Every animation fan knows the so-called Studio Ghibli. The Japanese animation studio has made a name for itself by creating some of the biggest animated films of all time. The studio was founded in 1985 through established animators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and manufacturer Toshio Suzuki. Over the next three decades and 23 films, Studio Ghibli produced some of the most productive coming-of-age, fantasy, and family films of all time. Studio Ghibli is an artistic and office powerhouse. Five of the studio’s films are among the highest-grossing animated films and five have earned Academy Award nominations in the United States. With everything from the theme park in Nagakute, Japan, to art exhibitions in the United States, Studio Ghibli has a loyal fan base, especially for its high-quality film production and memorable characters. But what’s the most productive way to delve deeper into Studio Ghibli cinematography? Whether it’s all the Studio Ghibli movies in order or Studio Ghibli movies ranked, this list will tell you how to watch each and every Studio Ghibli movie.
While it deserves to be simple, there is a bit of debate about how many Studio Ghibli movies there are. For this list, Studio Ghibli films are explained as feature films made after the studio’s inception in 1985. This means that Nausicaä of the Valley from The Wind from 1984 and The Last Unicorn from 1982. Both films were directed by Topcraft prior to the creation of Ghibli. This also excludes TV shows like Ronja and The Thief’s Daughter. This list also omits The Red Turtle, which was a French film. co-production through Michaël Dudok de Wit.
*Refers to out-of-theatrical releases. Ocean Waves originally aired on Nippon TV, and Earwig and the Witch was eventually released in theaters, premiering on NHK General TV.
Studio Ghibli films feature similar aesthetics or themes. Not only are his most productive films beautiful, but they also feature environmental messages, strong female protagonists, the wonder (and rarely the loss) of childhood, emotional depth, and/or endings left to the viewer. These themes have become synonymous with the Ghibli philosophy. His films also deal with magic, Japan’s past, the countryside and airplanes/flying machines and they rarely explain everything to the viewer.
These themes are what really make up the “Ghibili films” and are taken into account in this classification. This ranking also takes into account awards, critical reception, and long-standing relevance to the study. However, it prioritizes the pleasure of watching the movie and the movie itself. Although most audiences sometimes prefer the original Japanese, dubbed versions are available for all of those films and feature American stars and have higher production values than other dubbed films from Japan.
Earthsea Tales is loosely based on Ursula K’s Earthsea series. However, Le Guin even pointed out that it deviated too far from the original curtain and was confusing. The first film directed by Gorō Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki’s son), Tales from Earthsea feels like it came from someone who is still insecure.
Although the film has a loyal following, Hayao Miyazaki is not one of them and said of the film and his son, “I’m hunting my son. He is not yet an adult. That’s it. ” While the film is enjoyable, even a little overloaded, it lacks the craftsmanship or magic that many of the studio’s other films possess. Lately it has 38% of Rotten Tomatoes and is streamed on Max.
Perhaps the studio’s only true flop, Earwig and The Witch, is another Gorō Miyazaki film. The biggest challenge with Earwig and the Witch is the animation style. The movie is in CGI and not CGI, which is really beautiful. Ghibli videos are famous for their craftsmanship, especially when it comes to stunning visuals, and Earwig simply doesn’t offer anything like it.
The story follows a young woman followed by a witch in ’90s England who begins to listen to a band called Earwig. The film has some sweet moments and some characters feel like they’re in a song with Ghibli as a studio. However, when it comes to Ghibli videos about a young witch who discovers herself, this one doesn’t come close to Kiki’s delivery service. The English dub of the film stars Richard E. Grant, Dan Stevens and Kacey Musgraves. The film is the studio’s lowest rated film on Rotten Tomatoes, with 28% from critics. Lately it has been streaming on Max.
As a studio, Ghibli doesn’t make sequels. However, The Cat Returns is a spin-off of 1995’s Whisper of the Heart. The film follows a young guest at the enchanted cat kingdom after saving a cat from being hit by a truck. The story is based on the manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi and the film was directed by Hiroyuki Morita.
