos and declares Lordaeron the home of the free undead, rechristened the "Forsaken".

Untouched by the events in Lordaeron and Northrend, Horde Warchief Thrall builds a new kingdom called Durotar on the continent of Kalimdor. Rexxar, a half-ogre beastmaster and adventurer, is tasked by Thrall and other inhabitants to help build the kingdom. He is aided by Rokhan, a troll shadow hunter. Rexxar learns that humans from the island of Theramore plan to invade Durotar, led by Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, who is unwilling to accept the truce between humans and the Horde. With the help of the admiral's guilt-ridden daughter, Jaina Proudmoore, he leads an assault on Theramore, slays the admiral, and leaves Jaina in command of the city.

## Development

Immediately after the release, Blizzard began brainstorming content for an expansion and development began in October 2002. The Frozen Throne was officially announced on January 22, 2003. With the previous success of StarCraft: Brood War, expectations were high for Blizzard to create another expansion that rivaled the original in both length and new content. A main focus when developing the expansion was studying the way players used the different races and units in order to identify in which area each race needed to be strengthened, leading to the development of new units and spells to meet these demands. Examples include giving Orcs a low level way to heal units and adding a human unit that can disable enemy towers from the air. When designing the campaigns, the levels were created with the new heroes' abilities in mind.

Blizzard's Bill Roper first offered a preview of the new expansion in February 2003 before Blizzard debuted the single player campaign at E3 2003. Roper also teased that the Naga would be introduced as a new race, which ultimately was not included in the final expansion. On February 14, 2003, Blizzard announced the first beta test for the game, which offered 10,000 players a chance to sample the game. On March 10, 2003, 10,000 more players were selected to participate in the beta test. On April 1, 2003, Blizzard teased that the Pandaren would become a fifth faction in the upcoming expansion and even created an entry on the official homepage detailing heroes, history and units. While this was only an elaborate April Fools' Day prank, the final expansion did include the Pandaren Brewmaster as one of the neutral heroes which could also be unlocked in single-player in a secret mission. On May 29, 2003, Blizzard announced that the expansion set had "gone gold". It was released worldwide on July 1, 2003.

Blizzard continued to support The Frozen Throne with new patches that fixes problems and added new content, such as adding an additional neutral hero in May 2004 and two more in August 2004. The expansion also only included the first chapter of the Horde campaign upon release with Acts II and III released as part of a patch in December 2003. This allowed Blizzard to take fan feedback into account when creating the next two chapters of the campaign. There have been many patches released for the game, including patch 1.21b, which allowed the game to be started without the official CD. In April 2018, Blizzard integrated proper widescreen support for the first time, more than 15 years after the game's original release.

## Reception

### Critical reception

The Frozen Throne received a rating of 88/100 from review aggregator Metacritic indicating generally positive reviews from critics, with only a single review below 80.

Critics liked that the new units and heroes fit well visually in the existing game world and compared the quality of the cinematics favorably to the highly praised cinematics of the main game. Both the voice acting and the new music were noted positively by reviewers, although Strategy Gaming Online noted that the music repeats itself too often. Conversely, PC Gamer considered the cutscenes using the in-game graphics dated and called the voice-acting "a tad amateurish". 4Players and Game Informer also criticized the low resolution graphics. GameSpy found most unit voices excellent but criticized that the whole troll race sounds like "Rastafarian outcasts".

The new heroes and units were widely considered a good fit and helpful for improving balance by negating some problematic areas, such as the Night Elves' lack of tank units. IGN particularly liked the Naga in both design and concept, especially the fact that they have their own advantages and magical abilities. GameStar and PC Games lauded that the new mechanics of defeated enemies leaving health and mana runes in missions with limited units helps avoid previously necessary regenerating phases, improving the game's flow.

Most reviewers praised the variety of missions in the single player campaign as a feat of storytelling and innovation, especially that the standard "build base, recruit units, kill enemy" formula was only used in a few missions. GameSpot even called it the "most skillfully designed single-player scenarios" of any real-time strategy game to that date and appreciated how the varied missions are still all plausible in the context of the game. Despite the praise, reviews also noted that the expansion's story is more buildup than resolution when it is supposed to be the culmination of the main game's storyline. PC Gamer also criticized the story as being too long to be interesting, dismissing the Night Elf campaign as mostly unnecessary. Many reviewers also liked the choice to have a separate Orc campaign with its RPG elements, likening the gameplay to Blizzard's Diablo series. Conversely, many critics also found it annoying that enemies respawn in the Horde campaign, forcing players to replay the same fights.

The improved multiplayer and skirmish options, especially the various new AI difficulty levels and the multiplayer improvements with clans, tournaments, and ranked game searches, were praised by critics. GameSpot also emphasized in its review that many new unit types were designed to counter particular strategies in multiplayer, while GameSpy found that the new units focusing on countering magic leads to a more involved multiplayer game. Strategy Gaming Online opined that the multiplayer "felt like a letdown" as it lacks some of the features of the campaign but admitted that the improvements made were significant and enhanced the experience. Like a number of other critics, Strategy Gaming Online bemoaned that the Naga were not added as a new playable race for multiplayer.

### Sales

The Frozen Throne was the most-sold PC game in the first three weeks of July 2003 and was also the best-selling PC game of June 2003 due to preorders. The expansion sold more than one million copies by August 15, 2003. The Frozen Throne received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

### Accolades

German video gaming magazine GameStar called The Frozen Throne the best add-on in PC gaming history and as of July 2018 had not awarded another score as high as the expansion has. The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated The Frozen Throne for their 2003 "Expansion Pack of the Year" award, but it lost to Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII. It was also a runner-up for Computer Games Magazine's "Expansion of the Year" award, which ultimately went to EverQuest: Lost Dungeons of Norrath. The Age called The Frozen Throne the best expansion pack for PC of 2003, while GameSpot named it the best computer game of July 2003. At the first Spike Video Game Awards in 2003, The Frozen Throne was nominated for the "Best PC Game" and "Best Animation" category, but lost to Halo: Combat Evolved and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball respectively.

## Legacy

The Frozen Throne's Horde campaign lays the groundwork for World of Warcraft with many of the player's actions in the campaign being later explored in the MMORPG. Similarly, other elements that were introduced or fleshed out in the expansion went on to become the focus in World of Warcraft expansions, such the Draenei and Blood Elves as well as the world of Outland in The Burning Crusade, the fall and death of Arthas as the Lich King in Wrath of the Lich King and the Pandaren race in Mists of Pandaria. In 2017, Blizzard released an expansion to their Hearthstone digital collectible card game entitled Knights of the Frozen Throne that, among other allusions to The Frozen Throne, contains an undead version of Rexxar the beastmaster. The majority of the playable heroes added in the expansion The Frozen Throne, including five neutral heroes, reprised their role in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena Heroes of the Storm. A Night Elf unit from the expansion, the Mountain Giant, appears as a boss in the Warcraft-themed battleground.

