About this episode

The episode discusses Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, focusing on cultural psychology and the importance of listening to children.

Join Alex and Dr. Ethan Harrod as they navigate the spirit world in Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece Spirited Away (2001)! The English language dubbed version features the voice acting of Daveigh Chase (RIP :'( ), Suzanne Pleshette, Jason Marsden, and Susan Egan. Chihiro is a little girl whose family is moving, when they happen upon a strangely deserted resort town. Her parents turn into pigs after eating some food, they are subsumed within a spirit world, and Chihiro, now named Sen, must navigate working for an evil witch named Yubaba so she can find her parents, turn them back into people and get out of the spirit world. Along the way, she meets No Face, a spirit that learns the value of family and empathy from Chihiro. Several topics are discussed in this episode, but cultural psychology — and the differences between this Japanese film and American films — is the overarching theme and concepts. It's definitely a beautiful film, so it deserves a watch — and parents, listen to your kids! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! If you like…

People in this episode

Host: Alex

Guest: Dr. Ethan Harrod

Topics covered

• cultural psychology
• Japanese film
• American films
• family
• empathy
• animation

Keywords

• Spirited Away
• Hayao Miyazaki
• cultural psychology
• animation
• family
• empathy
• Japanese film
• American films

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: cinemapsychpod

Books & works: Spirited Away

More episodes of CinemaPsych Podcast

• Episode 117: Is it Nature or Nurture that Gets You into Space? Gattaca (1997) with Alan Whitehead · July 13, 2026 · 1h 12m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the CinemaPsych Podcast podcast page.