For a spin-off, the film is fun and engaging, but it’s forgettable. There’s not much emotional intensity in The Cat Returns, but it also doesn’t seem to want to be more than some sort of Alice in Wonderland tale. It will delight young children. Cary Elwes (who also played the Baron’s character in Whisper in the Heart) returned to perform with his voice and was joined by Elliot Gould, Anne Hathaway, and Tim Curry. Yōko Honna (who voiced the main character of Whisper in the Heart) also returned for an appearance in the original Japanese. The film is currently streaming on Max.
The real plot of Ocean Waves is very sweet. The film follows two friends as a love triangle develops at their best school when a new woman is transferred to their idyllic seaside town from Tokyo. It’s a perfectly cool teen romance anime, but it feels a bit underwhelming for other Ghibli movies.
Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki, Ocean Waves was the first Ghibli film not directed by Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. Mochizuki was in his thirties at the time, and the film was an attempt by the younger members of the studio to make a film on a moderate budget. Even though the film went over budget and on schedule, it is still a low-budget production. The animation is not very noticeable and sometimes it looks like a TV movie. The film has barely taken on a momentary life as an underrated gem and queer narrative imaginable. The film is currently streaming on Max.
Based on the comic book Nono-chan written by Hisaichi Ishii, My Neighbors the Yamadas Are Eager to Read Sunday Morning Comics. The film is a series of vignettes featuring the Yamada family and their many adventures.
My neighbors the Yamadas also have a comedic graphic taste that makes sense for the film. However, it doesn’t offer the shocking visuals of the other videos on this list. The film is also particularly funnier than many other Studio Ghibli films. Directed by Isao Takahata, the English dub of the film stars Jim Belushi and Molly Shannon. The film garnered positive reviews but was not as successful at the box office as many other Ghibli films. Lately it has been streaming on Max.
Also called The Secret World of Arrietty and Arietty the Borrower, Arietty is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and is based on Mary Norton’s 1952 novel, The Borrowers. Arrietty is one of the top deals available from Ghibli. While that’s not a bad thing, it lacks a bit of the finesse of the studio’s other films.
The film follows a young man who goes to live with his great-aunt before an upcoming operation. At his country house, he sees a little teenager named Arrietty, who lives underground with her family. The film is superbly animated and balances burlesque visuals with heart. The film gained two dubs, one in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. While the U. S. edition features Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Carol Burnett, the U. K. edition (starring Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Coleman, and Tom Holland) is better. The film is currently streaming on Max.
From Up on Poppy Hill is the best film by director Gorō Miyazaki. The film follows the romance between two outstanding students at the school in the city of Yokohama before the 1964 Summer Olympics. It was co-written by Hayao Miyazaki and based on the 1980s manga of the same call through Tetsuo Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi.
From Up on Poppy Hill mixes romance, nostalgia and anti-war message. Its sweetness and depiction of ’60s Japan make this film spectacular. The dubbed edition features Sarah Bolger, Anton Yelchin, Ron Howard, Jeff Dunham, Gillian Anderson, Ronan Farrow, and Aubrey Plaza. The film is currently streaming on Max.
The Wind Rises has no magic and almost no fantasy. It’s a bit more Oppenheimer than Ghibli. No is necessarily a bad thing, but the film also suffers from being a bit boring. Most of Ghibli’s videos are slow-paced, but The Wind Rises feels slow. The film follows a fictionalized edition of Jiro Horikoshi on his adventure with an aeronautical engineer and eventually builds the Mitsubishi A5M fighter intended for use in World War II.
While the final scene of this film cements the film’s pacifist stance, until then the film is much more neutral, resulting for a sometimes very pacifist studio and director, Hayao Miyazaki. The film was a good luck at the box office and a critical favorite, even being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. However, it has caused controversy in Korea due to its representation of the Japanese military. It also features a Jewish character drawn in a somewhat stereotypical way. The film was intended to be Miyazaki’s last film before his retirement. However, he returned ten years later to direct The Boy and the Heron. The Wind Rises is currently airing on Max.
