Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away recreated in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Studio Ghibli / NintendoBest-rated anime movie of all time, Spirited Away, is Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece – and fans are really loving recreating it in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch.
Spirited Away is Japan’s most successful film ever, grossing over $347 million as viewers fell in love with Hayao Miyazaki’s fantasy world. It follows the story of Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who accidentally slips through to the spirit world of Kami. After her parents are transformed into pigs, she takes up a job at a bathhouse in order to find a way to switch them back and return to the real world.
It was even voted as the top anime movie ever made by over 170 critics, and is often touted as one of the best films of the 21st century across all genres. Fans love it so much, they’ve even brought it over to Animal Crossing, and recreated their favorite places and scenes so they can experience the magic for themselves.
Studio GhibliSpirited Away in New Horizons
Reddit user ‘zavj‘ decided to recreate the boiler room from the movie, and absolutely smashed it out of the park with their design. In one of the most famous scenes, Chihiro encounters the soot sprites – tiny balls of dust also known as Susuwatari that assist in powering the bathhouse – when tasked to find a job by Lin.
Using star fragments, the fan remade the scene from the film where candy is scattered to feed the sprites – almost like a farmer does when feeding chickens. The game’s Custom Designs tool was used to place the dust bunnies on the ground.
Boiler room master Kamaji’s bed is also there, along with his teakettle and jars, which tie the whole thing together and gives off the perfect anime atmosphere.
Another fan, ‘denohmarie,’ created the outside marketplace in Spirited Away, where Chihiro’s parents are first turned into pigs for eating the spirit food. The street is filled with vendors who sell various wares, and stalls with custom designs on are used to replicate that.
Cherry blossom and paper lanterns light the way and pull everything together, looking like a scene ripped straight from out of the anime movie.
Many believe that the mountain town of Jiufen, Taiwan was the inspiration for the setting, though Miyazaki has never said this outright.
Studio Ghibli fans are a talented bunch, but that’s not the only series players have brought to Animal Crossing – Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and EarthBound are just a few examples.
If these creations don’t make you want to go and watch the movie, we don’t know what will! We know what we’re going to be doing later…