Computer game by Blizzard Entertainment

Video games developed in the United States


Chestnuts Long Barrow

Chestnuts Long Barrow, also known as Stony Warren or Long Warren, is a chambered long barrow near the village of Addington in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fifth millennium BC, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, today it survives only in a ruined state.

Archaeologists have established that long barrows were built by pastoralist communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to Britain from continental Europe. Representing an architectural tradition of long barrow building that was widespread across Neolithic Europe, Chestnuts Long Barrow belongs to a localised regional style of barrows produced in the vicinity of the River Medway. The long barrows built in this area are now known as the Medway Megaliths. Chestnuts Long Barrow lies near to both Addington Long Barrow and Coldrum Long Barrow on the western side of the river. Two further surviving long barrows, Kit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House, as well as the destroyed Smythe's Megalith and possible survivals as the Coffin Stone and White Horse Stone, are on the eastern side of the Medway.

The long barrow was built on land previously inhabited in the Mesolithic period. It consisted of a sub-rectangular earthen tumulus, estimated to have been 15 metres (50 feet) in length, with a chamber built from sarsen megaliths on its eastern end. Both inhumed and cremated human remains were placed within this chamber during the Neolithic period, representing at least nine or ten individuals. These remains were found alongside pottery sherds, stone arrow heads, and a clay pendant. In the 4th century AD, a Romano-British hut was erected next to the long barrow. In the 12th or 13th century, the chamber was dug into and heavily damaged, either by treasure hunters or iconoclastic Christians. The mound gradually eroded and was completely gone by the twentieth century, leaving only the ruined stone chamber. The ruin attracted the interest of antiquarians in the 18th and 19th centuries, while archaeological excavation took place in 1957, followed by limited reconstruction. The site is on privately owned land.

## Name and location

Chestnuts Long Barrow is a scheduled ancient monument, standing on private land belonging to a neighbouring house, Rose Alba. It lies on the slope of a hill and borrows its name from the Chestnuts, an area of woodland that crowns the hill. This name was given to the monument in the mid-20th century; it had previously been known as Stony Warren or Long Warren. The barrow is in the greensand belt, 30 metres (100 feet) above sea level. The underlying geology is a soft sandstone covered with a stratum of white sand.

## Background

The Early Neolithic was a revolutionary period of British history. Between 4500 and 3800 BC, it saw a widespread change in lifestyle as the communities living in the British Isles adopted agriculture as their primary form of subsistence, abandoning the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that had characterised the preceding Mesolithic period. The change came about through contact with continental European societies, although it is unclear to what extent this can be attributed to an influx of migrants or to indigenous Mesolithic Britons adopting agricultural technologies from the continent. The region of modern Kent would have been key for the arrival of continental European settlers and visitors, because of its position on the estuary of the River Thames and its proximity to the continent.

Britain was then largely forested; widespread forest clearance did not occur in Kent until the Late Bronze Age (c. 1000 to 700 BC). Environmental data from the vicinity of the White Horse Stone, a putatively prehistoric monolith near the River Medway, supports the idea that the area was still largely forested in the Early Neolithic, covered by a woodland of oak, ash, hazel/alder and Amygdaloideae (stone-fruit trees). Throughout most of Britain, there is little evidence of cereal or permanent dwellings from this period, leading archaeologists to believe that the island's Early Neolithic economy was largely pastoral, relying on herding cattle, with people living a nomadic or semi-nomadic life.

### Medway Megaliths

Across Western Europe, the Early Neolithic marked the first period in which humans built monumental structures in the landscape. These structures included chambered long barrows, rectangular or oval earthen tumuli that had a chamber built into one end. Some of these chambers were constructed out of timber, while others were built using large stones, now known as "megaliths". These long barrows often served as tombs, housing the physical remains of the dead within their chamber. Individuals were rarely buried alone in the Early Neolithic, instead being interred in collective burials with other members of their community. These chambered tombs were built all along the Western European seaboard during the Early Neolithic, from southeastern Spain up to southern Sweden, taking in most of the British Isles; the architectural tradition was introduced to Britain from continental Europe in the first half of the fourth millennium BC.

Although now all in a ruinous state, at the time of construction the Medway Megaliths would have been some of the largest and most visually imposing Early Neolithic funerary monuments in Britain. Grouped along the River Medway as it cuts through the North Downs, they constitute the most southeasterly group of megalithic monuments in the British Isles, and the only megalithic group in eastern England. The Medway Megaliths can be divided into two clusters between 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) and 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) apart: one to the west of the River Medway and the other on Blue Bell Hill to the east. Chestnuts Long Barrow is part of the western group, which also includes Coldrum Long Barrow and Addington Long Barrow. The eastern group consists of Smythe's Megalith, Kit's Coty House, and Little Kit's Coty House, while various stones on the eastern side of the river, most notably the Coffin Stone and White Horse Stone, may also have been parts of such structures. It is not known if they were all built at the same time, or whether they were constructed in succession; nor is it known if they each served the same function or whether there was a hierarchy in their usage.

The Medway long barrows all conformed to the same general design plan, and are all aligned on an east to west axis. Each had a stone chamber at the eastern end of the mound, and they each probably had a stone facade flanking the entrance. They had internal heights of up to 3.0 metres (10 feet), making them taller than most other chambered long barrows in Britain. The chambers were constructed from sarsen, a dense, hard, and durable stone that occurs naturally throughout Kent, having formed out of sand from the Eocene epoch. Early Neolithic builders would have selected blocks from the local area, and then transported them to the site of the monument to be erected.

These common architectural features among the Medway Megaliths indicate a strong regional cohesion with no direct parallels elsewhere in the British Isles. Nevertheless, as with other regional groupings of Early Neolithic long barrows—such as the Cotswold-Severn group in south-western Britain—there are also various idiosyncrasies in the different monuments, such as Coldrum's rectilinear shape, the Chestnut Long Barrow's facade, and the long, thin mounds at Addington and Kit's Coty. These variations might have been caused by the tombs being altered and adapted over the course of their use; in this scenario, the monuments would be composite structures.

The Medway Megaliths' builders were probably influenced by pre-existing tomb-shrines elsewhere that they were aware of. Whether the builders had grown up locally, or moved into the Medway area from elsewhere is not known. Based on a stylistic analysis of their architectural designs, the archaeologist Stuart Piggott thought that the plan behind the Medway Megaliths had originated in the area around the Low Countries, while fellow archaeologist Glyn Daniel instead believed that the same evidence showed an influence from Scandinavia. John H. Evans instead suggested an origin in Germany, and Ronald F. Jessup thought that their origins could be seen in the Cotswold-Severn megalithic group. Alexander thought that they bore closest similarities with long barrows along the Atlantic coast, perhaps imitating those of either Ireland or Brittany. The archaeologist Paul Ashbee noted that their close clustering in the same area was reminiscent of the megalithic tomb-shrine traditions of continental Northern Europe, and emphasised that the Medway Megaliths were a regional manifestation of a tradition widespread across Early Neolithic Europe. He nevertheless stressed that a precise place of origin was "impossible to indicate" with the available evidence.

