When the critic ratings were the same, we used the number of reviews to break the ties. For those who are yet to start their Studio Ghibli journey, the number of movies may seem overwhelming. You can take frames from Spirited Away and hang them on your wall, and yet it is never merely an exercise in style. Studio Ghibli's only made-for-TV movie spends the bulk of its time in the city of Kochi, where friends Taku Morisaki and Yutaka Matsuno both become smitten with new high-school classmate Rikako Muto. Children’s films have a habit of either leaning too hard into vulnerability or individuality. If you subscribe to a service through our links, Vulture may earn an affiliate commission. Few films are better at blending the two than one of Ghibli’s biggest early hits, the story of a young witch finding her way in the world. For the uninitiated, Studio Ghibli is just another brand of anime. The gateway drug for an addiction to Studio Ghibli, this is quite simply one of the most delightful and enjoyable children’s films ever made. One has to wonder how Kondō would have shaped animation if he hadn’t been taken by an aneurysm at such a young age. Studio Ghibli was allegedly going to close in 2014 after Miyazaki retired again (he likes to announce his retirement every few years or so), but he's now working on a new movie! The movie opens with a disturbing scene in which a boarlike creature has been infected by a bullet. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no tani no Naushika), Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo sumaseba) (If You Listen Closely), Best Netflix Shows and Series To Binge (January 2021), The 100 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (January 2021). After you fall in love with this movie, you’ll understand why. It tells a variation on a tale that’s common across cultures, that of tiny people living alongside average human beings, in this case “borrowing” what they need and trying to stay undetected. A lot of Miyazaki’s favorite themes, from anti-violence to female empowerment to sacrifice, are embedded in one of his most highly detailed visual works. This movie personifies what I love most about Studio Ghibli films. Miyazaki reportedly opposed the war in Iraq and made this film in response — a story of how violence shapes the landscape and can destroy the human soul. Studio Ghibli has something for everyone, whether it's a fantastical adventure, drama, or romance. Written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son Gorō Miyazaki, this is one of Studio Ghibli’s more straightforward dramas, an adaptation of a popular manga originally published in 1980. With echoes of Lewis Carroll’s Alice, Haru ends up in a world of cats, where she slowly starts to turn into herself. It opens with Seita dying of starvation and then flashes back to show us how we got there; you won’t find talking cats or moving castles in this one. This article originally ran in November 2019. It’s a quaint portrayal of a young girl’s quickly aging life, rife with symbolism and mysticism. Studio Ghibli has been gently revolutionizing the animation world since 1986, combining an endearing and empathetic worldview with rousing adventure. Representing Studio Ghibli at its angriest, this entry is almost definitely not for the littlest kids in the family (in fact, it’s the only one rated PG-13 in the U.S.) and was one of the major international breakthroughs for the company. Technically, this remains the final film of Studio Ghibli, made just before a hiatus was announced and the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki (which has since been reversed, as he’s reportedly working on a comeback film called How Do You Live?). How does humankind coexist with the world that’s been here long before it? Studio Ghibli movies ranked. It doesn’t help that this is a very purposefully episodic film, divided into vignettes about modern Japanese family life. Every Studio Ghibli Animated Film, Ranked Worst to Best by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – May 15, 2020 There has never been a better time to revisit the Studio Ghibli catalog. And is Zendaya poised to be our next superstar? Ranked Studio Ghibli Movies. Blending fantasy with coming-of-age tropes, Whisper is a deeply empathetic film, a great example of how even when they were dealing in human nature, the people at Ghibli could find magic. (A quick note: We are counting Nausicaa, which is technically not a Ghibli film but led to its foundation and has been reclaimed as such over the years. At its core, it’s a simple tale: A woman living in Tokyo goes to visit the countryside and remembers her childhood on the train journey. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE TRIAL OF VRV! In its second, Jules-centric holiday special, the series returns to its ostentatious roots, undercutting the potential of its own story. And it wasn’t long before producer Takahata wore the director’s hat, crafting the somber Grave of the Fireflies, which played as a double feature with Totoro in Japan. Based on a manga by Miyazaki and directed by the master, this is the story of Marco Pagot, who was cursed and became a “Red Pig.” Porco Rosso is one of Ghibli’s most memorable characters, a classic adventure-movie archetype that could have been played by Humphrey Bogart back in the day. