The titular castle is absolutely striking, a remarkable feat of animation filled with excruciating detail, and the film's depiction of magic is one of the most unique depictions in cinema. The titular Howl's powers feel ancient yet incredibly powerful. Though this remains a fascinating "what if? If you watch the dub version of the film, you'll be presented with a delightful performance by Billy Crystal as a sentient fire demon. Isao Takahata's adaptation of the popular Nono-chan manga feels like a slice-of-life version of Totoro , exchanging the fairy-tale creatures for hilarious vignettes of the everyday life of a regular family.
What makes this special is the way the film is animated to look like newspaper comic strips, using the medium to tell a story in a way that otherwise could not be replicated. Though it was made before the actual founding of Studio Ghibli, Nausicaa gives viewers a glimpse into much of what would make Studio Ghibli the powerhouse it'd become.
It's a less graphic version of Princess Mononoke that nevertheless shares its anger at the way humans treat nature. What differentiates Nausicaa is that it doesn't offer the same nuance approach to villains that Mononoke has, because it doesn't extend them any sympathy. The film is set in the far future, where the air has become so toxic that humans are forced to wear face masks and live in isolated cities to protect themselves from giant mutant insects.
Though it may feel a bit redundant if you watch Mononoke beforehand, the worldbuilding, creature design, and more optimistic ending to Nausicaa make this a film worth seeking out. There comes a point in everyone's life when they realize life didn't turn out to be the way they imagined as kids, so of course Takahata would make that into a movie.
Only Yesterday follows a woman reflecting on her childhood memories while on a train ride to the countryside. The film is an observation of everything from social class, the role of women in Japanese society, urbanization, generational gap, and the question of whether you betray your past self by not following every one of the dreams you had as a kid.
Though this is the most low-key of Ghibli's films, it's still a powerful narrative, one that feels like the kind of indie drama that would win every award at a film festival. Intended to be Miyazaki's final film before retirement, this is a great film about an artist reflecting on his legacy.
Like Takahata with The Tale of Princess Kaguya , Miyazaki takes his love of planes to tell the story of a WWII airplane designer which also serves as a reflection of a lifetime making anti-war films that were never seen as sufficiently anti-war. Miyazaki splendidly and meticulously gives us a glimpse at the complexity of both loving airplanes and being a pacifist who knows the true purpose of those planes.
The Wind Rises , then, becomes as much a film about a designer coming to terms with his creation being used for horrible purposes, as a filmmaker coming to terms with his creative output being misinterpreted, and reinterpreted in ways he never imagined.
It may be a more muted film than Miyazaki's earlier work, but it's a fantastic film about being forced to become a realist and a great look back at the work of a master at the top of his game. This is a love letter to WWII-era epics like Casablanca , following an Italian flying ace in the s hunting air pirates in the Adriatic Sea, only he also has the face of a pig. Porco is one of Ghibli's most memorable characters, a classic hotshot, chauvinistic adventure-movie star you could totally see Humphrey Bogart play if it was made in the s.
Of course, Miyazaki is not going to just give us an adventure movie, because he also takes the opportunity to comment on the rise of fascism in Italy during the s, with Mussolini's face a constant presence in the background, talk of secret police becoming more prominent, a flashback scene that walks the line between fantastical and super grounded in reality, all leading to a rallying cry that feels all the more powerful today: "I'd rather be a pig than a fascist.
Studio Ghibli has a lot of weird films, but there's no film as balls-to-the-wall sorry weird as the one with the giant magical tanuki scrotums. You heard that right. Though Grave of the Fireflies is Isao Takahata's rawest and darkest film, this is his version of Princess Mononoke — a furiously angry dark comedy about nature striking back against suburban development.
Defending nature is a group of tanuki or raccoon dogs who aren't afraid of haunting nearby construction sites to put the fear of god into people by using their huge scrotums to shapeshift. This being Takahata, you shouldn't count on Pom Poko having a cheerful ending, especially given that the film is based around a real residential development around Tokyo that already existed by the time the film was released. There's a surprising amount of body horror, sexual tension among tanuki, and unrepentant murder that you'd expect on a children's movie, but there's no denying Takahata's infectious passion for the message that comes up time and time again in the works of Studio Ghibli — urban development and expansion does irreparable danger to nature, and when we lose that, we lose ourselves.
Technically the first proper Studio Ghibli title, and the beginning of many tropes that the studio would repeat for years. Once again, the story is simple enough, following a boy and a girl trying to find a magic crystal and a castle in the sky before a group of pirates catch up to them. And once again, the story is but a starting point for a grander exploration of the struggle between nature and man-made technology, which would become such a big part of Ghibli's work.
This is one of the rare Ghibli films to feature a fully recognizable and unsympathetic villain, yet it's one hell of a despicable and fun-to-watch villain. Kiki, a year-old witch, sets off to make her own life as tradition dictates, leaving her loving family behind. But Kiki soon learns adjusting to life as the only witch in a big city is more than just the excitement of new encounters and experiences.
