Top Studio Ghibli movies impacted animators and live-action filmmakers all over the world, while Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahati influenced animators and live-action filmmakers all over the world. The work of Miyazaki, Takahata, and their team to merge fantasy and reality may be seen in the films of persons as diverse as Guillermo del Toro, a prominent supporter who also blends fantasy and reality in his works, and Wes Anderson, who commended Miyazaki when discussing Isle of Dogs.
Studio Ghibli’s dedication to aesthetics and empathic storytelling has unquestionably influenced current filmmaking. It creates films that appeal to a broad audience by refusing to speak down to children and allowing adults to explore their own emotions in surprising ways. Studio Ghibli has possibly made a dozen films that may credibly be label masterpieces in just under four decades.
Take a look at the list below, keeping in mind that nearly all of them are worth your time, and the changes in place are insignificant. Ghibli is the only studio that makes movies.
1. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
Sophie Hatter is a young girl. She gets curse by the Witch of the Waste. It transforms into an old hag. She runs into the hills, ashamed of her appearance, where she encounters a moving castle. It is claimed to be the property of the young and attractive wizard Howl, who has a shady past. Sophie befriends the fire demon Calcifer inside the castle, who pledges to help her reclaim her youth. But there’s a catch: she’ll have to assist Calcifer get rid of Howl, and Calcifer won’t tell her how. Sophie, on the other hand, agrees to stay and try to learn more about the contract in various ways.
Even still, Howl, like Calcifer, can tell that Sophie is under a spell, and he falls in love with her for who she is rather than what she looks like. Sophie brings the floating castle to life, and she assists Howl in confronting his former tutor, Madame Suliman.
2. Spirited Away (2001)
Director- Hayao Mirazaki
Chihiro, ten years old, and her parents are on a family excursion through the countryside. When they come discover an amusement park that appears to have been abandoned for years. Despite Chihiro’s warnings about the spooky environment, the parents explore the region and ultimately come across an empty cafe with fresh food, which they devour. They are magically transformed into pigs as a result of their betrayal. Therefore, scaring Chihiro away. She meets the mysterious Haku, who explains that this world is actually a magical bath house. A sort of holiday resort where supernatural beings seek solace away from the earthly realm. That she must work here to release herself and her parents from the mystical land, as idleness is not permitted.
3. Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
Director- Isao Takahata
Okina, an elderly farmer, stumbles upon a mysteriously illuminating bamboo stem that produces a little fairy-like creature enfolded in a regal robe before his astounded eyes deep within a swaying and beautiful bamboo forest. The elderly man runs to his wife, Ona, only to observe the small nymph transform into a baby, much to their surprise. Finally, as the baby develops into a lovely young lady, the impoverished couple will take her to Kyoto, Japan’s capital, to groom her into an aristocratic and well-mannered lady worthy of Japan’s most powerful suitors.
4. Princess Mononoke (1997)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
A confident young warrior, Ashitaka. She gets struck by a dreadful curse while saving his community from a rampaging boar-god/demon. To save his life, he must travel to the western forests. Once there, he becomes entangled in a furious human campaign against the forest. Lady Eboshi and her devoted clan use their guns to fight the gods of the forest and Princess Mononoke, a strong young woman raised by a wolf-god. Ashitaka recognises the good in all sides and attempts to stop the bloodshed. Both sides are enraged by this. As they both see him as a supporter of the enemy.
5. Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
Kiki, a 13-year-old witch-in-training, has attained adulthood. All witches of that age are required by custom to leave home for a year in order to learn how to live independently. Kiki and her talking cat Jiji flee to Koriko, a beach village on the coast of Japan. Kiki must adjust to her new existence after launching her own delivery service (using her broom as the delivery vehicle), especially once she loses her ability to fly.
6. Castle In The Sky (1986)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
An unconscious pigtailed girl glides down from the skies into Pazu’s arms as he delivers his boss’s dinner back to the mine as an apprentice of the engineer who maintains a mine’s elevator mechanism. Sheeta, with her magical levitation-stone pendant, holds the key to Laputa, a mysterious, mythological sky-castle. Sheeta and Pazu must evacuate the sky kingdom to avoid both air pirates and the army, which is led by a government agent with his own mystery goal for Laputa.
7. Wind Rises (2013)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
Inspired by the great Italian aviation designer Caproni, Jiro dreams of flying and constructing magnificent planes. Jiro joins a large Japanese engineering firm in 1927 and becomes one of the world’s most original and skilled aeroplane designers, despite being nearsighted since an early age and being unable to fly. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the TB epidemic, and Japan’s entry into war are all shown in the film. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko, and his friendship with his coworker Honjo grows and flourishes.
8. Ponyo (2008)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
Sosuke, the son of a sailor, lives quietly with his mother Lisa on an oceanside cliff. He discovers a lovely goldfish trapped in a bottle on the beach one unlucky day and names her Ponyo after rescuing her. But she isn’t your typical goldfish. Ponyo, the daughter of a strong wizard and a sea goddess, uses her father’s magic to change herself into a young girl and falls in love with Sosuke, but such tremendous sorcery generates a deadly imbalance in the world. Ponyo’s father sends the ocean’s enormous waves to find his daughter as the moon gets closer to the earth. Ponyo’s ambition of becoming human is realised as the two children embark on a once-in-a-lifetime quest to save the world.
9. Porco Rosso (1992)
Director- Hayao Miyazaki
Air pirates, bounty hunters, and high fliers of all kinds ruled the skies in early 1930s Italy. Porco Rosso is the most clever and skilled of these pilots. He makes a career flying contract jobs, like as rescuing people kidnapped by air pirates, as a former Ace. Porco’s adversary in the air and in winning women’s hearts, Donald Curtis, presents the hero with a constant challenge, culminating in a funny, action-packed finale.
10. Pom Poko (1994)
Director- Isao Takahata
Tokyo requires more land to expand, which means there is less and less space for wildlife. The Tanukis, a type of metamorphosing raccoon, bear the brunt of the consequences. There is nowhere to go, therefore territorial fights are becoming increasingly common. Oroku, the old man, recognises that something must be done. For the first time, the Tanukis band together and devise a five-year strategy. The idea was to destroy construction projects and scare people away. However, this is not an easy task. The Tanukis must strengthen their metamorphic capacity to turn into anything in order to do so. It is a skill that almost every Tanuki can perform, but it is rarely used nowadays. Gonta, a fierce warrior, isn’t happy while Oroku is training the Tanukis. He is astounded at the amount of forest that has already been lost and calls for rapid action. He wants to go to battle.
I hope to have shared some useful information with you about my favorite movies. If you liked this article, Please be sure to SHARE it with your friends. Also, please let me know in the comments which of your top Studio Ghibli films is your favorite .