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Takahata’s gift with character allows the memories of his protagonist to break through stereotype and feel organic and true. Anna is a rare young-adult hero in that she is overtly depressed and unhappy — she talks about how she hates herself in ways that YA fiction doesn’t often allow — but everything changes when she’s forced to move to a seaside community after an asthma attack. There’s no arguing that Studio Ghibli’s commitment to artistry and empathetic storytelling has transformed modern filmmaking. Miyazaki has been Studio Ghibli’s global champion, and rounded out the rest of the ’80s with My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Disney and Nickelodeon Stars Gone Pop: A Power Ranking. A clear culmination of themes he had explored throughout his career, this is a film that feels simple at first: an old-fashioned fairy tale about a magical girl who grows up quickly. These works were not created by Studio Ghibli, but were produced by a variety of studios and people who went on to form or join Studio Ghibli. How powerful is Lesbian Jesus? While there are elements that keep this culturally distant for American audiences, and it doesn’t transcend its genre like the best Ghibli, one can still see Takahata’s deep empathy in Studio Ghibli’s first completely digital film. With sparse, watercolor visuals that are nearly free of the visual flourish of the company’s prior works, Takahata focuses his audience on his themes instead of just his art. The story goes that Hayao Miyazaki had been interested in adapting these stories since the early ’80s, but the author had been reticent about anyone adapting her books, changing her mind after the international success of Spirited Away. Entering the ’90s, the two Ghibli founders went toe-to-toe with Porco Rosso and Only Yesterday. Yonebayashi and his team use perspective in a way that makes the ordinary seem extraordinary, giving the whole experience the sheen of a classic fairy tale. Get a first look at the Colson Whitehead adaptation coming to Prime Video. Hayao Miyazaki has reportedly been working on a new film, but this was conceived and designed as his last before retirement, and it’s undeniably the work of a master looking back at his career. It’s a perfect elegy for Ghibli, reflecting the themes that have fascinated the company over 35 years; the film is essentially about embracing tragedies of the past so that we can move forward. Known as The Borrower Arrietty in Japan, Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s feature-film debut contains many of the fantasy hallmarks of Studio Ghibli while lacking some of the magic of the work of its masters. Best Studio Ghibli Movies, Ranked Featuring one of the most iconic characters to ever emerge from Ghibli films, My Neighbor Totoro tells the story … Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Coming Soon Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Let me stay a little longer! In 2014, Studio Ghibli laid off its animation staff and entered a period of dormancy. Studio Ghibli movies are close to the hearts of many, and it's not hard to see why. In the end, his film serves as a reminder of how we are formed by the events of our life and how our past can sometimes feel like it wasn’t that long ago. This is also a time in Ghibli’s history when it was moving back to hand-drawn animation, and it’s easy to see the human touch here. “Please! Years later, it’s fun to watch what is technically the first Studio Ghibli title and see it as a sort of cinematic overture of what would come. Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Coming Soon Movie News India Movie Spotlight. It’s a fun diversion, but thinner than the films above it on this list. (Nausicaa, which we’re including on this list, was made before Ghibli’s founding but has been culturally adopted as part of of filmography.) Already a subscriber? TV Shows. Nestled between two of the biggest hits in the history of the company — Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away — is this family comedy from the underrated Isao Takahata, the co-founder of Ghibli, who doesn’t get the attention lavished on his longtime business partner Hayao Miyazaki. It has its headquarters in Koganei, Tokyo. Takahata does something that filmmakers have done for generations now in detailing the human cost of war, but he does so in a way that live-action film can’t. PONYO When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. © 2021 Vox Media, LLC. So much of Ghibli’s catalogue has been so clearly anti-violence that this is a somewhat myopic reading of this film, and it dismisses the ambition of its story and beauty of its visuals. The latter was by Takahata, establishing him as a more dramatically grounded artist as compared to Miyazaki’s literal flights of fancy. But it is Miyazaki’s fantastical stories that have proven popular internationally, from the ecological war epic Princess Mononoke to the witchcraft and wizardry of Howl’s Moving Castle to the Oscar-winning masterpiece Spirited Away. “I had these pain charts, and I just had to think about every single ounce of it, then throw it all away, take what I knew, and perform it.”, Anuel AA and Ozuna Are Better Off Building Separate Empires, Netflix Dominates AFI’s Top Movie and Television Series of the Year. The classic tune plays a major role in this 1995 coming-of-age tale that was actually the first Ghibli production not helmed by Miyazaki or Takahata. Finally, it contains artistry on a visual level that rivals any animated film. Menu. First, it doesn’t talk down to its audience, allowing young viewers to be legitimately scarred by some of its haunting visions. All but one of Studio Ghibli's 