Studio Ghibli thread

[Aoi Neko]

Robby here. Co-opting this old Ghibli discussion thread in the year 2013, and turning it into a Ghibli watching thread. Every week, the forum will attempt to watch one of the movie in the Studio Ghibli cannon. An attempt will be made to provide links to the episodes online, be they streaming, torrent, or legit purchase from Amazon. Galaxy9000 is streaming the movies on Saturdays, so a big thanks to them.

The tentative schedule goes for a couple of months…. though it may change if it just turns out any of these movies are impossible to find or a theme suggests itself... but mostly chronological order seems a reasonable way to do it.

MARCH
Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind
Laputa: Castle in the Sky
Grave of the Fireflies
My Neighbor Totoro

APRIL
Kiki's Delivery Service
Only Yesterday
Porco Rosso

MAY
Ocean Waves (tv movie)
Pom Poko
Whisper of the Heart
Princess Mononoke

JUNE
My Neighbors the Yamadas
Spirited Away
The Cat Returns
Howl's Moving Castle
Tales from Earthsea

JULY
Ponyo
Arriety
From Up on Poppy Hill

Then if copies can be found, we're going to go back and try and do some of the creatives earlier, not exactly Ghibli works. Including:
Hols: Prince of the Sun
The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots
Animal Treasure Island
Panda Go Panda
Castle of Cagliostro

It should be a lot of fun. Pretty much all these movies are great in their own ways, you folks will enjoy them!

ORIGINAL POST:
[hide]I was afraid we were getting off topic in the 4Kids Discussion 2 Forum, so that's why this was brought up. :laugh: You probably all know this, but the movies are airing on Cartoon Network.

Talk about anything about the Miyazaki Movies here.[/hide]

[Senshi Mizaka]

I've seen most of the Miyazaki movies. The only one I haven't seen is Panda Go Panda. Just last month, I saw Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro for the first time. Howl had a great story, but it kind of lost me towards the end. I really liked Totoro, too. It ranks high next to Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away.

I remember when I picked up my reserved copy of Spirited Away, I got Castle in the Sky, too. But, for some reason I was a bit embarassed to get Kiki's Delivery Service.

[taboo]

Totoro was my first anime ever, so it's my favorite. Did Disney make another dub or leave the original dub?

[lalala]

your all forgetting the most important miyazaki movie. The Castle Of Caligostro. I saw it recently and i'm very dissapointed it wasn't part of the month of miyazaki. come on, its Lupin

[Senshi Mizaka]

@taboo:

Totoro was my first anime ever, so it's my favorite. Did Disney make another dub or leave the original dub?

Disney re-dubbed it. I've read some reviews whining about it.

[lalala]

Are the reviews actually justified by the movie or are they just biased?

[taboo]

That really sucks. :( Now I gotta go find somewhere who sells the original.

[captain usopp]

@Senshi:

I remember when I picked up my reserved copy of Spirited Away, I got Castle in the Sky, too. But, for some reason I was a bit embarassed to get Kiki's Delivery Service.

Aw, I love kiki. It's so cute and heartwarming.
As for totoro, the original Dub was from Fox. My Ex has a copy.

[taboo]

Hey, is Patrick Stuart the voice of that old guy in Nausica?

[Yiddiddy]

Yeah he is.

[Senshi Mizaka]

@taboo:

Hey, is Patrick Stuart the voice of that old guy in Nausica?

Mark Hamill did a voice, too. And I swear, Disney puts Tress McNellie in all of the Ghibli films that they dub.

Heh, speaking of Nausicaa they were just showing that on Toonami. The ending credits were sped up to save time, but it looked really funny. XD

[taboo]

^ xD I know~ I was just watching it actually. Damn, what an amazing movie.

You know, something I've noticed about Miyazaki films is that they usually have a female main character. I wonder if this is on purpose? It's interesting because over here we have an overuse of male main characters in movies. Though I wouldn't put it past them to do it on purpose. I can see how having a female character in the lead role would change a viewers opinion of said character.

[AWB]

Nausicaa is one of the few Miyazaki films I haven't seen, so I'm pretty excited.

[Senshi Mizaka]

@taboo:

^ xD I know~ I was just watching it actually. Damn, what an amazing movie.

You know, something I've noticed about Miyazaki films is that they usually have a female main character. I wonder if this is on purpose? It's interesting because over here we have an overuse of male main characters in movies. Though I wouldn't put it past them to do it on purpose. I can see how having a female character in the lead role would change a viewers opinion of said character.