## Design and construction

Archaeological excavation revealed a Mesolithic layer below the monument, evidenced by much debris produced by flint knapping. During the 1957 excavation of the site, 2,300 Mesolithic flint fragments were found beneath it. Many more have been discovered in test trenches around the area, stretching up the hill towards Chestnuts Wood and for at least 180 metres (200 yards) east of the tomb and 370 metres (400 yards) south-west of it. Around 30 metres (100 feet) west of the long barrow, excavation revealed flints in association with what was interpreted as a Mesolithic hearth. The large quantities of Mesolithic material, coupled with its broad spread, indicated that the site was probably inhabited over a considerable length of time during the Mesolithic period. Some trenches excavated in 1957 had Mesolithic flints directly below the megaliths, leading the excavator John Alexander to believe that "no great interval of time separated" the Mesolithic and Neolithic uses of the site.

Chestnuts Long Barrow was constructed in particularly close proximity to Addington Long Barrow. The chamber was built with sarsen stones that occur naturally within a few miles of the site. These were arranged as two trilithons, next to each other, so that the two lintel stones formed the roof of the chamber. The chamber was trapezoidal in shape, measuring about 3.7 metres (12 feet) in length, 2.29 metres (7 feet 6 inches) in width, and probably 3.0 metres (10 feet) in height. It was oriented almost east to west, and as with four other Medway Megaliths, it appears to have been facing toward either the Medway Valley or the North Downs. It is probable that the chamber's entrance was almost entirely blocked by a large stone. While it is difficult to determine the chamber's precise original layout due to damage caused in the medieval period, it is probable that a medial stone divided the chamber in two. A dry stone wall across the west end of the chamber would have also blocked access.

Alexander suggested that the earthen mound was constructed before the chamber, and that it was used as a ramp on which to drag the large stones into position. He suggested that the long barrow's builders kept the megaliths in place by filling the chamber with sand. Once the capstone was placed atop and the chamber was stable, he thought, the builders would have removed the supporting sand. In 1950, it was stated that 14 stones survived, however full excavation revealed that 18 large sarsen boulders were extant, alongside four smaller sarsen stones used in the dry stone wall and pavement of the tomb.

The chamber had a pavement set in yellow sand, onto which human remains were placed. These human remains were evidenced by the discovery of 3,500 pieces of bone, reflecting a minimum of nine or ten individuals, at least one of whom was a child. Some of these burials were inhumed, and others were cremated, while the earlier bones were deposited alongside Windmill Hill pottery. Little evidence of inhumed burials was found, in part because they did not survive well in the acidic soils surrounding the site. The appearance of cremated human bone here is unusual; although evidence of cremation has been found at some other long barrows, generally it is rare in Early Neolithic Britain. Ashbee suggested that for this reason, the inclusion of cremated bone here must have had "especial significance".

While acknowledging that there was evidence of Early Neolithic cremation at certain sites in Britain, the archaeologists Martin Smith and Megan Brickley suggested that the cremated bone was added later, during the Late Neolithic, when cremation was more common. Along with the human remains were found items probably interred with the dead, such as 34 sherds of ceramic, three stone arrow heads, and a clay pendant. In the forecourt of the site, excavators found 100 sherds of Windmill Hill ware, representing parts of at least eight bowls. Alexander suggested that these were once placed in the chamber but later removed to allow the deposition of further human remains inside it.

Although no visible tumulus survived into the 1950s, the name "Long Warren" suggested that knowledge of such a mound had persisted into the 18th century. Excavation found evidence of the northern and eastern edges of the barrow, but all trace of its western and southern ends had been destroyed by levelling and deep ploughing. The barrow was probably trapezoidal or D-shaped, with a width of about 18 metres (60 feet). At its widest, opposite the façade, this may have extended to 20 metres (64 feet). It was more difficult to determine the long barrow's length, although Alexander suggested that it may have been about 15 metres (50 feet).

### Meaning and purpose

Britain's Early Neolithic communities placed greater emphasis on the ritual burial of the dead than their Mesolithic forebears. Archaeologists have suggested that this is because Early Neolithic Britons adhered to an ancestor cult that venerated the spirits of the dead, believing that they could intercede with the forces of nature for the benefit of their living descendants. The archaeologist Robin Holgate stressed that rather than simply being tombs, the Medway Megaliths were "communal monuments fulfilling a social function for the communities who built and used them". Thus, it has been suggested that Early Neolithic people entered into the tombs—which doubled as temples or shrines—to perform rituals honouring the dead and requesting their assistance. For this reason, the historian Ronald Hutton termed these monuments "tomb-shrines" to reflect their dual purpose.

In Britain, these tombs were typically located on prominent hills and slopes overlooking the landscape, perhaps at the junction between different territories. The archaeologist Caroline Malone noted that the tombs would have served as one of various landscape markers that conveyed information on "territory, political allegiance, ownership, and ancestors". Many archaeologists have subscribed to the idea that these tomb-shrines were territorial markers between different tribes; others have argued that such markers would be of little use to a nomadic herding society. Instead it has been suggested that they represent markers along herding pathways. The archaeologist Richard Bradley suggested that the construction of these monuments reflects an attempt to mark control and ownership over the land, thus reflecting a change in mindset brought about by the transition from the hunter-gatherer Mesolithic to the pastoralist Early Neolithic. Others have suggested that these monuments were built on sites already deemed sacred by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.

## Later history

During excavation of the site, four ceramic sherds were found nearby which the excavator believed were possibly Early Iron Age in origin. Excavation also revealed 830 ceramic sherds dating from Roman Britain; these reflected all four centuries of this period, although the majority were 4th century. Also dated to the 4th century was a hut erected on a flat area adjacent to the barrow. Excavation of this hut uncovered 750 ceramic sherds, charcoal, iron nails, burnt clay, bone, and flint fragments. Examining this assemblage of artefacts, the excavator noted that it was not typical of the item assemblages usually found at Romano-British settlement sites, implying that the building was a field shelter rather than a house.

Evidence for human activity near the barrow from the 11th through to the 13th century—during the Middle Ages—appeared in the form of 200 ceramic sherds, two hones, and 17 fragments of daub found by archaeologists in the topsoil. It was probably in this medieval period that the tomb was heavily destroyed, since medieval material was found in some of the pits created by those damaging the chamber and barrow. The destruction was carried out in a systematic manner. Initially, the barrow around the chamber was dug away, and an entrance into it was forced through the drystone wall at the north-western end. The chamber was then cleared down to the bedrock, with the spoil and contents of the chamber dumped behind the diggers. The medial stone of the chamber was pushed atop the spoil heap, and covered over with soil. A pit was dug in the centre of the chamber, and against its walls from the outside; the central pit was then sealed by the collapsing capstones. Finally, several pits were dug around the façade stones. Subsequently, the chamber collapsed, with several stones breaking on the impact of the fall. At some point after they had fallen, the inner pair of the chamber's tall stones were further damaged, likely in a process involving heating them with fire and then casting cold water onto them, resulting in breakage.

