Studio Ghibli

A big highlight of having HBOMax has been diving into its wealth of foreign films, in particular those from Japan. I've enjoyed seeing more from Akira Kurosawa (beyond Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Yojimbo), to be sure, but more so I've become slightly obsessed with animation from Studio Ghibli.

Before exploring this stuff I knew there was a bunch of Anime in the IMDB Top 250, none of which I'd seen. I didn't realize that nearly all (Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro) were made by this same studio. Four of those five had the same director, Hayao Miyazaki. An obvious comp, in terms of pumping out high quality animated films, is Pixar, but the more I see more Studio Ghibli the more I think it's in fact better than its American counterpart.

There's no knocking Pixar in this, I love Toy Story and the Incredibles and others too, but the often heard joke about them also rings true. What if toys had feelings? What if fish had feelings? What if cars had feelings? What if feelings had feelings? That's before any sequels. Studio Ghibli, on the other hand, has tackled a wide variety of stories, in scale, substance and style, and everything I've seen so far is wholly unique, though there are some consistent themes (balance with nature, a love of flight etc.). Right now I'm surprised Studio Ghibli hasn't made better inroads into the U.S., as the studio has been busy since the 80s and even won the Oscar for animation in 2003 for Spirited Away, but I guess the Japanese cultural influences may be too much for many Americans.

Language and subtitles shouldn't be an obstacle btw, in case that's a problem (no judgement, it is for many people). A while back Disney acquired American distribution rights and re-did the voiceover work with English speaking actors. This is how I've watched them on Max and they've all been great. You'll even recognize a lot of the voices, as Disney regularly brought in well-known actors. Ignore that some of the trailers below are in Japanese, I just went with the best videos regardless of language.

A goal with this is to encourage you to check out a movie from this studio, if you haven't already. I can't help but be impressed by them: the art, the characters, the themes and more. They are very Japanese fwiw, though to varying extents, and can get weird if the plot focuses on magic, the Shinto kami (gods/spirits) or other aspects of Japanese culture that's very different from our own. Below are the five best or most notable films, imo, of those I've seen. I'm including my IMDB rating, something I don't do for all movies but have with these. It's, at the least, useful for comparing them to each other.

Castle in the Sky (1986,2003 Disney dub)

8/10

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2h5m

The first official Ghibli film, this takes place in a fictional 19th century where airships rule the sky. We follow an exuberant working class boy and an orphan girl with a magical necklace as they seek Laputa, a mythical floating island (as in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels). They need to avoid the army, hunting the girl, and a pirate family after treasure. I don't think I can overstate the influence of this movie on Japanese popular culture and steampunk, for two. It was the beginning of so much, feels like a modern Zelda game at times and the nostalgia is palpable. I struggle to believe this came out in '86 tbh. Great voice-work by James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman and Mark Hamill.

My Neighbor Totoro (1988,2005 Disney dub)

9/10

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1h26m

Two young girls (the Fanning sisters) adjust to life in the country with their father and deal with the long-term sickness of their mother. They befriend both their human neighbors and the magical spirits of the nearby woods, one of whom is a massive, rabbit-like creature named Totoro (the Studio Ghibli mascot). Altogether it's an endearing combination of kids dealing with the emotions of life and reveling in the wonder of the natural world. I was overwhelmed and cried the first time watching this and promptly added it to the top 10 movies post I was writing. Being a parent changes you, that's for sure.

Porco Rosso (1992,2005 Disney dub)

9/10

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1h34m

Set in the 1930s in the Adriatic Sea, we meet an ace fighter-pilot named Porco (Michael Keaton!). He's a top-notch bounty hunter, lives in a hidden cove and is, naturally, a loner. Plus he's cursed to look like a pig, but that's the only bit of magic/strangeness in the whole thing. The plot isn't complicated, his plane gets shot down in a dogfight, he leaves for a new one, he returns for a rematch. The biggest difference from the rest of this list is a focus on adult characters and themes like honor and love. And it's the only one with an actual place and time, with real politics and some historical aircraft too. There's a Reddit thread about the movie titled 'Miyazaki's love letter to early aviation' and that's just about right.

Princess Mononoke (1997,1999 Disney dub)

9/10

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2h14m

During the Japanese middle ages, a time of many tribes and ever-present magic, a young warrior prince becomes cursed and leaves his home in search of a cure. He finds himself involved in a war between man and nature and attempts to forge a path between the growth of civilization and outright murder of the old gods. This is an incredibly ambitious film, and is complex philosophically, as it's not clear how to find this path. It's also easily the weirdest film of those I'm highlighting, with how the various spirits are portrayed, and the most serious in tone. While epic and stunning it's pretty clear some of it was lost in translation. I'm not surprised this struggled with American audiences at large.

Spirited Away (2001,2002 Disney dub)

10/10

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2h5m

A girl, Chihiro, and her parents wander into and get trapped in a realm of the kami. Chihiro takes a job, at a huge resort/spa for spirits, in order to remain herself and attempt to rescue her parents. Her precocious and kind-hearted nature presents challenges but also helps her solve them, for herself and others around her. It's just the right amount of weird. Generally a perfect rating from me is rare but this is without a doubt a perfect film. I was enthralled, enraptured from beginning to end. My first Ghibli film, and the reason I kept watching more.

Above is a ranking of which films I think are best, an attempt at judging them comprehensively (i.e. more than only how much I liked them). I'd put them in a different order if talking favorites:

1. Porco Rosso

2. My Neighbor Totoro

3. Spirited Away

4. Castle in the Sky

5. ? (Kiki's Delivery Service probably)

The top two are smaller in scope and so eminently re-watchable, a key for me. I know I already included Totoro in my top 10 favorite films but I think that spot's been since overtaken. I love how Porco Rosso is grounded in an actual place in history (want to visit the coast in Croatia now), how its a little more mature and is still an absolute delight.

Maybe you're wondering why I'm so enjoying what, for the most part, are children's films. I'm watching these without the kids. Well, that wasn't the expectation from the start. But, regardless of the target audience, Studio Ghibli had made some really phenomenal films, however you examine them. There's real (movie) magic here, with universal appeal, and I think everyone could find one that strikes them most. Check it out.

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Others

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989,1998) - 8/10

- An aspiring witch sets out on her own and experiences a trial of doubt. Super cute.

Whisper of the Heart (1995,2006) - 8/10

- Two tweens, a boy and girl, come together and chase their dreams. Coming-of-age story.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004,2006) - 7/10

- A young hat-maker gets caught up in tragic wizard's quest against war. Another epic tale.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013,2014) - 7/10

- A raw, ancient Japanese legend about a mysterious girl's life on Earth. Hardest to rate.