The only Studio Ghibli film directed by Yoshifumi Kondō before his sudden death in 1998, Whisper of the Heart, is based on the manga of the same name through Aoi Hiiragi. The studio was preparing Kondō for Miyazaki and Takahata’s successor, which may be felt in Whisper of the Heart. The film has the same magic and slow speed as most of the studio’s classics.
The film follows a love story between Shizuku, a hopeful writer, and Seiji Amasawa, a boy who aspires to be a master luthier. Shizuku takes it upon herself to locate Seiji after realizing that they are all looking for the same books from the library while becoming friends. an eccentric merchant and a mysterious big cat. The English dub stars Brittany Snow, Cary Elwes and Jean Smart. The film is currently streaming on Max.
While the English dub of the film says that they are raccoons, they are tanukis. Pom Poko, arguably the studio’s strangest film, follows an army of tanuki as they hold out over a housing estate on the outskirts of Tokyo for 30 years. Directed by Isao Takahata, the film is about deforestation, modernization and Japanese folklore, in which tanukis stand out.
The American public would probably not “get” Pom Poko. Many jokes and themes would be understood by the Japanese public but would not actually be translated. For example, tanukis use their giant testicles in the movie. In classical art, tanukis are depicted with magical giant “you know what”; However, most Americans are not familiar with this characterization. The film is also the most experimental animated film on this list, which might put other people off. However, it will definitely leave an impression. Pom Poko is streaming lately on Max.
When Marnie Was There has a more gothic fictional tone than any of Studio Ghibli’s other films. Although its tone distinguishes it, the images meet the studio’s highest artistic standards. The film follows a young orphan girl who settles for spending a summer in Kushiro. wetlands in Hokkaido in hopes of curing their asthma. There, he meets a mysterious woman who lives in a mansion that turns out to exist outside of time.
While the film’s story is easy for adult audiences to guess, it offers a heartfelt mystery that is sure to surprise some young viewers. The film was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was also the last film of prominent animator Makiko Futaki before his death in 2016. The voice acting includes performances by Hailee Steinfeld, Kiernan Shipka, Catherine O’Hara, Vanessa Williams, Geena Davis, and John C. Reilly. The movie is streaming lately on Max.
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo is necessarily The Little Mermaid with a very Ghibli touch. The film follows a goldfish who falls in love with a young boy. It will have to take on a completely human form or threaten a natural disaster. The film is perhaps the most available Ghibli film and is much more kid-friendly or perhaps only aimed at children than the studio’s other films.
While many Japanese films make herbal mistakes as part of a Japanese cultural milestone, many Studio Ghibli films concentrate on environmentalism. However, Ponyo mixes a simple, kid-friendly story with the reality of herbal mistakes. The film was completely hand-animated, frame by frame, which gives it a charming and nostalgic look. Ponyo is streaming lately on Max.
In reality, there is nothing in Just Yesterday that makes it irrelevant to children. However, it doesn’t feel like a movie that kids can easily relate to. The film follows Taeko as a fifth-grader coming of age in Tokyo in the ’60s and her life as a 27-year-old single in a summer from Tokyo to working as a farmer in the fields.
Directed by Isao Takahata, the film explores the position of women in a Japan in the process of conversion and in a society that is moving away from its classic practices. The film is a melancholy masterpiece that will move women today in their twenties, just as they did in the 1990s. While it’s an English dub done in 2016 with Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel, the Japanese edition is better, especially thanks to Taeko’s explanatory interior monologue, which proves clunky in the English edition. While the film doesn’t feature any of the fantasy elements of many Ghibli films, it’s a masterpiece that will leave the viewer thinking for a long time. Lately it has one hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes and lately it is being broadcast on Max.
