John Caird’s award-winning stage adaptation of the iconic Studio Ghibli animated fantasy film, Spirited Away, is now streaming on Prime Video. Spirited Away: Live on Stagewas first performed in Japan in 2022 before its European premiere in 2024. The play, produced by Toho and approved by Studio Ghibli, accurately recreates the original film’s plot. Caird and his team translate Hayao Miyazaki’s hand-drawn animation through elaborate sets, puppetry, and interpretive dance to bring Chihiro’s journey to life in a new medium. The production boasts a 97% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and won the award for Best New Play at the 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards in February 2025.
Before helming Spirited Away: Live on Stage, Caird worked on stage classics including Les Misérables,Nicholas Nickleby, and Daddy Long Legs. According to a news report, the theater director explained he was drawn to Spirited Away’s themes of caring for the environment, respecting nature, believing in the force of good spirits within humanity, and empowering young people to change the world. Caird added that he had spent “a thousand hours” working on the production to bring Miyazaki’s universally relevant story to the stage.
The same report shared Spirited Away producer Toshio Suzuki’s praise for Caird’s vision. Suzuki noted that both he and Miyazaki “loved” the director’s approach and considered him trustworthy enough to adapt their beloved film into a live production. Spirited Away originally premiered in 2001 and earned over 30.8 billion yen ($208 million USD) during its release. A 2020 re-release pushed its domestic total to 31.68 billion yen. The animated feature remained the highest-grossing movie in Japan for 19 years before being overtaken by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train in 2020.
‘My Neighbor Totoro’ Is Another Successful Stage Adaptation
Spirited Away: Live on Stage is not the only Studio Ghibli film to be adapted for the theater. The British company Whole Hog Theater produced a live stage adaptation of Princess Mononoke, which ran in London and Tokyo in 2013, with a return run in 2014. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Windwas also adapted into a kabuki play in 2019. Later, in 2022, My Neighbor Totoro was remade for the stage and sold out two seasons at London’s Barbican Centre before transferring to the West End.
As per a news report, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of My Neighbor Totoro began its West End run on March 8, 2025, and is scheduled to run through November 2. The play, adapted by Tom Morton-Smith and directed by Phelim McDermott, broke box office records during its original 15-week run in 2022 and again during its 17-week return engagement in 2023–24 after attracting more than 290,000 audience members. The adaptation has also won six Olivier Awards, five WhatsOnStage Awards, and a Critics’ Circle Award for Best Design.
My Neighbor Totoro features puppetry by Basil Twist, who designed the life-sized Totoro, and incorporates music from Joe Hisaishi’s iconic score, newly orchestrated by Will Stuart. Like the 1988 animated film, the stage production follows sisters Satsuki and Mei as they move to the countryside with their father and discover the magical forest spirit Totoro.
Spirited Away: Live on Stage is now available to stream on Prime Video. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
