ET.22 - The Hero's Journey

Here, I'm about to make a comparison between Spirited Away and a film which not a lot of people might have seen.

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Yes its The Emperor's New Groove, one of the most legendary films I ever seen as a kid. I'll elaborate a little about the plot in case anybody hasn't seen this movie. If you have seen this movie, you can skip the following 4 paragraphs.


The film starts off as a narrative, of the person who voiced the main actor himself - David Spade. It's about a young emperor named Kuzco of the Inca Empire who is pampered as any spoilt brat and is everything that you would wish not to have in a child; arrogant, stubborn, proud, witty, you name it. He then summons Pacha, a peasant in a village, to inform him that he is going to build a summer home on the site of Pacha's home, thus rendering Pacha and his family homeless. Pacha attempts to protest, but is dismissed immediately. Meanwhile Yzma(pronounced yiz-ma), Kuzco's advisor, and her dim-witted right-hand man Kronk, attempts to poison Kuzco in order to gain control of the empire. But the poison turns out to be a llama potion, turning him into a llama instead.

After knocking Kuzco unconscious, Yzma instructs Kronk to dispose of Kuzco by bagging him and dumping him into the river, instead two small inner-Kronks conscience, an angel and devil Kronk, argues with each other that throws Kronk into confusion, in the end he throws the bag onto Pacha's cart as Pacha was leaving the palace. Kuzco wakes up in Pacha's village and accuses Pacha of kidnapping him, forcing Pacha to lead him back to the palace. But Pacha disagrees, only agreeing if Kuzco builts his summer home someplace else.

Kuzco feigns agreement with Pacha's demand, and Pacha leads him back toward the palace. They stop at a roadside diner, and Yzma and Kronk arrive shortly after. Pacha overhears Yzma discussing their plans to kill Kuzco, and attempts to warn him. Kuzco, doesn't believe him and returns to Yzma, only to overhear Yzma and Kronk discussing that they are seeking to kill him, and that the kingdom does not miss him. Kuzco realizes Pacha was right, but Pacha has left. After a repentant Kuzco spends the night alone in the jungle, the two reunite with Pacha having forgiven Kuzco. They race back to the palace, with Yzma and Kronk chasing them, although temporarily impeded to their frustration by Pacha's family, until the pursuers get hit by lightning and fall into a chasm.

Kuzco and Pacha arrive at Yzma's laboratory only to find that their pursuers somehow got there first. Kronk changes sides after a vicious tongue-lashing from Yzma who insults his cooking, and gets dropped down a trapdoor. Yzma summons the palace guards, forcing Kuzco and Pacha to grab all of the transformation potions they can and flee. After trying several formulas that convert Kuzco to other animals, and then back to a llama, they escape the guards (but not Yzma) and find they are down to only two vials. Yzma accidentally steps on one of the two, turning herself into a tiny kitten. She still almost manages to obtain the antidote, but is thwarted by the sudden reappearance of Kronk. Kuzco becomes human again and sets out to redeem himself, building a small summer cabin on the hill next to Pacha's home at the peasant's invitation. Meanwhile, outdoorsman Kronk becomes a scout leader, with kitten-Yzma forced to be a member of the troop.

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A hero with a thousand faces - Joseph Campbell. Non-other than the figure behind most themes of today's movies. So what similarities can be seen in these two movies that can be made with Campbell's recurring pattern of the monomyth?

The Initiation - Call to adventure.

This is the moment where a very-much-parent-dependent-Chihiro crosses the tunnel. Her adventure begins the moment sunlight dawned upon her face at the opposite end of the tunnel. Her parents snooped around, eating food that mysteriously appeared. Then the adventure begins, where her parents are turned into pigs, and she is stranded on the spirit world with no idea how to return home. For Kuzco, its the moment where he gets turned into a llama. He then finds himself in Pacha's village and demands to be taken back to the palace. That is the turning point for him, because being an emperor, it's the first time he doesn't get what he asked for and then walks off on his own into the wrong and dangerous direction. Pacha then follows behind secretly and save him from many a danger.

