Every Ghibli Film, Rated

Hello, Fellow Swamperts:

As I move into my third month of furlough, I find myself in need of some kind of escape from the doldrums that have become my life. I present to you a project almost three decades in the making: a creative analysis of every film ever touched by the great minds of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. My wife and I have collected them all, and in our circle of friends we are considered experts.

Strap in, it's going to be a wild ride.

A Quick Aside: I'll be speaking to the US releases of the films and my personal experiences with them. Apart from a few exceptions, the US releases are really quite good, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. This is one of the few circumstances where being a "subs purist" would do yourself a disservice.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

First released in the United States: August 21, 1992

The best place to start is at the beginning; this is the first project in which the "dream team" formally joined forces on a major motion picture. They were animators for TMS Animation in those days, and the monolith that would be Studio Ghibli was hardly a twinkle in their eye. It's also the only project (to my knowledge) that Takahata and Miyazaki have ever thrown up their hands and walked away from. The development hellscape that was Little Nemo, to be frank, made the creation of The Black Cauldron look like a stroll through Candyland. The end result is a film that is so badly disjointed and dismembered that the plot simply no longer exists.

Plot:      ☆☆☆☆☆
Design:    ★★☆☆☆
Music:     ★☆☆☆☆
Pajamas:   ★★★★☆

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed this film when I was a toddler, and that is perhaps because the only story element I understood was that the main character could slay his nightmares by shouting "pajamas" over and over again. If you can find a copy of this carcass that could have been a classic, be forewarned that it can only be enjoyed with copious amounts of alcohol and/or other mind-altering substances.

Panda! Go, Panda!

Both shorts released as a single unit in the United States in 2012, I believe, but they originally aired in Japan in 1972 and 1973, respectively

When Takahata and Miyazaki first joined TMS, they had a dream of joining forces with their mentor to create a film based on the Swedish childrens' story Pippi Longstocking. When the author refused, the work they had already done towards that end became the hidden gem Panda! Go, Panda! in the form of two thirty-minute shorts. My wife and I love these short films because they have some of the greatest no-context moments in Ghibli's entire filmography. As it was made for children, and Japanese children at that, the absurdity of the show is delightful and whimsical, and great for babysitting, a double-date with a couple glasses of wine, or when your bedroom has become a prison as your mind slowly melts under the weight of your own stress and anxiety.

Plot:      ★☆☆☆☆
Design:    ★★☆☆☆
Music:     ★★☆☆☆
Bamboo:    ★★★★★

Final Thoughts: While not great critically, I always include these shorts as a must-watch for a Ghibli Primer. The movies only get meatier from here down, and Papa Panda is a great palate-cleanser if you are on a Ghibli marathon.

Preface your audience with the fact that it is a childrens' show, and can't be held to the critical scrutiny of the rest of the Ghibli canon. Have fun and enjoy.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Technically first aired in the United States as Warriors of the Wind in 1986. The uncut original came to the states in 2005.

Lil' Neezy an' da Big Breezy is really what set the stage for the common tropes most associated with Miyazaki's writing: airplanes, strong female leads, environmentalism, an anti-war or even anti-industry agenda, strong VA, and music that will make you weak in the knees. Unfortunately, the idea of a female lead in an animated film did not take in the States in the 80s, and the first version we got was chopped to bits to make a side character the front-runner in the story. That version, I must say, is grotesquely fascinating in a Human Centipede kind of way; the kind of film that makes you lean back in your chair and wonder how we survived as a species for so long.

A tale of lovingkindness (getting Biblical on y'all) told through angry snails and melty robots. Trust me on this one.

Plot:      ★★★☆☆
Design:    ★★★☆☆
Music:     ★★★★☆
Sexism:    ★☆☆☆☆

Final Thoughts: An all-around good film with some real 80s bangers in the music. Features the voice talents of Patrick Stewart and a young Shia LeBouf, so what's not to like?

My Neighbor Totoro

Aired in theaters in the United States in the summer of 1993

Here it is, the big one. When most people think of Studio Ghibli, this is the film that comes to mind. This lovable giant has so much street cred they put his face on the box and have never taken him down. He is the undisputed face of the genre, which makes my opinion of him so hard to share.

I didn't grow up with Totoro. My first experience with Ghibli (having conscious knowledge that it was Ghibli) was Mononoke, so I missed the cat-shaped hype train when I was a kid. To this day, I still think Totes the GOATs is kind of oversold. Solid movie, no question about it. You can see the mark this movie left on every film that follows it. But as an outsider looking in, I often find myself contemplating how this film truly stands when the rose-colored glasses come off.

