Alternate Aesop Interpretation: The film can be seen as a take that against hustle culture, capitalism and commercial greed which were issues plaguing Japan from the film's release to present day, if the widespread knowledge of Japan's poor working conditions combined with the need to conform are anything to go by.
The theory that Yubaba and Zeniba are the same person. This is only applicable in the English dub. In the original Japanese version, Yubaba is much more vindictive and sinister, and has no intention of willingly releasing anybody who's under her power.
Chihiro and Haku's relationship and the nature of it is up in the air. She has a deeper connection to him than she does with the other friends she makes throughout the film - and The Power of Love benefits him far more than anyone else. But as they're so young, Chihiro never treats Haku as anything more than just a friend, so they could entirely be platonic.
Is Zeniba's role in the spirit world to act as an Aesop Enforcer? The collection of friends learn something while at her house - Chihiro learning about The Power of Love and Boh learning to become more independent. No-Face meanwhile still hasn't learned his lesson, so Zeniba makes him stay with her so she can teach him. She doesn't need to do the same for Chihiro and Boh because they already learned their own Aesops.
Awesome Art: As is to be expected of any movie by Hayao Miyazaki, the film's animation is nothing short of gorgeous.
Broken Base: The English dub inserts one final line from Chihiro saying "I think I can handle it" (re: moving to a new house). Word of God is that she doesn't remember any of her experiences in the spirit world, so fans are split over whether this line undermines that. It also means they can't decide whether Chihiro does in fact remember everything or forgets but still keeps the Character Development anyway. Unlike the lull-filling in Disney's dubs of Castle in the Sky and Kiki's Delivery Service, neither Disney nor GKids removed this (or any of the dialogue Disney added) from any DVDs or Blu-Ray Discs.
The Radish Spirit has become incredibly popular in spite of being a minor background character for most of the film. Somehow, being The Speechless is part of his appeal. It helps that he is one of the few helpful and good-hearted spirits to Chihiro prior to getting hired, on top of his Ugly Cute appearance.
The Sootsprites are a fan favorite, as always (basically little black balls of fluff with googly eyes).
"Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy!" (Yubaba's three "Kashira" aka the three green heads.)
About half of the Spirited Away fanart and fanfiction department usually involves Chihiro being reunited with Haku an indefinite amount of time after the end of the movie and/or Chihiro returning to the spirit world.
Another common scenario in fanworks is what if Chihiro decided to stay in the spirit world instead of returning to her world.
The film is just as widely beloved and popular in the United States as it is in Japan, to the point that it received an Academy Award for best animated film, the only Ghibli film to have gotten one. This is partly thanks to Disney, who handled both the film's English dub, as well as its distribution in the US.
The film is also incredibly popular in China, with its theatrical release in the country having made over 230 million yuan (US$33 million) at the box office and outdoing Pixar's Toy Story 4 at the box office, which is quite impressive for a film that came out 18 years prior. This is despite the film containing ghosts, which usually gets films Banned in China.
Hype Backlash: For some people. The film is often lauded as the greatest animated film of all time, and almost always the best Studio Ghibli film. For a time, it boasted a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is an extreme rarity. While you'd be hard pressed to find someone who actively dislikes it, a few will argue that the film doesn't quite deserve the reputation of being absolutely perfect that it often enjoys.
Jerkass Woobie: Chihiro seems to be a bit of a spoiled and selfish brat in the beginning, but her parents are unsympathetic and dismissive of her plight, she's lost in a completely new world, where her humanity makes her an outcast to most of the spirits who inhabit the place, and she finds herself under contract from a ruthless businesswoman who's not willing to let her go.
Memetic Mutation: The scene of No-Face being wiped away by a wave has become a popular reaction meme.
Narm: While Chihiro crying and eating a rice cake is definitely a heartbreaking scene, Chihiro's tears are so comically large, that it can be hard not to crack a smile.
Nightmare Retardant: No-Face eating people in the bathhouse? Terrifying. No-Face shouting "Wipe that smile off your face! YOU'RE STILL SMILING!" before eating one guy? Hilarious.
One True Pairing: Chihiro/Haku is this for fans of the movie to the point where you'd think they did end up together at the end of the movie.
Popular with Furries: Haku's dragon form gets a lot of attention from the furry crowd.
Spiritual Successor: The plot can be a Japanese successor to the first The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel as they both are about innocent young girls who get thrown into a magical world where they meet and helps all kinds of strange characters and both Dorothy and Chihiro at one point are forced to work for a wicked witch and have to look for a good witch with a group of misfits who need the good witch’s help.
Signature Scene: The train ride is the most iconic scene in the movie as it's the most talked about scene; many praise it for its serenity and soundtrack.
Squick: Studio Ghibli has a thing for animating goo… and it shows! The fluid 'Stench Spirit' (and his slime trail) and the horrible effects that the purgative has on No-Face are meant to produce that reaction and they succeed! Also invoked with blood: Haku's injuries produce a lot of blood and it gets everywhere.
Ugly Cute: Some of the bathhouse spirits, particularly the Radish Spirit. *squeak squeak squeak*
Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Many of the spirits have proportions that are just wrong. The effect can be rather unsettling at first. Lin, for example, looks completely human, but the frog spirits (like the head of the bathhouse, not the green one) look like humans with distorted features.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: For a film aimed at young children, there's an awful lot of blood and other potentially frightening imagery, especially considering it was released in the U.S. In fact, it was rated PG in the States for the frightening scenes that occur since it might be a bit much for young children.
Yubaba is the only character in the bathhouse who wears a European style dress, while everyone else wears traditional Japanese attire. She also mainly cares about money and figures. This is suggested to be a metaphor for how traditional Japanese values can get lost due to influence from Western capitalism.
It has been suggested that the bathhouse parallels a child entering the work force for the first time. Chihiro is separated from her parents and must learn to get along without them, she must keep different hours than the ones she's used to, and her hard work is rewarded with gifts that help her out.
Haku, who lost his home when his river was filled so apartments could be built, then loses his name to Yubaba and is forced to become her lackey after she puts a black slug in his belly to control him.
Chihiro, too. The poor girl didn't ask to get cooped up in the spirit world with a bunch of strangers after her parents get turned into pigs.
Woolseyism: As mentioned above, the Disney dub is high quality, but there are some things that Disney thought needed to be explained, so a few things are left out that either become more obvious in the Japanese version or were changed in the English to fit in. These changes aren't necessarily bad, and some people prefer them, but they are different.
" aka the three green heads.)