From the available evidence, it was clear that this demolition was not carried out with the intent of collecting building stone nor for the clearance of ground for cultivation. Alexander believed the damage to the chamber was the result of robbery. Supporting this idea is comparative evidence, with the Close Roll of 1237 ordering the opening of barrows on the Isle of Wight in search for treasure, a practice which may have spread to Kent around the same time. Alexander believed that the destruction may have been brought about by a special commissioner, highlighting that the "expertness and thoroughness of the robbery" would have required more resources than a local community could muster. He further suggested that the individuals who damaged the monument might have also been responsible for the damage at Kit's Coty House, Coldrum Long Barrow, and Addington Long Barrow, while Ashbee suggested that the same could also be the case for Lower Kit's Coty House. Rather than robbery, Ashbee thought iconoclasm was the probable cause of the medieval damage to the chamber. He suggested that the burial of the stones indicated that Christian zealots had tried to deliberately destroy and defame the pre-Christian monument.

Excavation also revealed evidence for modern activity around the site. Three post-medieval pits were identified in and around the barrow, as well as a post-medieval attempt to dig into the chamber. Finds from this period included ceramic sherds, clay pipes dated from between the 17th and 19th centuries, stone and clay marbles, brick tile, and bottles dated from between the 18th and 20th centuries. Alexander suggested that this evidence confirmed local accounts that Chestnuts Long Barrow had been used as a popular spot for picnics. There are also accounts that it was used as a well-known rabbit warren; during the late 19th century, the field was used as a paddock.

## Folklore

In a 1946 paper published in the Folklore journal, John H. Evans recorded a Kentish folk belief which had been widespread "up to the last generation". This held that it was impossible to successfully count the number of stones in the Medway Megaliths. The countless stones motif is not unique to Kent, having been recorded at other megalithic monuments in Britain and Ireland. The earliest textual evidence for it is in an early 16th-century document, where it applies to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, although an early 17th-century document also applied it to The Hurlers, a set of three stone circles in Cornwall. Later records reveal that the folk story had gained widespread distribution in England and single occurrences in both Wales and Ireland. The folklorist S. P. Menefee suggested that it could be attributed to an animistic understanding that these megaliths had lives of their own.

## Antiquarian and archaeological investigation

Antiquarians have been aware of Chestnuts Long Barrow since the 18th century. The earliest possible reference to the monuments was provided by the antiquarian John Harris in an ambiguous comment in his History of Kent in Five Parts, published in 1719. In 1773, the site was described in print by the antiquarian Josiah Colebrooke in a short article for Archaeologia, the journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He described it as one of the "temples of the antient Britons". Colebrook's analysis was echoed in the 18th-century writings of Edward Hasted, W. H. Ireland, and John Thorpe. In the early 1840s, the Reverend Beale Post conducted investigations into the Medway Megaliths, writing them up in a manuscript that was left unpublished; this included Addington Long Barrow and Chestnuts Long Barrow, which he collectively labelled the "Addington Circles".

In the late 1940s, the site was visited by the archaeologists John H. Evans and Albert Egges van Giffen, with the former commenting that they examined the site in its "overgrown state". In 1953, the archaeologist Leslie Grinsell reported that several small trees and bushes had grown up within the megaliths. That year, the field was prepared for horticultural use, being levelled and ploughed, although the area around the megaliths was left undisturbed. At this time, 16 megaliths were visible, lying at various angles. A 15-metre (50-foot) high holly tree stood in the centre of them, and there was no sign of a mound. The landowner, Richard Boyle, opened a few test trenches in the area, during which he discovered Mesolithic flint tools. A large number of surface finds were discovered in both the field and a quarry 30 metres (100 feet) to the east.

In the latter part of the 1950s, with plans afoot to build a house adjacent to Chestnuts Long Barrow, the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments initiated an excavation of the site under the directorship of John Alexander. The excavation, which lasted five weeks in August and September 1957, was funded by Boyle, with the support of the Inspectorate, and largely carried out by volunteers. Following excavation, the fallen sarsen megaliths were re-erected in their original sockets, allowing for the restoration of part of the chamber and façade. The finds recovered from the excavation were placed in Maidstone Museum. Alexander's subsequent excavation report was described by Ashbee as "comprehensive" and "a model of its kind", and by Jessup as "a notable example of modern archaeology in the field".

Chambered long barrow in Kent, England


Spirited Away

Spirited Away (Japanese: 千と千尋の神隠し, Hepburn: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, lit. 'Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away') is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distributed by Toho. The film features the voices of Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijō, Takehiko Ono, and Bunta Sugawara. Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro Ogino (Hiiragi), a ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood, enters the world of kami (spirits of Japanese Shinto folklore). After her parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba (Natsuki), Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba's bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world.

Miyazaki wrote the screenplay after he decided the film would be based on the ten-year-old daughter of his friend Seiji Okuda, the film's associate producer, who came to visit his house each summer. At the time, Miyazaki was developing two personal projects, but they were rejected. With a budget of US\$19 million, production of Spirited Away began in 2000. Pixar animator John Lasseter, a fan and friend of Miyazaki, convinced Walt Disney Pictures to buy the film's North American distribution rights, and served as executive producer of its English-dubbed version. Lasseter then hired Kirk Wise as director and Donald W. Ernst as producer, while screenwriters Cindy and Donald Hewitt wrote the English-language dialogue to match the characters' original Japanese-language lip movements.

Originally released in Japan on 20 July 2001 by distributor Toho, the film received universal acclaim, grossing \$395.8 million at the worldwide box office. Accordingly, it became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history with a total of (\$305 million). It held the record for 19 years until it was surpassed by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train in 2020.

Spirited Away is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards, making it the first, and to date only, hand-drawn and non-English-language animated film to win the award. It was the co-recipient of the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival (shared with Bloody Sunday), and is within the top ten on the British Film Institute's list of "Top 50 films for children up to the age of 14". In 2016, it was voted the fourth-best film of the 21st century by the BBC, as picked by 177 film critics from around the world, making it the highest-ranking animated film on the list. In 2017, it was also named the second "Best Film...of the 21st Century So Far" by The New York Times. In 2022, it was ranked as the 75th greatest film of all time by the Sight & Sound critics poll.

## Plot

Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents are traveling to their new home. Her father stops to explore an abandoned amusement park despite Chihiro's protests. They find a restaurant stocked with food, which Chihiro's parents begin to eat. While exploring alone, Chihiro finds a bathhouse and meets a boy named Haku, who warns her to leave. However, Chihiro discovers that her parents have become pigs, and the exit is blocked by an ocean of water.

