Once you meet someone, you never really forget them.

April 6, 2022 8:47 PM

The final two shows of the Spirited Away stage production will be livestreamed through Hulu, July 3rd and 4th. This announcement was preceded by some photos of the stage production - the puppetry looks amazing, I can't wait to see it in motion. Official Disney trailer for English dub of Spirited Away, the movie (YT).

If you haven't seen the film, in subtitles or dubbed into English, now would be a great time to give it a try! I believe HBO Max is streaming it in the USA. on Fanfare

posted by snerson (10 comments total)

This looks wonderful. I was lucky enough to see the Handspring Puppet Company performance of Midsummer Night's Dream many years ago and it was magical in a way that only a live performance can be.
This looks like it is the same kind of thing.

Spirited Away is one of my all time favorite films. I wish I could see this performance live!
Thanks for posting this.
posted by Zumbador at 10:01 PM on April 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I had no idea this existed and now I am losing my mind

This is my FAVORITE movie

oh my god
posted by The Adventure Begins at 11:06 PM on April 6, 2022 [3 favorites]

Amazing! I got the chance to see the film again when it was touring US theaters pre-pandemic, and it was an amazing experience, seeing it on the big screen. I'll consume this story in as many mediums as it is offered, so this is just wonderful.
posted by lazaruslong at 1:58 AM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I am making this film because I do not have an answer. Just to remind folks that Miyazaki is currently working on one last film. How Do You Live?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:41 AM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

The linked article makes it sound like this will be on Hulu in the US, but that doesn't appear to be correct. If you follow the links back to earlier sources (like this one, it seems that this will be streaming on Hulu Japan.
posted by Awkward Philip at 7:41 AM on April 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

The linked article makes it sound like this will be on Hulu in the US, but that doesn't appear to be correct. If you follow the links back to earlier sources (like this one, it seems that this will be streaming on Hulu Japan.

Well Disney had better get on that super quick.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:39 AM on April 7, 2022

It has been 20 years since Spirited Away came out

I cannot have existential crises about time like this at 2 in the afternoon
posted by The Adventure Begins at 1:26 PM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just wrote the Hulu media team to clarify. I hope they do do it as a live event - that would be a media event about as exciting as the Hamilton drop on Disney+, at least in my neck of the woods.

And if it's not to be livestreamed... I'm not worried about that either. It's nice to have streams that officially support a production, and I would like to whenever I can, but it would be fine to get back to our roots on the high seas.

Well Disney had better get on that super quick.

Indeed. Shiver me timbers!
posted by snerson at 7:47 PM on April 7, 2022

I don't even have Hulu access in my country and I'm very happy about it, because more eyes on live productions and all the stills look amazing.

And also hopefully a DVD - Japanese musical theatre produces a lot of DVDs. Some of it is the short runs (three months including a mini-tour is a big production), but long-running stuff with multiple productions like Elisabeth also gets put on DVDs and seems to only drive more audience to revivals. And it does wonders for accessibility outside the biggest cities and abroad, to people who then make the original productions a goal to visit. (Like, say, a person in Poland who got a DVD from a friend and several years later had her butt in a seat in the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo.) Popularisation is good, dammit.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:27 PM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company to stage My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro, one of master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s most beloved works, will be treading the boards in England very soon. The 1988 anime masterpiece about two little girls and their very big furry friends will be a stage show courtesy of Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company and Totoro composer Joe Hisaishi.

While the show will feature the music from the film, as well as unused songs composed for the feature, Totoro will not be a musical. [...]

My Neighbor Totoro is set to debut at London’s Barbican Centre on October 8, 2022, and will run through January 21, 2023.

posted by Rhaomi at 12:07 AM on May 2, 2022 [3 favorites]