The cleansing of the river spirit is based on a real-life incident in Hayao Miyazaki's life in which he participated in the cleaning of a river, removing, among other things, a bicycle.
Although it has a rich plot with well-developed characters, Le Voyage de Chihiro (2001) was not created with a script. Hayao Miyazaki's films have never used scripts during production. "I don't have the story finished and ready when we start work on a film," the filmmaker told Midnight Eye. "I usually don't have the time. So, the story develops as I begin drawing storyboards. The production starts while the storyboards are still evolving." Miyazaki doesn't know where the plot is heading, and he lets it develop naturally. "It's not me who makes the film. The film makes itself, and I have no choice but to follow."
Although Hayao Miyazaki had considered retiring after completing Princesse Mononoké (1997), he was inspired to make this film after seeing a friend's sullen 10-year-old daughter.
This is the first film to earn US$200 million in grosses before opening in the U.S.
There are several instances in the English-dubbed version where additional dialogue was absent in the original Japanese release. In an interview with John Lasseter, he explained that it was a necessary addition to help clarify some aspects for American audiences. For example, what is a bathhouse to a Japanese viewer might not be apparent to an American viewer. This translation issue was resolved by having the character explain, "Oh, it's a bathhouse."
Hayao Miyazaki: [pigs] Chihiro's parents are turned into pigs as a result of eating food intended for the gods.