Haku finds Chihiro and leads her toward the bathhouse. She sees several animals and creatures visiting the bathhouse, as well as No-Face (Kaonashi 顔無し), a masked spirit. Haku instructs her to ask for a job from the bathhouse's boiler-man, Kamaji, a yōkai commanding the susuwatari. Kamaji says that he already has enough susuwatari to help him. After Chihiro tries to help but inadvertently causes some disruption, Kamaji asks a worker named Lin to send Chihiro to Yubaba, the witch who runs the bathhouse.

Yubaba tries to frighten Chihiro away, but Chihiro persists and eventually, Yubaba reveals she took an oath to give work to anyone who asks for it, and gives Chihiro a working contract. Yubaba takes away the second kanji of her name (千尋), renaming her Sen (千). Haku reveals he is also working for Yubaba.

The bathhouse workers dislike Sen, but give her work as Lin's assistant. Later that night, when Yubaba leaves, Haku finds Sen and shows her her parents, who are being held in pigpens. Haku explains that Yubaba controls people by taking their names; if she completely forgets hers like he once did, she will never be able to leave the spirit world. Sen is ostracized by the other workers. While working, she invites No-Face inside, accidentally believing him to be a customer.

The spirit of a polluted river arrives as Sen’s first customer. Sen discovers a bicycle handle sticking out of him, and the workers help to remove the bicycle and a large amount of garbage. He gives her a magic emetic dumpling as a token of gratitude. Meanwhile, No-Face imitates the gold left behind by the river spirit and tempts a worker with it before swallowing him. He demands food from the bathhouse and begins giving away extensive amounts of gold to its workers. Meanwhile, Sen sees paper shikigami attacking a dragon and recognizes the dragon as Haku metamorphosed. When he crashes into Yubaba's penthouse with grievous injuries, Sen follows him upstairs. A shikigami stows away on her back.

No-Face is given large amounts of food, but soon begins eating more workers. In the penthouse, the stowaway shikigami shapeshifts into Yubaba's sister Zeniba, who turns Yubaba's son, Boh, into a mouse. Sen, Haku and Boh fall into the boiler room. Sen feeds Haku part of the emetic dumpling, causing him to vomit up a seal he stole, saving him from its deadly curse. Sen resolves to return the seal and apologize to Zeniba, taking Boh with her. She confronts an engorged No-Face, who reveals he is very lonely. Sen feeds No-Face the rest of the dumpling and he follows Sen out of the bathhouse, steadily regurgitating everything that he has eaten. Lin takes Sen to the station to see Zeniba, and Sen invites No-Face to follow, despite Lin's protests. Sen, No-Face, and Boh travel with train tickets given to Sen by Kamaji. Meanwhile, Yubaba orders that Sen's parents be slaughtered, but Haku reveals that Boh is missing.

Haku offers to retrieve Boh if Yubaba releases Sen and her parents. Yubaba agrees, but only if Sen can pass a final test. Sen meets with Zeniba, who makes her a magic hairband. Haku appears in dragon form, and Sen, Boh, and Haku leave for the bathhouse, leaving No-Face with Zeniba. Mid-flight, Sen discovers Haku's identity as the spirit of the Kohaku River (ニギハヤミ コハクヌシ, Nigihayami Kohakunushi). When they arrive, Sen passes Yubaba's test to identify her parents, and she is allowed to leave. Haku vows to see her again, but she leaves the city with her parents, who do not remember anything after the restaurant. After returning to their own world, the family find their car covered with leaves and dust, as the forest around it has become immensely overgrown. They then exit the forest and continue their journey to their new home.

## Voice cast

## Production

### Development and inspiration

Every summer, Hayao Miyazaki spent his vacation at a mountain cabin with his family and five girls who were friends of the family. The idea for Spirited Away came about when he wanted to make a film for these friends. Miyazaki had previously directed films for small children and teenagers such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, but he had not created a film for ten-year-old girls. For inspiration, he read shōjo manga magazines like Nakayoshi and Ribon the girls had left at the cabin, but felt they only offered subjects on "crushes" and romance. When looking at his young friends, Miyazaki felt this was not what they "held dear in their hearts" and decided to produce the film about a young heroine whom they could look up to instead.

Miyazaki had wanted to produce a new film for years, but his two previous proposals—one based on the Japanese book Kiri no Mukō no Fushigi na Machi (霧のむこうのふしぎな町) by Sachiko Kashiwaba, and another about a teenage heroine—were rejected. His third proposal, which ended up becoming Spirited Away, was more successful. The three stories revolved around a bathhouse that was inspired by one in Miyazaki's hometown. He thought the bathhouse was a mysterious place, and there was a small door next to one of the bathtubs in the bath house. Miyazaki was always curious to what was behind it, and he made up several stories about it, one of which inspired the bathhouse setting of Spirited Away.

Production of Spirited Away commenced in February 2000 on a budget of (US\$15 million). Walt Disney Pictures financed ten percent of the film's production cost for the right of first refusal for American distribution. As with Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki and the Studio Ghibli staff experimented with computer animation. With the use of more computers and programs such as Softimage 3D, the staff learned the software, but used the technology carefully so that it enhanced the story, instead of "stealing the show". Each character was mostly hand-drawn, with Miyazaki working alongside his animators to see they were getting it just right. The biggest difficulty in making the film was to reduce its length. When production began, Miyazaki realized it would be more than three hours long if he made it according to his plot. He had to delete many scenes from the story, and tried to reduce the "eye candy" in the film because he wanted it to be simple. Miyazaki did not want to make the hero a "pretty girl". At the beginning, he was frustrated at how she looked "dull" and thought, "She isn't cute. Isn't there something we can do?" As the film neared the end, however, he was relieved to feel "she will be a charming woman."

Miyazaki based some of the buildings in the spirit world on the buildings in the real-life Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan. He often visited the museum for inspiration while working on the film. Miyazaki had always been interested in the Pseudo-Western style buildings from the Meiji period that were available there. The museum made Miyazaki feel nostalgic, "especially when I stand here alone in the evening, near closing time, and the sun is setting – tears well up in my eyes." Another major inspiration was the Notoya Ryokan (能登谷旅館), a traditional Japanese inn located in Yamagata Prefecture, famous for its exquisite architecture and ornamental features. While some guidebooks and articles claim that the old gold town of Jiufen in Taiwan served as an inspirational model for the film, Miyazaki has denied this. The Dōgo Onsen is also often said to be a key inspiration for the Spirited Away onsen/bathhouse.

Toshio Suzuki, the producer of the film, also cites European inspirations and influences in the production of Spirited Away. He specifically invokes the structure of the film as European-inspired due to Miyazaki's own influences by European films such as The Snow Queen and The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep.

