Miyazaki's next film was conceived while on vacation at a mountain cabin with his family and five young girls who were family friends. Miyazaki realized he had not created a film for 10-year-old girls and set out to do so. He read manga magazines like and for inspiration but felt they only offered subjects on "crushes and romance", which is not what the girls "held dear in their hearts"; he decided to produce the film about a female heroine whom they could look up to, based on two of the girls he had met. Production of the film, titled Spirited Away, commenced in 2000 on a budget of ¥1.9 billion (). As with Princess Mononoke, the staff experimented with computer animation, but kept the technology at a level to enhance the story, not to "steal the show". Spirited Away deals with symbols of human greed, symbolizing the 1980s Japanese asset price bubble, and a liminal journey through the realm of spirits. The film was released on July 20, 2001; it received critical acclaim, winning the Japan Academy Film Prize for Picture of the Year. The film was commercially successful, selling a record-breaking 21.4 million tickets and earning ¥30.4 billion () at the box office. It became the highest-grossing film in Japan, a record it maintained for almost 20 years, and was the first Japanese film to earn internationally, prior to its American release.
Miyazaki's next film was conceived while on vacation at a mountain cabin with his family and five young girls who were family friends. Miyazaki realized he had not created a film for 10-year-old girls and set out to do so. He read manga magazines like and for inspiration but felt they only offered subjects on "crushes and romance", which is not what the girls "held dear in their hearts"; he decided to produce the film about a female heroine whom they could look up to, based on two of the girls he had met. Production of the film, titled Spirited Away commenced in 2000 on a budget of ¥1.9 billion (). As with Princess Mononoke, the staff experimented with computer animation, but kept the technology at a level to enhance the story, not to "steal the show". Spirited Away deals with symbols of human greed symbolizing the 1980s Japanese asset price bubble, and a liminal journey through the realm of spirits. The film was released on July 20, 2001; it received critical acclaim, winning the Japan Academy Film Prize for Picture of the Year. The film was commercially successful, selling a record-breaking 21.4 million tickets and earning ¥30.4 billion () at the box office. It became the highest-grossing film in Japan, a record it maintained for almost 20 years, and was the first Japanese film to earn internationally, prior to its American release