The Path of Trial

Once the hero cross the threshold into the special world, they must brave through the life-changing obstacles and overcome challenges be it physical or mental challenges, and ultimately crossing the finish line with the prize back to the real world. Chihiro begins her quest to get her parents back and in order to return to the human world. She is stuck in the spirit world and must beg for a job in order to survive there. After finally given a job by Yubaba, the dictator of the spirit world, then steals Chihiro's name and changes it to Sen. Haku warns her that she forgets her real name, she will forever be trapped in the spirit world. In Kuzco's case, its during the journey that Kuzco and Pacha pave towards getting back to Kuzco's castle. The whole process of Kuzco travelling with Pacha indicates his gradual change in his attitude as he slowly befriends Pacha, which includes Pacha saving him from jaguars, falling down waterfalls with them, sleeping in the jungle, meeting with Pacha's family. All of these were happening while simultaneously avoiding Yzma and Kronk that were in hot pursuit of them.

In conclusion, the signs of Chihiro losing her name and becoming Sen, and Kuzco being turned into a llama, both indicate a change about the coming-of-age. Chihiro seems more grown up now, and Kuzco being more sensitive and well-mannered with a sense of humility.

The Return - Return with the Elixer

In Spirited Away towards the end, Chihiro rode Haku in Dragon form while flying away from Zeniba's house back to Yubaba. Chihiro passes the final test that Yubaba gave to her, she and Haku ran hand in hand towards the bridge, only to part with Haku. In The Emperor's New Groove, it was literally 'the elixer'. The race to the potion that changes Kuzco back to human was at it's peak, where Yzma and Kuzco were both fighting each other for the potion as there was only one vial of it. Finally Kuzco got it, drank it, and became human again.

We can say that Chihiro returned to the living world with a transition of her being a crybaby to , becoming a person who could now handle her own world in the spirit world with a little newfound love, and Kuzco with general lessons from being an arrogant, snobbish, selfish jerk into becoming a responsible, caring and humble person. Henceforth these two heroes have returned with their own elixers, and therefore able to return to their original worlds respectively.


To sum it up, the hero's journey, is never AND never will be an easy one. A hero's journey is one that requires a deep change in the heart and mostly forgoing things that matter to you most. Sometimes, you will always think that you are going through it alone, but they are not aware of the allies that they may encounter during the ordeal. The hero will always need backup, in order to come out of the battlefield alive. Not every outcome of the hero's journey may be victorious, but sometimes what's more important is the process in which the hero had gone through in the effort of change.

Allies may assist in your plight towards change, but the journey is ultimately your own - Josh

ET.23 - Spirited Away as an Anime.

So as Chairman Rey grew up in the 'dark' ages, I will 'enlighten' him as he commands.

Spirited Away

This is the first anime movie shown in the FILM101 course, and probably the last. Despite it being potentially the only anime ever to be shown, it strikes me deep compared to every other movie screening I've ever seen. Well for one reason, it's one of the earliest anime films to be developed. Instead of using computer technology to animate the movie, it's made by painstakingly drawing slide after slide. The quality was surprisingly remarkable and it even outshines most anime shown around the world even today. It's good to take a break from all the Noir films being shown lately, and see something colourful for a change.

Thus, how does this anime set itself apart from other anime? For starters as mentioned, the method of developing this anime only by hand. Asides from that, we must keep in mind that this is a very early form of animation. Also a little bit of 'girl finds guy, girl loses guy, and girl gets guy back'. The story and plot is based on a journey of to-and-fro like most movies shown in FILM101 course, and also a journey of 'growing up'. Many other animations can be compared with much similarities such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Finding Nemo, Hansel and Gretal and many more. Spirited Away falls under the genre of 'movie animation' and must not be confused with other types of genre like 'animation series'. Because this is a Japanese anime(anime originated from Japan anyhow), it shows bountiful forms of rich Japanese culture, living, and its myths of different ghosts and spirits that dwells in the spirit world. Mise-en-scene, choreography are not present in this genre particularly, but it retains other plot characteristics such as protagonists, antagonists, the journey, and Joseph Campbell. 