### Music

The film score of Spirited Away was composed and conducted by Miyazaki's regular collaborator Joe Hisaishi, and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic. The soundtrack received awards at the 56th Mainichi Film Competition Award for Best Music, the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2001 Best Music Award in the Theater Movie category, and the 17th Japan Gold Disk Award for Animation Album of the Year. Later, Hisaishi added lyrics to "One Summer's Day" and named the new version of the song "The Name of Life" (いのちの名前, Inochi no Namae) which was performed by Ayaka Hirahara.

The closing song, "Always With Me" (いつも何度でも, Itsumo Nando Demo, lit. 'Always, No Matter How Many Times') was written and performed by Youmi Kimura, a composer and lyre-player from Osaka. The lyrics were written by Kimura's friend Wakako Kaku. The song was intended to be used for Rin the Chimney Painter (煙突描きのリン, Entotsu-kaki no Rin), a different Miyazaki film which was never released. In the special features of the Japanese DVD, Hayao Miyazaki explains how the song in fact inspired him to create Spirited Away. The song itself would be recognized as Gold at the 43rd Japan Record Awards.

Besides the original soundtrack, there is also an image album, titled Spirited Away Image Album (千と千尋の神隠し イメージアルバム, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi Imēji Arubamu), that contains 10 tracks.

### English dub

John Lasseter, Pixar animator and a fan and friend of Miyazaki, would often sit with his staff and watch Miyazaki's work when encountering story problems. After seeing Spirited Away Lasseter was ecstatic. Upon hearing his reaction to the film, Disney CEO Michael Eisner asked Lasseter if he would be interested in introducing Spirited Away to an American audience. Lasseter obliged by agreeing to serve as the executive producer for the English adaptation. Following this, several others began to join the project: Beauty and the Beast co-director Kirk Wise and Aladdin co-producer Donald W. Ernst joined Lasseter as director and producer of Spirited Away, respectively. Screenwriters Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt penned the English-language dialogue, which they wrote in order to match the characters' original Japanese-language lip movements.

The cast of the film consists of Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Suzanne Pleshette (in her final film role before her death in January 2008), Michael Chiklis, Lauren Holly, Susan Egan, David Ogden Stiers and John Ratzenberger (a Pixar regular). Advertising was limited, with Spirited Away being mentioned in a small scrolling section of the film section of Disney.com; Disney had sidelined their official website for Spirited Away and given the film a comparatively small promotional budget. Marc Hairston argues that this was a justified response to Studio Ghibli's retention of the merchandising rights to the film and characters, which limited Disney's ability to properly market the film.

## Themes

### Supernaturalism

The major themes of Spirited Away, heavily influenced by Japanese Shinto-Buddhist folklore, centre on the protagonist, Chihiro, and her liminal journey through the realm of spirits. The central location of the film is a Japanese bathhouse where a great variety of Japanese folklore creatures, including kami, come to bathe. Miyazaki cites the solstice rituals when villagers call forth their local kami and invite them into their baths. Chihiro also encounters kami of animals and plants. Miyazaki says of this:

> In my grandparents' time, it was believed that kami existed everywhere – in trees, rivers, insects, wells, anything. My generation does not believe this, but I like the idea that we should all treasure everything because spirits might exist there, and we should treasure everything because there is a kind of life to everything.

Chihiro's archetypal entrance into another world demarcates her status as one somewhere between child and adult. Chihiro also stands outside societal boundaries in the supernatural setting. The use of the word kamikakushi (literally 'hidden by gods') within the Japanese title, and its associated folklore, reinforces this liminal passage: "Kamikakushi is a verdict of 'social death' in this world, and coming back to this world from Kamikakushi meant 'social resurrection.'"

Additional themes are expressed through No-Face, who reflects the characters who surround him, learning by example and taking the traits of whomever he consumes. This nature results in No-Face's monstrous rampage through the bathhouse. After Chihiro saves No-Face with the emetic dumpling, he becomes timid once more. At the end of the film, Zeniba decides to take care of No-Face so he can develop without the negative influence of the bathhouse.

#### Fantasy

The film has been compared to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as the stories have some elements in common such as being set in a fantasy world, the plots including a disturbance in logic and stability, and there being motifs such as food having metamorphic qualities; though developments and themes are not shared. Among other stories compared to Spirited Away, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is seen to be more closely linked thematically.

Yubaba has many similarities to the Coachman from the 1940 film Pinocchio, in the sense that she mutates humans into pigs in a similar way that the boys of Pleasure Island were mutated into donkeys. Upon gaining employment at the bathhouse, Yubaba's seizure of Chihiro's true name symbolically kills the child, who must then assume adulthood. She then undergoes a rite of passage according to the monomyth format; to recover continuity with her past, Chihiro must create a new identity.

### Traditional Japanese culture

Spirited Away contains critical commentary on modern Japanese society concerning generational conflicts and environmental issues. Chihiro has been seen as a representation of the shōjo, whose roles and ideology had changed dramatically since post-war Japan. Just as Chihiro seeks her past identity, Japan, in its anxiety over the economic downturn occurring during the release of the film in 2001, sought to reconnect to past values. In an interview, Miyazaki has commented on this nostalgic element for an old Japan.

Japanese philosophy plays a huge role in Spirited Away, specifically through concepts like Kami and principles like Mottainai and On. The concept of Kami, for instance, involves various spirits that each represent different elements and aspects of nature. The principle of Mottainai, which is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, embodies a sense of regret towards waste, valuing the complete utilization of an object or resource. While the principle of On, a key tenet of Japanese ethics that signifies a sense of moral indebtedness, plays a significant role in Chihiro’s character development.

### Western consumerism

Accordingly, the film can be partly understood as an exploration of the effect of greediness and Western consumerism on traditional Japanese culture. For instance, Yubaba is stylistically unique within the bathhouse, wearing a Western dress and living among European décor and furnishings, in contrast with the minimalist Japanese style of her employees' quarters, representing the Western capitalist influence over Japan in its Meiji period and beyond. Along with its function within the ostensible coming of age theme, Yubaba's act of taking Chihiro's name and replacing it with Sen (an alternate reading of chi, the first character in Chihiro's name, lit. 'one thousand') can be thought of as symbolic of capitalism's single-minded concern with value.

The Meiji design of the abandoned theme park is the setting for Chihiro's parents' metamorphosis – the family arrives in an imported Audi car and the father wears a European-styled polo shirt, reassuring Chihiro that he has "credit cards and cash," before their morphing into literal consumerist pigs. Miyazaki has stated:

> Chihiro's parents turning into pigs symbolizes how some humans become greedy. At the very moment Chihiro says there is something odd about this town, her parents turn into pigs. There were people that "turned into pigs" during Japan's bubble economy (consumer society) of the 1980s, and these people still haven't realized they've become pigs. Once someone becomes a pig, they don't return to being human but instead gradually start to have the "body and soul of a pig". These people are the ones saying, "We are in a recession and don't have enough to eat." This doesn't just apply to the fantasy world. Perhaps this isn't a coincidence and the food is actually (an analogy for) "a trap to catch lost humans."