22 films are now on Netflix. With that to look forward to on the horizon, we’re also taking a look back by ranking all of Studio Ghibli’s movies by Tomatometer! The scenes of Porco Rosso flying high above the sea are some of the most technically impressive from this era of Ghibli. How does one compare the lyricism of Princess Kaguya with the whimsy of Kiki’s Delivery Service with the world-building of Castle in the Sky? No animated studio comes close in the department of empowering stories for young women. It makes films that appeal to a wide demographic by refusing to talk down to children and allowing adults to explore their own feelings in unexpected ways. When the animation studio isn't marching off to magical worlds, it's pondering the emotional turmoil bubbling within everyday characters, with this quiet and moving drama falling into … In 1985, two friends and longtime collaborators — Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, fresh off the success of their recent project Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind — founded a company that would change animation as we know it. Natalie and Mike’s biggest issue is Natalie hating everything about Mike and who he is. All rights reserved. The two directors who defined the studio's output, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, had retired, and without the certain box office success of new Miyazaki movies, Ghibli couldn't afford to … Menu. https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/studio-ghibli-movies-ranked While the story of the likable Umi and Shun works well enough as teen drama with a few interesting twists, what resonates is the concept of a young girl using the naval language of flags to, in the end, try to communicate with an entire lost generation of fathers killed in combat. Already this list is in the “pretty good” category with 20 films to go. He’s loyal to those who are loyal to him and doesn’t abide by injustice. The Ranked Films of Studio Ghibli. Technically, this is the film that led to the founding of Studio Ghibli, and so some may argue it doesn’t “count.” However, so much of the team behind it would be folded into Ghibli that it has been rebranded on rerelease with its logo, and, most of all, it is so clearly of a piece with the rest of Ghibli’s output. Studio Ghibli doesn’t go for simple ideas, imbuing even what appears to be a straightforward children’s story like this one with a complexity rarely seen in fantasy fiction. Spirited Away, the story of a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro’s journey to her own spirit-filled Wonderland after moving to a new village, has become a modern classic. Over the last few decades, Studio Ghibli … And Totoro remains one of the most iconic characters of modern animation. June 10, 2020 at 07:01 PM EDT Skip gallery slides. Some of the comedy doesn’t translate perfectly, but there’s a joyous energy that Takahata uses to convey a message that clearly means a great deal to Ghibli: Destroying the natural world isn’t just damaging to the planet but to our own history and folklore. This is a movie that understands that empowerment doesn’t have to extinguish vulnerability, a message that’s hard to convey in any form of fiction, especially a genre of fantasy kids’ movies that usually traffics in simple ideas. The first official Studio Ghibli movie, this Miyazaki production isn’t as complex or finely polished as the movies above it on this list, but it’s a near perfect action-adventure. RELATED: Studio Ghibli's 10 Highest Grossing Movies (According To Box Office Mojo) Even before cottagecore was really a thing, certain branches of the movie industry have profited from this idealization. Since 1985, Studio Ghibli have been the world's primary exporter of magic Japanese animation. http://vrv.co/jelloInterested in hearing me talk about these movies at length? Ashwani Kumar Tiwari "त्रस्त" / December 29, 2020 / 0 / 924. 16) Tales from Earthsea (2006, dir. All rights reserved. The streaming app just bought the exclusive rights to WWE Network’s content. Studio Ghibli has a wide range of movies under its belt, and most of them have been included amongst the highest-grossing animated films. In other words, it’s about its creator too. 7/15/15 7:55PM. It’s a relatively straightforward young adult drama about a love triangle in the city of Kōchi when a new transfer student comes between two friends. Ghibli was suddenly a household name outside Japan, with a lot of its hits of this era resonating with an older, fantasy-driven audience (Howl, Mononoke, Spirited). Takahata often worked better in a more serious register (Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Kaguya), and his sparse visual style when compared to Miyazaki makes for a comedy that feels a little slight. Disney Is Finally Updating the Jungle Cruise Ride to Be 100 Percent Less Racist. One of the few films in the Ghibli catalogue that could legitimately be called an action/adventure, this cult hit became somewhat famous in American circles thanks to Michael Keaton’s pitch-perfect voice work as the title character in the U.S. dub. By Emily Reuben / Dec. 13, 2019 1:28 pm EST / Updated: Jan. 14, 2020 11:38 am EST. In fact, watching Nausicaa will give young viewers or those new to this world such a perfect introduction to what’s to come. People hold it up with beloved Disney animated movies in a way that makes it feel more a part of cultural history than anything released this millennium. 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