Every Studio Ghibli movie, ranked

Earwig and the Witch is the only movie on this list that genuinely sucks. It's awful. The animation looks like your child's doll collection, and the story about a witch in training is ironically lacking magic...or spells... or anything that resembles the studio's earlier work. Some even say it's the worst movie of 2020. 

If anyone was capable of adapting Ursula K. Le Guin's fantasy novels to the screen, it was Hayao Miyazaki...which makes it a bummer that the legendary animator passed this one off to his son Goro Miyazaki. There are some memorable scenes in this adaptation (a duel with dragons is a standout), but Goro isn't able to mesh all the pieces into a coherent story. 

Ocean Waves is a story about three teens who form a love triangle. The movie was an experiment to see if Ghibli's younger staff could make their own movie, but like the love triangle itself, it falls apart in the third act. 

Second time's a charm? Goro's second feature is a more cohesive film than Earthsea, and it drops us into a 1960's bustling with locals, tourists, students, and romance. This pastiche of Olympics-era Japan is unlike anything I've ever seen and features one of my favorite high school romances. It's proof that some directors need more than one chance to get it right. 

When Marnie Was There only made $36 million in Japan, which is less than Totoro made on opening night. But some box-office flops can be critical successes. This drama has 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and won a bunch of awards.  

If Totoro and Alice in Wonderland had a child, it would be The Cat Returns. From director and screenwriter Hiroyuki Morita, this loopy fantasy follows a girl named Haru as she tries to navigate a feline world where every door opens a new, Carrollian realm. Children will find lots to love in the imagery, while parents will find even more to love in the commentary. And cat lovers? Well, they'll be licking their paws from start to finish. 

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a series of cartoon-style vignettes about family life. Directed by Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Mr. Miyazaki, it's the closest the studio has come to making a Peanuts sketch. 

Isao Takahata's Pom Poko is an ambitious film that can best be described as a "comic book mockumentary." The film follows a group of tanuki (raccoon dogs) as they try to thwart human real estate agents by using their shape-shifting powers. The catch is that they can only use their testicles to transform, which might lead to a few awkward convos with the kids, and will definitely lead to a few jaw-dropping, did they really just do that? moments. Takahata would go on to make better movies, but none ballsier. 

The great "what-if?" from Studio Ghibli's history, Whisper of the Heart was the only feature directed by Yoshifumi Kondo before his death in 1998. It's hard not to think about what could have been, but it's best to think about all the wonderful moments he gave us in this dreamy, wizardly romance. Following a teen as she tries to write her first novel, inspired by a statue in her crush's backyard, Kondo's film springs to life when it introduces us to Baron the Magical Cat, the feline who would go on to get his own spin-off in The Cat Returns. 

Speaking of what-ifs, Miyazaki had plans to adapt Mary Norton's novel The Borrowers. But when it came time for Ghibli to make it, he was busy on a film that will appear later on our list, The Wind Rises. Luckily, the talented Hiromosa Yonebayashi stepped in and delivered one of the studio's most detail-oriented works to date. There are thousands of little people scurrying around Shawn's childhood home, one of whom will go on to become his best friend. Will he be able to protect her, or will she be found by other humans? Press play to find out... 

This is where the movies go from really good to really freaking good. This coming-of-age tale of a witch who leaves home is chock-full of all the visual wonders, narrative pleasures, and emotional splendors that make Miyakazi the GOAT. No one in animation has been able to touch what he does here. The tropes are as old as time, but the results are timeless. 

The movie that started it all. Castle in the Sky is not only Miyazaki's first production but also the production that kicked off Studio Ghibli...and later, according to John Lasseter, the production that convinced Disney to let him run Pixar. There are so many ideas leaping off the screen, and so many themes you'll find in the director's later work. The villain, the message, the machinery, the heroine who saves her community. It's all here...and it's all magnificent. 

In this Miyazaki film, our hero is a pig named Porco Rosso. He's under a spell for reasons that are never made clear, though it's the audience who is really under a spell: for 100-minutes we can't take our eyes off the screen. 