The bathhouse of the spirits cannot be seen as a place free of ambiguity and darkness. Many of the employees are rude to Chihiro because she is human, and corruption is ever-present; it is a place of excess and greed, as depicted in the initial appearance of No-Face. In stark contrast to the simplicity of Chihiro's journey and transformation is the constantly chaotic carnival in the background.

### Environmentalism

Commentators have often referred to environmental themes in the films of Miyazaki. In Spirited Away, two major instances of allusions to environmental issues have been noted. Pam Coats, for example, a Vice President of Walt Disney Feature Animation, describes Chihiro dealing with the "stink spirit", who, it turns out, is actually a river spirit but is so corrupted with filth that one couldn't tell what it was at first glance. It only became clean again when Chihiro pulled out a huge amount of trash, including car tires, garbage, and a bicycle. This alludes to human pollution of the environment, and how people can carelessly toss away things without thinking of the consequences and of where the trash will go.

The second allusion is seen in Haku himself. Haku does not remember his name and lost his past, which is why he is stuck at the bathhouse. Eventually, Chihiro remembers that he used to be the spirit of the Kohaku River, which was destroyed and replaced with apartments. Because of humans' need for development, they destroyed a part of nature, causing Haku to lose his home and identity. This can be compared to deforestation and desertification; humans tear down nature, cause imbalance in the ecosystem, and demolish animals' homes to satisfy their want for more space (housing, malls, stores, etc.) but do not think about how it can affect other living things.

## Release

### Box office and theatrical release

Spirited Away was released theatrically in Japan on 20 July 2001 by distributor Toho. It grossed a record ¥1.6 billion (\$13.1 million) in its first three days, beating the previous record set by Princess Mononoke. It was number one at the Japanese box office for its first eleven weeks and spent 16 weeks there in total. After 22 weeks of release and after grossing \$224 million in Japan, it started its international release, opening in Hong Kong on 13 December 2001. It was the first film that had grossed more than \$200 million at the worldwide box office excluding the United States. It went on to gross ¥30.4 billion to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history, according to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. It also set the all-time attendance record in Japan, surpassing the 16.8 million tickets sold by Titanic. Its gross at the Japanese box office has since increased to , as of 2020.

In February 2002, Wild Bunch, an international sales company that had recently spun off from its former parent StudioCanal, picked up the international sale rights for the film outside of Asia and France. The company would then on-sell it to independent distributors across the world. On 13 April 2002, The Walt Disney Company acquired the Taiwanese, Singapore, Hong Kong, French and North American sale rights to the film, alongside Japanese Home Media rights.

Disney's English dub of the film, supervised by Lasseter, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2002 and was later released in the United States on 20 September 2002. The film grossed \$450,000 in its opening weekend from 26 theatres. Spirited Away had very little marketing, less than Disney's other B-films, with a maximum of 151 theatres showing the film in 2002. After the 2003 Oscars, it expanded to 714 theatres. It ultimately grossed around \$10 million by September 2003. Outside of Japan and the United States, the movie was moderately successful in both South Korea and France where it grossed \$11 million and \$6 million, respectively. In Argentina, it is in the top 10 anime films with the most tickets sold.

In the United Kingdom, then-independent based film distributor Optimum Releasing acquired the rights to the movie from Wild Bunch in January 2003. The company then released it theatrically on 12 September 2003. The movie grossed \$244,437 on its opening weekend from 51 theatres, and by the end of its theatrical run in October, the movie has grossed \$1,383,023 in the country.

About 18 years after its original release in Japan, Spirited Away had a theatrical release in China on 21 June 2019. It follows the theatrical China release of My Neighbour Totoro in December 2018. The delayed theatrical release in China was due to long-standing political tensions between China and Japan, but many Chinese became familiar with Miyazaki's films due to rampant video piracy. It topped the Chinese box office with a \$28.8-million opening weekend, beating Toy Story 4 in China. In its second weekend, Spirited Away grossed a cumulative \$54.8 million in China, and was second only behind Spider-Man: Far From Home that weekend. As of 16 July 2019, the film has grossed \$70 million in China, bringing its worldwide total box office to over \$346 million as of 8 July 2019.

Spirited Away's worldwide box office total stands at US\$395,802,070.

### Home media

Spirited Away was first released on VHS and DVD formats in Japan by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on 19 July 2002. The Japanese DVD releases include storyboards for the film and the special edition includes a Ghibli DVD player. Spirited Away sold 5.5 million home video units in Japan by 2007, and holds the record for most home video copies sold of all-time in the country as of 2014. The movie was released on Blu-ray by Walt Disney Studios Japan on 14 July 2014, and DVD was also reissued on the same day with a new HD master, alongside several other Studio Ghibli movies.

In North America, the film was released on DVD and VHS formats by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on 15 April 2003. The attention brought by the Oscar win resulted in the film becoming a strong seller. The bonus features include Japanese trailers, a making-of documentary which originally aired on Nippon Television, interviews with the North American voice actors, a select storyboard-to-scene comparison and The Art of Spirited Away, a documentary narrated by actor Jason Marsden. The movie was released on Blu-ray by and North America by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on 16 June 2015. GKIDS and Shout! Factory re-issued the film on Blu-ray and DVD on 17 October 2017 following the expiration of Disney's previous deal with Studio Ghibli in the country in North America. On 12 November 2019, GKIDS and Shout! Factory issued a North-America-exclusive Spirited Away collector's edition, which includes the film on Blu-ray, and the film's soundtrack on CD, as well as a 40-page book with statements by Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki, and essays by film critic Kenneth Turan and film historian Leonard Maltin. Along with the rest of the Studio Ghibli films, Spirited Away was released on digital markets in the United States for the first time, on 17 December 2019.

In the United Kingdom, the film was released on DVD and VHS as a rental release through independent distributor High Fliers Films PLC following the film's limited theatrical release. It was later officially released on DVD in the UK on 29 March 2004, with the distribution being done by Optimum Releasing themselves. In 2006, the DVD was reissued as a single-disc release (without the second one) with packaging matching other releases in Optimum's "The Studio Ghibli Collection" range. The then-renamed StudioCanal UK released the movie on Blu-ray on 24 November 2014, A British 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition, similar to other Studio Ghibli anniversary editions released in the UK, was released on 25 October 2021.

In the United States, the 2015 Blu-ray release grossed \$9,925,660 from 557,613 physical units sold as of 21 February 2021. In the United Kingdom, the film's Studio Ghibli anniversary release appeared several times on the annual lists of best-selling foreign language film on home video, ranking number six in 2015, number five in 2016, and number one in 2019.

### Television

The film was aired on Nippon TV (NTV) in Japan, on 24 January 2003. It became NTV's most-watched film of all time with a 46.9% audience rating, surpassing the 35.1% record previously set by Princess Mononoke in 1999.