Loneliness, uncertainty and feeling vulnerable are all a part of getting older and figuring out our own identity. Ten-year-old Chihiro is unhappily on her way to her new house with her parents, but a couple of bad decisions cause her parents to be turned into pigs and all three of them get trapped in the spirit realm. There, she befriends a boy named Haku and gets a job working at a bathhouse.
The film is steeped in Japanese folklore and introduces various memorable spirits as Chihiro learns to navigate the rules of the spirit world in order to figure out a way back to the human realm.
Then one where the boy is selfish. She sets off to break the curse and is reunited with the wizard in his walking steampunk castle. For U. But the way Takahata stylized memory in this reflection on nostalgia steeped in nostalgia is no less magical. Watch how Miyazaki and Takahata approach similar themes very differently.
Is it kid friendly? The protagonist is Ashitaka, a prince cursed by a boar god-turned-demon, who meets San, a human girl raised by a wolf god, while searching for a cure and is thrust into the middle of the conflict between humans and nature. And you might have to explain why the raccoon dogs use their scrotums to shape-shift. In Japanese folklore, tanuki — Japanese raccoon dogs — have the ability shape-shift. Their resistance includes re-learning how to shape-shift and sabotaging construction sites.
After meeting and befriending a human boy named Sosuke — who names her Ponyo — the goldfish longs to become human. Studio Ghibli's first offical feature, Laputa, Castle in the Sky heads back to the late 19th century, as a young girl, Sheeta, endeavours to fend off the cunning and determined government agents on her tail.
They're chasing not only a rare magic crystal, but a fabled city floating in the clouds — and as Hayao Miyazaki depicts with steampunk flair, endearing characters and a spirited statement, it all makes for an entrancing adventure. Laputa, Castle in the Sky is available to stream via Netflix. Mischievous racoon-like critters called tanuki sit at the heart of this Isao Takahata-directed film — creatures with a basis in folklore, boasting the ability to transform into almost anything and possessing very flexible scrotums yes, really.
Alas, their habitat outside of Tokyo is under threat from developers, with this touching delight combining magical wonder with a message. It's an impassioned, affectionate fable, matching its narrative and overtly offbeat sense of humour with memorable imagery. Pom Poko is available to stream via Netflix.
A film of narrative simplicity but both visual and thematic intricacy, this textured and meditative feature explores the complicated splendour that springs from humanity's relationship with the world around us after a man is washed up on a deserted island. If ever a movie encapsulated everything that's made Studio Ghibli such a beloved filmmaking force, it's Howl's Moving Castle.
Energetic, creative and sensitive, this Hayao Miyazaki-helmed fantasy not only unfurls a mesmerising story — about a young milliner who is cursed by a witch, transforms into an elderly woman and becomes a wizard's housekeeper — but does so with beautiful imagery, endearing characters, and strong anti-war and pro-feminist sentiments.
Howl's Moving Castle is available to stream via Netflix. It's the film that immediately found a place in viewers' hearts and never left. Thanks to its heartwarming mood and emotions, astute observations, adorable characters and eager sense of adventure, Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbour Totoro has become Studio Ghibli's best-known movie for many great reasons — all as it chronicles two sisters' exploits when they not only move into a new house, but make a new pal in the forest and discover the catbus.
My Neighbour Totoro is available to stream via Netflix. Hayao Miyazaki has never shied away from making an ecological statement; however Princess Mononoke might just send his most forceful message about humanity's impact upon the earth. As set in Japan's Muromachi period from the 14th to 16th centuries , this involving fantasy charts the paths of a young prince with a curse and a young woman raised by wolves, as well as the conflict between a modernising town and the forest it's destroying.
Princess Mononoke is available to stream via Netflix. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind technically pre-dates Studio Ghibli, but Hayao Miyazaki's post-apocalyptic fantasy has been claimed as the company's own. Charting the battles of a young princess as she fights an invading kingdom and tries to reconcile the damage ravaged upon the planet, the film became an instant classic, with its environmentally conscious story, stunning animation and stellar score all proving beguiling.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is available to stream via Netflix. In Spirited Away , ten-year-old Chihiro stumbles across a magical and mysterious world, then wants nothing more than to escape back home. Viewers of Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning masterpiece, however, are happy spending as much time as possible in the film's wondrous realm — which, as set around a luxurious and busy bathhouse that caters to spirits, constantly surprises, delights, and revels in inventive storytelling and animation.
Spirited Away is available to stream via Netflix. The most heartbreaking animated film ever made, Isao Takahata's touching war drama Grave of the Fireflies is the rarest of inclusions on Studio Ghibli's cinematic resume. Plunging into dark and sombre territory, it tells the tale of two siblings desperately struggling to survive in the last days of the Second World War. From its fleshed-out characters tussling with life and death, to its striking visuals, the movie's handling of its moving and sorrowful story couldn't be more astonishing.
Grave of the Fireflies is available on DVD. Published on July 19, by Sarah Ward. Login with Facebook. Don't have a profile? I agree to the terms and conditions. The Playmaker. It's Friday. What day is it? What time is it?
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