Yeah, I wonder about that too. The only ones that didn't have a female as the main character are Princess Monoke, and Porco Roso.

[KamenRiderNeko]

i've seen most of the miyazaki movies except for cagliostro (have it, just haven't got around to watching it yet), whisper of the heart and that tanooki movie… i've loved all the ones i've seen!

I actually really enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle, it was quite amazing to me and kinda unpredictable... I noticed some people complained about it or just thought it didn't live up to the hype... i sorta didn't pay attention to the hype, so it didn't matter to me.

Nausicaa is one of my favorites, and so is Totoro <3
Porco Rosso kinda surprised me, it was actually really good!
I'd want to see Mononoke and Spirited Away again, those were really awesome.

[silver griffin girl]

@taboo:

Totoro was my first anime ever, so it's my favorite. Did Disney make another dub or leave the original dub?

Really? Totoro was my first anime, too! I've seen Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky and Kiki's Delivery Service. (Yes, I need to see the rest… Don't judge me…)

I've actually got the original dub of Totoro on video right here… I didn't know they redubbed it... My mom loves that movie also, and she wants to get the DVD version, but she didn't know it was redubbed...

I think that my favorites are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Totoro...

[Senshi Mizaka]

Princess Mononoke was my first Miyazaki movie. I remember my brother rented it, and we saw it together. We were making comments like comparing it to Bambi. Don't ask, we just were. And when I heard that Miyazaki did Castle of Cagliostro, I thought that he was the one who created Lupin III for awhile. But, I still thought it was a cool movie.

I got Totoro on DVD last month with Howl's Moving Castle. It's Disney's new dub. But, I really don't have a problem with it. I can just switch it to the Japanese soundtrack. Ah, and the intro theme is just catchy! I can't stop singing it!

[Robot Chicken]

Seen Spirited away, Mononoke, Nausicaa, and Howl's Moving Castle. Spirited Away was my first and Mononoke my last, and I have to say Spirited Away was my favorite. All very amazing movies though.

[Ramza]

@Robot:

Seen Spirited away, Mononoke, Nausicaa, and Howl's Moving Castle. Spirited Away was my first and Mononoke my last, and I have to say Spirited Away was my favorite. All very amazing movies though.

wow my fav is completely opposite from urs….
my fav is mononoke and last is spirit away

[DougyDougyGiro!*]

@taboo:

^ xD I know~ I was just watching it actually. Damn, what an amazing movie.

You know, something I've noticed about Miyazaki films is that they usually have a female main character. I wonder if this is on purpose? It's interesting because over here we have an overuse of male main characters in movies. Though I wouldn't put it past them to do it on purpose. I can see how having a female character in the lead role would change a viewers opinion of said character.

Well I remember reading something awhile back that he wanted women to stand out and show they are as strong as any man but now he does it cause
"He Likes Women."

Has there been any news on his son's movie or Hayao's movie ?

[omnichild]

@taboo:

^ xD I know~ I was just watching it actually. Damn, what an amazing movie.

You know, something I've noticed about Miyazaki films is that they usually have a female main character. I wonder if this is on purpose? It's interesting because over here we have an overuse of male main characters in movies. Though I wouldn't put it past them to do it on purpose. I can see how having a female character in the lead role would change a viewers opinion of said character.

When they were showing a month of Miyazaki on TCM, they made a comment as to why almost all of his movies have a femal lead. I can't remember why though.

Anyone else excited for the newest studio Ghibli film to come out?

[KamenRiderNeko]

wow, there's a new one? yay!

oh, i recently saw the Cat Returns…. i LOVED that movie so much! it was absolutely wonderful! great voice cast too....

also, i watched My Neighbors, The Yamadas... that is an interesting movie... but i'd recommend watching it when you're not tired... it can get a little long winded. but i like the simple, storyboard-like animation.... actually, its more like a moving comic strip.

[Senshi Mizaka]

Believe it or not, My Neighbors the Yamadas is actually one of my favorite non-Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli movies. That, and The Cat Returns are probably my favorites. Pom Poko's a great one, too.

[KaizokuFan22]

I finally saw spirited away a few months ago and I thought it was strange at first..but overall it was a great film!

[Senshi Mizaka]

Here's the order of how much I liked each one.