In the United Kingdom, the film was watched by 670,000 viewers on BBC2 in 2010. This made it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on BBC, and the year's second highest foreign film on UK television (below the Indian Bollywood film Om Shanti Om). Spirited Away was later watched by 300,000 UK viewers on BBC2 in 2011, making it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on BBC2. Combined, the film drew a 970,000 UK television viewership on BBC2 between 2010 and 2011.

## Reception

### Critical response

Spirited Away received widespread acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 96% approval rating based on 218 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 96 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a full four stars, praising the work and Miyazaki's direction. Ebert also said that Spirited Away was one of "the year's best films", as well as adding it to his "Great Movies" list. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times positively reviewed the film and praised the animation. Mitchell drew a favorable comparison to Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and wrote that Miyazaki's "movies are as much about moodiness as mood" and that "the prospect of animated figures' not being what they seem – either spiritually or physically – heightens the tension." Derek Elley of Variety said that Spirited Away "can be enjoyed by sprigs and adults alike" and praised the animation and music. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised Miyazaki's direction and the voice acting, as well as saying that the film is the "product of a fierce and fearless imagination whose creations are unlike anything a person has seen before." Orlando Sentinel's critic Jay Boyar also praised Miyazaki's direction and said the film is "the perfect choice for a child who has moved into a new home."

In 2004, Cinefantastique listed the film as one of the "10 Essential Animations". In 2005, Spirited Away was ranked by IGN as the 12th-best animated film of all time. The film is also ranked number 9 of the highest-rated movies of all time on Metacritic, being the highest rated traditionally animated film on the site. The film ranked number 10 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010. In 2010, Rotten Tomatoes ranked it as the 13th-best animated film on the site, and in 2012, as the 17th. In 2019, the site considered the film to be \#1 among 140 essential animated movies to watch. The film was ranked at number 46 on Time Out magazine's list of "The 100 Best Movies of All Time". In 2017, The New York Times ranked it as the second best film of the 21st Century so far. In 2021, the Writers Guild of America ranked Spirited Away'''s screenplay the 67th greatest of the 21st century so far. In 2022, the film was ranked number 75 on Sight & Sound's greatest films list, being one of two animated films to make the list (alongside Miyazaki's own My Neighbor Totoro).

In his book Otaku, Hiroki Azuma observed: "Between 2001 and 2007, the otaku forms and markets quite rapidly won social recognition in Japan," and cites Miyazaki's win at the Academy Awards for Spirited Away among his examples.

### Accolades

## Impact and legacy

### Film industry

Spirited Away is frequently regarded as one of the best films of the 21st century as well as one of the greatest animated films ever made. Comic Book Resources wrote that the film "set the bar extremely high for all anime movies that followed it – including Studio Ghibli's." and further explained that "It's a movie many people re-watch due to its comfort and nostalgia, and since Netflix brought the Ghibli movies to North America last year, it's become even more accessible". Swapnil Dhruv Bose Far Out Magazine declared the film to be "the greatest animated film of all time" and explained that it "resonated with audiences all over the world despite the existence of cultural barriers is because of its brilliantly devised universality" and has the ability to "generate fascinating multiplicities which morph according to the age of the viewer". In another article detailing Hayao Miyazaki's wide impact to the film industry, he wrote "The influence of Spirited Away can be easily observed in Disney productions like Brave and Frozen, thanks to John Lasseter's (the Chief Creative Officer of Pixar) efforts to introduce it to Western audiences". Vice also declared Spirited Away to be the all-time best animated film and wrote that the film "showed how breathtaking, heartfelt, and serious animation can be" that "Pixar, Disney, and other mainstream animators have still failed to genuinely realize 15 years later".

Film director Steven Spielberg said that Spirited Away might be "better than any Disney films" he has ever seen. Rayna Denison, professor of film, television, and media studies, told Time that "This is a film made by a master animator at the height of his powers and it is one where the quality of the animation really does set it apart from everything else around it. Nobody else was making films that looked like this or that were as inventive as this was at this time". The film has been cited as influence for various Disney and Pixar animated films. Production designer Harley Jessup said that he initially looked at Spirited Away and was inspired by the spiritual feelings elements to utilize them in Coco. Co-writers Ken and Ryan Firpo cited the film as one of the influences that helps them explore "ideas of morality and humanity" in Eternals. Turning Red's director Domee Shi named Spirited Away as one of her favorite animated films and one of the influences for her film.

### Commercial and cultural significance

According to Time, Spirited Away "arrived at a time when animation was widely perceived as a genre solely for children, and when cultural differences often became barriers to the global distribution of animated works" but it "shattered preconceived notions about the art form and also proved that, as a film created in Japanese with elements of Japanese folklore central to its core, it could resonate deeply with audiences around the world". Denison emphasized that John Lasseter and Disney "boosted Spirited Away's visibility in America by heavily campaigning for the film to be considered for the Academy Awards", and cited it as one of the reasons why it won Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Writer Jonathan Clements, whose published works revolve around East Asian culture, anime, and Japanese television dramas, emphasized that the film's Oscar win was "a wake-up call for a lot of people in the film business who had been disregarding Japanese animation for years". Susan Napier, professor of Japanese studies at Tufts University, called Spirited Away's wins at major Western award shows "a very big shot in the arm to the Japanese animation industry". She further explained that cartoons in the West have often been seen as "childish, vulgar, things that you didn't take seriously" but after the film took home the Academy Award, people were starting to see animation as "a real art form".

### Stage adaptation

A stage adaptation of Spirited Away was announced in February 2021 with a world premiere planned in Tokyo on 28 February 2022. It is written and directed by John Caird, with Toho as the production company, with Studio Ghibli's blessing. The role of Chihiro is played by both Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi. In August 2023, it was announced that the production would have its European premiere at the London Coliseum from April 2024.

### Limited time re-release

On a limited time release from 11 November to 18 December in 2022, the Imperial Theater performance of the play was available for rental in Japan in several streaming services such as Abema, Amazon Prime Video Japan, Docomo Anime Store, FOD, Hulu Japan and U-Next.

There were 2 versions of the play available for rental:

- Stage "Spirited Away" (Chihiro role: Kanna Hashimoto) ≪Imperial Theater performance version≫ (First distribution). Japanese: 舞台「千と千尋の神隠し」(千尋役:橋本環奈)≪帝国劇場公演版≫(初配信)
- Stage "Spirited Away" (Chihiro role: Mone Kamishiraishi) ≪Imperial Theater Performance Version≫ (Re-edited Version). Japanese: 舞台「千と千尋の神隠し」(千尋役:上白石萌音)≪帝国劇場公演版≫(再編集版)

## See also

- 2000s in film
- Isekai
- List of highest-grossing anime films
- List of highest-grossing films in Japan
- Noppera-bō'': Japanese "no-face" spirit

2001 Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki

Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners

Best Animated Feature Annie Award winners

Best Animated Feature Broadcast Film Critics Association Award winners

Films with screenplays by Hayao Miyazaki

Picture of the Year Japan Academy Prize winners