Plot:      ★★★☆☆
Design:    ★★★★☆
Music:     ★★★☆☆
Toy Sales: ★★★★★

Final Thoughts: Totoro is a heartwarming story about being brave in the face of hardship, and is a must-watch - even if for no other reason for people to stop asking me about it.

Castle in the Sky

A rare ugly dub came out in 1988, I think. The version anyone actually cares about released in the US in 2013.

Technically the second film released under the Ghibli moniker, only a couple of years after my girl Neezy, and it shows. I would never be so bold as to call Miyazaki lazy, but Castle in the Sky with Diamonds has always put a bad taste in my mouth. Beat for beat, it really feels like the same movie, partly because Miyazaki likes to recycle tropes like that weird man that digs through your bins on garbage day.

If you liked Nausicaä, but thought the biblical imagery was 3 DEEP 5 U, or didn't like the melty robots or angry snails, then this is your movie. Instead, it has a wafer-thin (I'm so clever) anti-nuclear message, and robots that are decidedly melt-proof. Credit where credit is due, the imagery is sharp enough to draw blood, and pirate grandma. I'll just leave that there for you.

Plot:      ★★★☆☆
Design:    ★★★★☆
Music:     ★★★☆☆
Granny:    ★★★★☆

Final Thoughts: I may sound harsh, but a copy of a solid film is still a solid film. Probably one of the few early Ghibli films I would consider skipping if I was short on time, though. Also, instead of Patrick Stewart we got Mark Hamill. So that's a step up? I guess?

Kiki's Delivery Service

Premiered in the United States on May 23, 1998

Finally, an entry with a plot that doesn't leave the audience scratching their heads. Kiki holds a special place in my heart for being one of Ghibli's few films that tells a modern story with a modern message that is universally soluble. And don't even get me started on the visuals. A city by the sea was built with Kubrick-tier detail and every frame is a painting worth saving. If you happen to play Ghibli Bingo with your friends, I can guarantee you that you cannot get through this film without tripping over at least a mention of everything Ghibli is known to stand for.

As an interesting aside, there are multiple versions of the dub that each have very different implications. The original US release took artistic liberties to tie up a loose end in the closing of the film and added lines where there were none. After some outcry, an updated version of the dub was released to stay "truer to the sub" and leave this plot point open to interpretation. I actually am biased towards prefer the former, as a film such as this needs to close with a nice red bow on top.

The only thing holding this film back is its age. While Kiki is undoubtedly timeless, I would be lying if I said that Ghibli's art peaked with this film - they glimpsed Nirvana, to be sure - but the best was yet to come, in my humble opinion.

Plot:      ★★★★★
Design:    ★★★★☆
Music:     ★★★★☆
Feels:     ★★★★☆

Final Thoughts: A message about finding meaning in a mediocre life in a modern metropolis. Charming, beautiful, and a great story to boot. This is the "gateway" film for Ghibli. If you or a friend have lived under a rock and not seen Kiki, you'd be surprised how relatable it is today.

Grave of the Fireflies

First released in the United States on June 2, 1993

Takahata's first directed film under the Ghibli moniker, and golly boy howdy, did he come out the gate throwing haymakers. It's honestly hard to know where to begin with Grave of the Fireflies, because it stands out so starkly from anything else Ghibli has ever produced. Grave is widely considered to be one of the most prolific war tragedies of all time - beating out live action films and Hollywood mega-blockbusters. It is, quite simply, a masterpiece, and it will break you in two over one knee.

I will say I have only ever watched Grave twice, but it only takes once or twice for this film to be burned into your memory. The story is impactful and the characters nuanced. The art is bewilderingly good, even by today's standards. The ending is beautiful and impossibly sad. This is a film that has it all, kind of like your first girlfriend. You know, the girl that was too perfect; so perfect she agreed to date you even though her friends knew she was out of your league. The girlfriend that set the standard for almost every other relationship you had following her leaving you. The only one that got away that you think back on more than a decade later with sad, wistful sighs. The one that makes you grateful for all the growing you have done as a person since then - for showing you just how far you had to go as a human being before you were ready to be considered a man.

...I'm sorry, I got distracted. What were we talking about?

Plot:      ★★★★★
Design:    ★★★★★
Music:     ★★★★☆
Tears:     ★★★★★

Final Thoughts: The story of a pair of children orphaned by the firebomb raids on their village, fighting for survival in a world that obliterated everything they love except each other. You will weep for these children, and any film buff, Ghibli or not, will tell you that you must see this film at least once. Mentally prepare yourself, for you will be a different being when you emerge on the other side.

Only Yesterday

First released in the United States on New Year's Day, 2016.

Only Yesterday is one of the two black sheep in the Ghibli canon. For an American audience, the pacing is strange, the message controversial, and the audio-visual work is somewhat lackluster. Because of this, it took something like 25 years for the film to make it to America, and it was mostly a footnote for collectors to be able to say they have seen all the Ghibli films. The truth is, if you don't have some kind of understanding of Japanese social structure, then this film may be somewhat lost to you.