From best to worst (IMO):

Spirited Away
My Neighbor Totoro
Castle of Cagliostro
Nausicaa
Castle in the Sky
Kiki's Delivery Service
Howl's Moving Castle
Princess Mononoke
Porco Rosso

[Rixter]

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is by far my favorite Miyazaki film, and definitely one of my favorite movies period. Who cares if he didn't try to pull the whole "bad guy is a good guy in the right circumstances" thing he usually does, it was still epic. Totoro probably comes after that, because as a kid my parents bought the VHS with the Fox dub and so I grew up watching it… over and over again.

As far as dubs go, I think Howl's had the best Disney dub, or Porco Rosso. I'm also fond of the original Totoro dub, but I'm probably jaded since I've watched it so many times. Funny, Laputa and Totoro are my two favorites and they have my two least favorite Disney dubs...

Favorite movies in order out of the ones I've seen:

Laputa: Castle in the Sky
My Neighbor Totoro
Porco Rosso
Whisper of the Heart (he didn't direct, but he did write it, so I guess it counts?)
Princess Mononoke
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away

[Zulen]

@Senshi:

Here's the order of how much I liked each one.

From best to worst (IMO):

Spirited Away
My Neighbor Totoro
Castle of Cagliostro
Nausicaa
Castle in the Sky
Kiki's Delivery Service
Howl's Moving Castle
Princess Mononoke
Porco Rosso

Howl's Moving Castle before Princess Mononoke? And for that matter, everything before Princess Mononoke? Why didn't you like it?

[Senshi Mizaka]

It's not that I didn't like it, it was just one of my least favorites. Maybe I should have put "Favorite to least favorite" to avoid confusion. I love all Miyazaki movies. Maybe it's because I haven't seen it it years.

[Monkey King]

Bumpin' dis, I'm doing a marathon of these right now since most of them I saw eons ago and frankly think I don't really know what the hell I'm talking about. Here's what we're at so far.

1. Nausicaa Movie (C-): Sorry, this one is both dated and suffers dramatically by comparison to the manga. I can't take it seriously in the first place. The worst part is Kushana, it's bad enough that she's such a weak comparison to the manga her, but her character here is dumb to begin with. I mean what the fuck? She had a grudge against bugs?? Nauiscaa herself is boring as well, coming off like what dingleberrys like TLS paint her as in the comic. She's too perfect and innocent. Where's the Nausicaa that commands the God Warrior to murder an organic structure god thing after having a last supper with her worm handler disciples who she sort of lies to in telling them to pass down her messiah like wisdom of dooming the human race to certain extinction to avoid spiraling down the path of insane hubristic self-mutation. Also Namulith is not in it lol. Frankly they aren't even related since they share virtually different everything but appearance.

2. Laputa (C+): Well what was I supposed to feel about this one exactly? I felt like I'd seen it a hundred times, plus the male lead was pointless. Seriously, the kid was patched in I swear. When I was so impressed that Asbel in the Nausicaa manga ended up being tertiary, it was because he damn well was tertiary and I was glad he didn't become de facto action kid which so many writers can't help but throw in. And well they damned did it here. Plus the plot was mediocre, and it was lacking in the genuine Miyazaki magic as opposed to the sort of fantasy you can see just about anywhere ever. The villain sucked also. The quiet moments when they first arrived at the castle were cool though, every time I saw the lone robot walking around caretaking for a dead human civilization I was like "that looks like a better movie", and it was, it was called Wall-E. Overall it felt like a practice round, and still felt too much like a side project from Miyazaki's manga of Nausicaa.

3. Totoro (A): Absolutely amazing. This is being a kid in a nutshell. I loved how it didn't feel the need to force in a Hollywood plot (which is what made Laputa so….ehhh) for no reason and just let itself be a bunch of magical slice of life scenes. It had crazy theraputic qualities to it as well that I can't quite explain. It reminded me of a sweeter stranger Calvin and Hobbes kind of. And it felt like a real self force, the last two felt like the product of a guy currently engrossed in an epic comic making side things with some basing in that comic. Here you can tell Miyazaki really wanted to make this movie, and it had nothing to do with Nausicaa at all. I can't believe people get fussy about this one "NOT HAVIN A PLOT!!!", way to miss the point and be such a slave to absolute structure.