I cannot stress how much Joseph Campbell's influence is found in this movie, particularly because he influences almost all of the movies up till today. Dragons for instance. "All heroes are one hero" - The Journey, speaks loudly in Spirited Away. This is not just some cheesy movie as Miyazaki describes, instead he wanted a character in which people may look up to as a heroine, hence Chihiro. Alongside heroes are Haku, Lin, Kamaji, Zeniba, the Polluted-river Spirit, all contributes to Chihiro's return back to the living world. The thesis for Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces also included the monomyth which can be found in this movie. The labyrinth, which Chihiro and her parents are led into, is the 'abandoned amusement park', the Spirit World. In it are dark forces and monsters the hero encounters; Yubaba, Yubaba changing Chihiro's name to Sen in order to trap her in the spirit world forever for instance. The final battle; Sen must choose which of the pigs are her parents. Conquering the final battle and return to the real world with new knowledge; the crossing of the river. The 'elixer' being brought back; the hairband that ties her hair up made by Zeniba and No-Face.

 "Kamikakushi is a verdict of 'social death' in this world, and coming back to this world from Kamikakushi meant 'social resurrection'." - Reider, Noriko T

Kamikakushi literally means "spirited away". The term 'spirit away' simply means to remove without anybody noticing. Just another way to put Joseph Campbell into the picture. Kamikakushi in Japanese folklore, is used to refer to the mysterious disappearance of a person that happens when an angered God takes a person away. But instead of a God, the Kamikakushi journey for Chihiro is from an obnoxious young girl growing up to be a teenager, losing her identity and gaining a new one but remembering her old name from the goodbye card, losing her parents, and later getting them back, and ultimately leaving the spirit world knowing and experiencing what love is, only to leave it behind when Haku says: "Don't look back". I could see a different girl from when she first walked into the tunnel, and back out.



Miyazaki did not create this anime for the sake of just making a movie, Spirited Away was made from an inspiration of a bath-house nearby his home. He had always wondered what was behind a mysterious door next to a bathtub. He made up several stories about that door, one of it inspired Spirited Away. The buildings seen in Spirited Away are also based on buildings near his hometown. This story is very much based on the theme 'coming of age'. Yubaba steals Chihiro's name and changes it to Sen, in Japanese folklore it means to kill her past, hence she is unable to return the way she came from, and can only move on to adulthood. Thus, she must overcome the challenges and obstacles similar to the tribal rites-of-passage format. Beneath the coming-of-age theme lies the truth about the Japanese's post-war era. Just like Chihiro who seeks her past identity, the Japanese were trying to make amends and and reconnect past values during the period when Spirited Away was about to be released. The spirits found in the bath-house were all figments of Japanese's mythical creatures and ghosts of the Japanese culture. I recognize most of them like No-Face and the Jumping Lantern from Zeniba's house from Doraemon comics, which is another Japanese anime and comic hit. So it pretty much sums up that this film is 100% Japanese from head to toe.

What do you think that makes anime so popular?

Since anime does not rely on actors or sets to make a movie, it found a place as its own genre. Anime can be made according to one's imagination, hence the producer can create images that normal actors and mise-en-scene cannot produce. In other words, anime serves as drawings vivid imaginations being put into motion pictures with things such as monsters, actions, and special effects that normal studios are unable to produce through live actors. Anime mostly focuses on the topic of love and journeys and it allows audience to bask in its presence of eye-opening animated cartoon pictures and beautiful music. Most young people are attracted to anime because of these reasons. Indeed, anime has lovely music soundtracks, including the ones in Spirited Away. On a lighter note, some old people are obsessed with anime because they find themselves unworthy of the living world in any way, thus deciding to trap themselves in the world of anime because anime possesses lifelike images of anything they can fantasize about, leaving most of them in limbo of their fantasy. Hence, in Layman's terms, anime is popular also in terms of fulfilling the fantasies of any kind that man wishes to have.