The Wind Rises is the rare instance of a great director--in this case, Hayao Miyazaki--going out with a bang. He pulled out all the stops for his curtain call, including the hand-drawn animation we know and love, and the contrails that have marked his work dating back to Nausica. This biopic about a Japanese aviator is what every "final statement" should be. Fans got everything they loved about the director (the action, the animation, the feminism) and even got to see a few new things, like the doomed romance between Jiro and Nahako that lands like an atom bomb to the soul. 

If Castaway had a turtle, it would be named The Red Turtle. The film is about a man who is stranded on an island and every time he makes a raft, a giant turtle destroys it. The score is as fluid as the tide; the texture soft as the sand. And the volleyball is non-existent. Who needs Wilson when you can have the company of nature? 

It's ironic that one of the lesser-known Ghibli directors is responsible for some of their most critically acclaimed outings. Takahata's tale about a princess who is born from bamboo has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been cited as the best-animated movie of the 2010s The intro alone is worth the price of admission. 

This dark fable isn't a hit for some Miyazaki fans--the story takes some dark turns--but those who love it really love it. Count me among them. The movie pairs Howl, a half-man, half-magician who wanders the countryside with Sophie, a young farmer who's been turned into an old witch. Their journey isn't as fun as some other titles, but who said animation had to be fun? 

Takahata's legendary tear-jerker stands apart from the rest of Ghibli's work. This is partly because of the film's different licensing, which makes Grave of the Fireflies available to stream on Hulu while the rest are together on HBO Max. But mainly, it's because of the content. While most Ghibli films are light, airy adventures with a tinge of sorrow, this one is a full-blown attack on the senses. Set in the midst of WWII, the story follows two children as they lose their mother and proceed on a journey through war, poverty, famine, and tragedy. If you thought the end of Boy in the Striped Pajamas was sad, you've got another thing coming. 

Nausica is the film that established the Miyazaki formula--girl takes on monster, boy falls for girl--and brought it to life through the animator's immersive, hand-drawn technique. It's a treat to wander this post-apocalyptic wasteland of caves, coves, and creatures, and to be in the presence of an artist who combines imagination, humor, and craft in ways you've never seen before. 

Ponyo is a larger-than-life adventure that gathers more momentum as it goes on. It's Miyazaki's brightest work, with colors bursting off the screen and swirling in your eyes, and his lightest, since it's his only film with zero violence. While most Little Mermaid tales have witches and monsters, this one's all smiles and hugs and blue skies. 

A family moves into a new home and a girl is plunged into a world of spirits, witches, and monsters. Sound like a million other movies? It's not. Spirited Away is about as far from Narnia as Japan is from England, and Miyazaki's world-building puts all other childhood dramas to shame. 

Okay, so Only Yesterday doesn't sound like it would be the most exciting thing in the world ... a story about a 27-year-old remembering her school days while working on a farm isn't the pitch Marvel is looking for right now. But hey, the great thing about art is that anything can be great, so long as financers bet on the right artist. Takahata is someone who can turn a hug into an event; a game at recess into a meditation on what it means to be human. This is art as life: a collection of ordinary moments graced with extraordinary grace. 

Princess Mononoke is a coming-of-age tale about a princess. No, not like the Disney princesses. This heroine wears face paint and rides a wolf into battle, slicing up anyone who dares to mess with her forest and the spirits who live there. It's Miyazaki's most powerful statement on the destruction of nature, both understanding why humans need to expand and how the consequences can unfold. I've seen hundreds of movies about global warming, but none as layered as this. 

Does this even need an intro? It's not hyperbole to say that My Neighbor Totoro is one of the most famous movies ever. It's the highest-grossing film in Japanese history, set box office records in five countries, and can be found on bumper stickers, screen savers, and license plates across the globe. Two sisters move into a country home while their mother heals in a nearby hospital, and they overcome their fears with the help of a cat that doubles as a bus and a big, fluffy, unflappable creature named Totoro. It's not only the most famous animated movie ever; it's also the best.