As a total weeb enthusiast, I can say that I hold Only Yesterday in a much higher regard than my peers. The main character's struggle with personal identity is something I can relate to. I think I empathize with her struggle much easier than some because of my understanding of the aforementioned culture gap. Only Yesterday tells the story of a salarywoman reflecting on her life, and the decisions that bring her to quitting her job to live on a farm in the countryside. If this premise doesn't grab you immediately, then the "run from your problems" attitude that comes off may not click with you for the entire film.

Plot:      ★★★☆☆
Design:    ★★★☆☆
Music:     ★★☆☆☆
Abuse:     ★☆☆☆☆

Final Thoughts: This is one of the few films I recommend the subbed Japanese over the dubbed version. I felt the Japanese VA had much stronger emotion behind it, and being able to physically hear the accents as they change throughout the film is a real treat. However, this is a wine that does not pair well with others, and I have difficulty recommending it to friends unless I know going in that they will like it / have already seen it.

Porco Rosso

Technically first released in English in the 90s, but the version I recommend released in the States in 2005.

I may have mentioned this already, but since he was a boy, Miyazaki was fascinated with flight. Almost obsessively so. Even the name Ghibli comes from an Italian aeronautical term. The first time Miyazaki really got to flex on his audience came in the form of Porco Rosso, his first film to take place in our world. Specifically, the film tells the story of a scrappy ace pilot renowned for fighting as an ally of the Italians in WWI. The Ghibli Twist™ is that he's a pig. Like, an Animal Farm-tier man-pig. The message is wholesome enough, but this is a film that knows what you came for. The dog-fighting is absolutely brilliant. Miyazaki recreated some of his favorite crafts in painstaking detail, and you can feel each frame bristling with energy as Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines do what they do.

Unfortunately, this film is somewhat marred in controversy (in Japan, at least) that all but erases most of its well-deserved fame. Believe it or not, Miyazaki's anti-war messages in the film were not actually pointed at WWI, but rather used WWI as a framework to take jabs at current events he personally disagreed with. Also, the film's romanticizing of Europe is not a concept that has aged well with the Japanese community. But who cares about all that? You are here to watch a smug pig shoot planes into Swiss (German?) cheese.

Plot:      ★★★☆☆
Design:    ★★★★☆
Music:     ★★★☆☆
Gina:      ★★★★☆

Final Thoughts: Porco Rosso is a fun film, despite its lukewarm response from Ghibli fans. If you are more interested in Ghibli for the raw animation technique, then I can easily recommend this one to you. While this film may not have those meaty feels, it's a lighthearted fairweather film. Also, the English VA rocks my socks. Susan Egan as Gina makes me hot under the collar. And her song (which is not sung by Susan, but still) is one of those tracks I can listen to over and over again.

Pom Poko

Went straight to DVD in the US on August 16, 2005

Pom Poko. What can I say about you? This film bears one of the few immortalized Ghibli memes in my household, but for all the wrong reasons. I guess the biggest problem I have with Pom Poko is that the film is just shy of two hours, but feels like it is two decades long. When the narrator says: Year 23 of the Pom Poko Era, he means it very literally. Everyone I've shown this film to agrees - it somehow bends the laws of time and space to fit a small lifetime into its short runtime. I've only watched this film twice, and can never watch it again, because doing so would put me past retirement age and I can't live off of Social Security alone.

Whining aside, the film is an exploration of the life of the tanuki, a mythological Japanese spirit, and its struggle to acclimate to a modern society where myths have lost all relevance. The story is lukewarm, and there isn't really any meaty feels to be found here. Unless you like balls. So many balls. Seriously, Japan, what is your fascination with testicles? Referred to in the English Dub as "Raccoon Pouches", the powers of a tanuki's family jewels cannot be understated in this film. If testicle humor is your thing, but your friends want to watch a Ghibli film, then maybe this is the happy compromise? The silliness of the film really does it a lot of favors overcoming the culture barrier, but in all honesty that is the only praise I and my companions could come up with.

Plot:      ★☆☆☆☆
Design:    ★★★☆☆
Music:     ★★☆☆☆
Scrotes:   ★★☆☆☆

Final Thoughts: Tepid dismissal. This film always puts a bad taste in my mouth, because it is a prime example of why Miyazaki is more "mainstream" than Takahata. Following Grave of the Fireflies and Only Yesterday, this film leaves me wondering where Takahata's mind was when creating this film. Supposedly, Pom Poko was a huge hit in Japan, but in my mind, this may be the lowest point in his career at Ghibli.