Castle in the Sky is a “cult” film. This is partly due to its steampunk aesthetic and partly due to its poor performance when it was first aired. However, she has since been loved by fans. The film was also the first released through Studio Ghibli. It follows a young girl who falls from the sky after being kidnapped in a floating city and the young man who digs her up and then has to escape from pirates while looking for his way back.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the film is partly animated by his trip to Wales after the 1984-1985 coal miners’ strike. Like many of his other films, Castle in the Sky conveys an environmentalist message and explores the theme of technology. Although this is the first film made through the studio, much of what makes a wonderful Ghibli film is already present, and the film has won critical acclaim since its release. There are two English dubs for the film. The first was ordered for Japan Airlines flights in 1988, and the second was made through Disney in 2003, starring James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin. Lately it has been streaming on Max.
Hayao Miyazaki is coming out of a ten-year retirement (at least for feature films) for The Boy and the Heron. In ten years, he may climb even higher in the lists of the studio’s most productive. Studio Ghibli films have a tendency to age. exceptionally well and goes deeper with visualizations (a bit the opposite of “recency bias”). The film follows a young man in World War II Japan who meets a demonic heron who promises to help him locate his mother.
The narrative is intentionally difficult to analyze, but it is intended to serve as a metaphorical autobiography. It explores themes of creation, destruction, and selfishness. The film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. The English dub features performances by Robert Pattinson, Karen Fukuhara, Christian Bale, and Mark Hamill. It can currently be rented on YouTube, Apple TV and Google Play.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Howl’s Howl’s Howl’s Howl’s Moving Castle is a masterclass in animation and arguably the most beautiful film from a studio that doesn’t yet make beautiful movies. Howl’s Howl is loosely based on the 1986 novel of the same title by Diana Wynne Jones. a young milliner transformed into an old woman through a witch and her next date with a vain sorcerer.
It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Joe Hisaishi composed 11 of the films on this list, and Howl’s Howl is among his iconic maxims. The score conducted by the New Japan Philharmonic. Howl’s Moving Castle is anti-war and also explores themes of aging and beauty. Although some, including Roger Ebert, have criticized the film for its plot, there’s so much going on that it’s one of the fan-favorite videos among Ghibli videos. streaming on Max.
Director Isao Takahata’s most recent film, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, retells the 10th-century folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. The film uses an animation style that is not discovered in other Ghibli films. Although it is more lively, it evokes classic artistic tastes, adding Sumi-e watercolors. The film follows a bamboo cutter who discovers a little woman inside a shiny shoot. He raises her to be a princess even though she longs for the town where she once lived.
The film is heartbreakingly beautiful and conveys a strong message about the way of life and the position of women. The Tale of Princess Kaguya is Takeo Chii’s newest film and also features Yukiji Asaoka in a special appearance. The English dub stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Darren Criss and James Caan. Until 2023, The Boy and The Heron, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, the highest-budget film in Japanese history, with a budget of around $49 million. The film is one hundred percent based on Rotten Tomatoes and nominated for Best Animation. Feature at the Awards of the Academia. La story of Princess Kaguya is airing lately on Max.
A dark animated film about a seaplane pilot (turned bounty hunter) doomed to live like a pig in the Adriatic Sea of the 1930s is a hard sell, but everything about Porco Rosso works. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the film is arguably the funniest movie ever. made through Studio Ghibli and a harrowing vision of trauma, war and fascism in the 1930s. The film’s ending will leave the viewer begging for more in a form of heartbreaking beauty.
While an English dub was made for Japan Airlines in the 1990s and later included in some box sets, most will be more familiar with the 2005 English dub starring Michael Keaton, Cary Elwes, and Susan Egan. Although subtitles are sometimes preferred, this is the rare case. a film that deserves to be seen in English. The black flavor lends itself well to dubbing, and Keaton’s paintings as Marco “Porco Rosso” Rossolini resemble Humphrey Bogart in his heyday. The film shows a respect for the beginnings of aviation, which can also be noted in later Ghibli films. The film is exceptionally quotable and the word “Better a pig than a fascist” has become a rallying cry in the 2023 Spanish elections. Lately it has been streaming on Max.
