Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well. I am convinced that Utagawa Yoshiuji's graphic rendering of the legend Kamikiri no kidan, about a maidservant who went to the privy at night and was attacked by something utterly black that seemed to fall upon her hair, served as the inspiration for a number of scenes in "Spirited Away".
At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the
Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least