I am not a hardcore anime fan, but I see anime as a respectable form of genre and I find great pleasure in viewing different types of anime. I do not know many types of anime movies, but I do know some anime series such as The Law of Ueki, Naruto, Bleach, One-Piece. I only like The Law of Ueki and Naruto, but not Bleach and One-Piece. But I digress. Law of Ueki has significantly shorter set of series compared to the others. Many other movies and series such as Pokemon, Digimon, Beyblade are all my childhood shows I watch during Saturday and Sunday mornings before there was Astro. If you wish to seek more anime you could take a look at Popular Bookstores CD sections or even just Google them.



Work-cited list.


Satoshi, Ando. "Regaining Continuity with the Past: Spirited Away and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. "Bookbird 46.1:23-29. Project MUSE. February 11,2009


Miyazaki on Spirited Away // Interview //. Nausicaa.net (July 11, 2001)


Reider, Noriko T. "Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols. "Film Criticism 29.3:4-27. Academic OneFile. Gale. February 11, 2009


Napier, Susan J. "Matter Out of Place: Carnival, Containment and Cultural Recovery in Miyazaki's Spirited Away." Jouenal of Japanese Studies 32.2:287-310. Project MUSE. February 11, 2009

ET.10 - 'M' for Melodrama

M is not Melodrama. What?

I think this pretty much isn't a melodrama. Initially, it was clear that it is a melodrama, till the end where things started to shift. The last 15 minutes of the movie changed my perception towards the entire plot.

Starting of this film, there was much initial indication that melodrama was the main storyline. Shadowy figures indicates expressionism, eerie balloon floating, the ball rolling, leaves the audience in horror and shock towards what might have happened to Elsie. Immediately, we would have known that the child murderer was  that man, obvious to the eye. But as soon as the story unfolds further, slowly it didn't seem like a melodrama anymore. The criminals were working like policemen, to look for the child murderer. The policemen however were behaving like scoundrels in their search attempts repeatedly. This made the police look like bad guys and the bad guys look like good guys. That marks the turn of the melodrama, where it really began to look like the opposite of a melodrama movie.

The end part of the movie, where the criminals brought up a court order under the terrain of the city. There held a trial for the murderer, where he was accused of just being a dangerous person to the outside world. But of what real interest is he to the criminals? He could just be the reason for interfering with their shady jobs out there in the world. He is no different than Safecracker, the judge of the 'criminal court', who murdered 3 people as well. Now here's the catch, the criminal starts to break down, after repeatedly saying that he 'can't help what he's doing'. This is undoubtedly an overused statement in the court. But is it true that he really couldn't help what he was doing? I have my doubts towards him just the same as everybody in the criminal courtroom. I would say to myself: execute him immediately, if left to the asylum, he would deem himself cured once again and break out, and start the vicious cycle all over again. But what if it really was true? That the man was, sick?

If there were professional psychiatrists decades ago, he could have been officially diagnosed with mental illness. But all there was to then were just judgments and accusations based on newspapers and hands-on murder evidences. So this man was sick. As his 'lawyer' has said, "a sick man should be handed over to the doctor, not to the executioner" makes enough sense to say that he was mentally ill. But the crowd continues to ignore that defense statement. So, it seems that the murderer had double personalities, or so he claims. Something like Jekyll and Hyde. An inner voice that haunts him to kill. Maybe nobody could lament the feelings and thoughts that tortured this child murderer that drives him to kill children for the sake of silencing that voice in his head, temporarily. It seems as though he is the victim, and the real murderer is the voice in his head. So is the voice to be blamed? Or who is to be condemned guilty here?

In my opinion, I would truly say that this turns out not to be a melodrama at all. Despite all that has happened, I would still say that this man is a victim of himself. He is not a murderer, his other personality is. But there is no punishment for a different personality, which is probably why the movie is left hanging in the air. A women at the end of the movie said, "this would not bring back our children". As though to say executing him to death would bring back their children. Ridiculous is it not?

Which means most probably they sentenced him to the asylum under state protection.

Guilty or not, I think this situation is no stranger to many criminals out there in this world today. It is always better to be safe than sorry, prevention is better than cure. After all people are not perfect.