Set in the Muromachi era (c. 1400 AD), Princess Mononoke tells the story of an epic war between kami (forest deities) and humans over the earth’s resources. The film was a box office and critical heavyweight, holding the Japanese box office record for domestic films until 2001, Spirited Away. The film also helped identify Ghibli as a studio outside of Japan.
The film explores the interactions of humans with nature, conveys a strong environmentalist message and does not shy away from ethical ambiguity. Princess Mononoke also balances good looks and horror in a way that’s still pretty kid-friendly (though some kami are scary for long). young spectators). It is also the first animated film to win the Japanese Academy Film Award for film of the year. Lately it has been streaming on Max.
Kiki’s Delivery Service follows a young witch who will have to move to a new beach in the city to identify herself. There she starts an air delivery service while befriending the wife of a baker, a painter, a wealthy old woman, and an aviation-obsessed boy. The film feels like a warm embrace and explores themes of independence, vulnerability, and a world in conversion.
Although there was an English dub of the film through Japan Airlines, a Disney dub of the film from the late 1990s is more popular. Disney even updated the voice acting in 2010 to bring it closer to the Japanese original. The voice of Disney stars Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman (in one of his biggest roles) and Janeane Garofalo. The film seamlessly blends truth and magic, creating a gorgeously animated world that feels real, nostalgic, and imaginary. Lately, the movie is available to stream in max.
Grave of the Fireflies is one of Studio Ghibli’s darkest films and one of the darkest animated films of all time. The film follows the struggle of two children in the war in Japan in the 1940s. Although the film is not suitable for children, it was strangely first screened as a double feature film with the much lighter My Neighbor Totoro.
Directed by Isao Takahata, Grave of the Fireflies is an anti-war masterpiece that still seems significant more than 35 years later. It is the only Studio Ghibli theatrical film prior to 2011’s From Up on Poppy Hill for which Disney never had the North American distribution rights. , perhaps due to the darkness of the place. Similarly, there are two English dubs of the film, neither of them being star-studded like most other Ghibli movie dubs. However, the film doesn’t want celebrities to get its message across. The film was director Akira Kurosawa’s favorite Ghibli film, and he even once wrote a letter to Hayao Miyazaki praising a song (he mistakenly thought Miyazaki had directed it). Unfortunately, Grave of the Fireflies is currently unavailable to book or stream. in the United States.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, My Neighbor Totoro is arguably the studio’s most recognizable film, basically because the character of Totoro serves as Studio Ghibli’s mascot and logo. Like many other Ghibli films, My Neighbor Totoro is a coming-of-age story that emphasizes respect for the world of herbs. The film follows two young sisters who move to the Japanese countryside in the 1950s to encounter the spirit of the forest, a giant creature that a sister calls “Totoro. “
This stunningly beautiful film captures a past reverie that will make the viewer nostalgic for a position and a time they probably never were in. The film was originally dubbed into English for Japan Airlines in 1989. In 2004, she voiced herself in English with the voices of Dakota, Elle. Fanning and Timothy Daly, however, still prefer the airline’s original voice acting. The movie can be streamed on Max.
Arguably Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away follows a 10-year-old woman who will have to save her parents from the spirit realm and an evil witch running around in a bathhouse and befriending a mysterious spirit in the form of a teenager. the record for the highest-grossing film in Japan for 19 years.
The film, the first non-English animated film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (it’s also the only one until another Miyazaki film, The Boy and the Heron, won in 2024). It is one of the most superbly made animated films. films of all time, with a visual richness that attracts the viewer. The film explores themes of modernism, environmentalism, and consumerism. Lately it has been streaming on Max.
Conclusion
Studio Ghibli has made a calling for itself by creating charming and moving animated films. These videos are not only amazing animated videos but also amazing videos in general and of great value for kids and adults alike.
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