Spirited Away illustrates which category of animation?

• A. Hand-drawn animated film
• B. Stop-motion animated film
• C. Claymation
• D. Pixilation

Answer: (A)

Traditional hand-drawn animation is created by artists drawing each frame by hand (on paper or digitally) and then painting those images onto clear sheets called cels that are layered over painted backgrounds to create motion. Spirited Away is a classic example of this approach: it was produced by Studio Ghibli and released in 2001 as a 2D feature film that uses hand-drawn characters and settings, with frames photographed to bring the story to life. While modern productions may use digital tools for compositing, the core technique remains 2D hand-drawn animation, not the stop-motion methods that build movement from physical objects or clay models, nor the pixilation technique that uses live actors frame by frame.