4. Kiki's Delivery Service (A): Fucking great. The only complaint I had at all was the too abrupt ending. Otherwise this was again...magic! In a lot of the same ways as Totoro, except this one had much more of an emotional plot to it. It was just so...simple. Ghibli is also a Grade A sound design studio, that much is clear. I really want more of Kiki's adventures. This had that same relaxing psuedo theraputic feelings as Totoro.

5. Porco Rosso (???)

6. Princess Mononoke (???)

7. Spirited Away (B+): This movie would have been A material if it had had the balls to avoid pointless melodrama and a sort of awkward meta-plot, not that those aspects are bad, in fact they're good! But they weren't better than the simple whimsy that otherwise was occuring. Otherwise it's a visual feast with cool characters. I had more fun just watching them inhabit and go about their business in the environment, didn't really need the strange plot with the twin sister witches.

8. Howl's Moving Castle (B): Sort of the same scenario, the fault here is simply that it felt like several different movies were going on. The whole war thing was both too interesting, but also too pointless. Better that it had focused almost entirely on the relationship and Castle life, which was mostly charming btw.

9. Ponyo (???):

[Nobodyman]

Ah, Miyazaki movies. I've seen so many of them, and I have yet to be disappointed (though I still need to see Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle).

Nausicaa: I'll agree with you, Zeph, that it did seem pretty weak and rough around the edges, especially compared to his other works, but I initially just chocked that up to this being due to a lack of experience as this some of his early work. Of course, I haven't read the manga so I can't compare the two.

Laputa: Yeah, also a little weak compared to his other stuff, but still a lot of fun.

Totoro: Fucking A. Yes.

Porco Rosso: It was pretty good, I guess. I honestly don't remember a whole lot from it.

Princess Mononoke: My personal favorite. I fucking love this movie. Brilliant imagination, with stupendous animation to complement it, a great cast and a subtle environmentalism theme, I just can't believe I haven't rewatched it since I first saw it (even though the ending irked me a bit, but I guess it's just the romantic in me).

Spirited Away: I'll agree that, while this movie is great, it's not really his best work and thus I feel is a bit overrated. It's like Miyazaki just indulged his imagination and came up with as many creature designs as he could, but it got a little old once the movie took one too many loopy turns.

Ponyo: Great movie. Again, not his best, but this was actually the first Miyazaki movie I saw in theaters. Honestly, as imaginative as Miyazaki is with his fantastical designs and creations, he's equally good at depicting characters that are just so endearing and human.

[Monkey King]

@Nobodyman:

Of course, I haven't read the manga so I can't compare the two.

Well what are you waiting for???

[Flux]

I only really found out specifically about Miyazaki as a person something like half a year ago. My older anime/manga fan friend explained who he was and his contribution to anime. I got straight into the films, and now respect him so much. I love how he utilises a lot of his recurring themes in each of his films - especially since they represent things dear to his heart.

My favourite is Howl's Moving Castle, but maybe Ponyo - not sure. I really enjoyed Spirited Away as well. I've seen a lot of Princess Mononoke but things always come up preventing me watching it in one whole sitting. Same for Totoro - though I found it a bit uninteresting, but I wasn't really paying full attention if you get what I mean so… I liked Castle of Cagliostro too. I think maybe Porco Rosso will be my next, or Nausicaa.

I thought this was pretty cool :

"There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: 'No cuts.' / The director chortles. "Actually, my producer did that. Although I did go to New York to meet this man, this Harvey Weinstein, and I was bombarded with this aggressive attack, all these demands for cuts." He smiles. "I defeated him.""

[THE SEA]

Miyazaki is still god of animation.

[Darkstorm]

The Castle of Cagliostro is still my favourite Miyazaki movie. When I watched it as a kid I absolutely loved it. I subsequently greatly anticipated anything else lupin related, but it was never quite as good again - didn't really get that a series could have different directors back then.

Away from the main story, which was fantastic, one of the things I really liked about was was the movement of the characters - lupin's jump, the assassins….not sure how much that's Otsuka's influence or Miyazaki's though. Then there's the car chase sequence, the walk through the old palace, the best zenigata outing...really my favourite animated movie overall.

[OnePieceIsGoodOrNot]

This post is deleted!

[Robby]

I was actually considering making a thread dedicated to this a while back, hadn't realized there was one that existed from the bygone eons.

Castle of Cagliostro and Princess Mononoke are two of my favorite films ever. Not just animated, but films, period. I could go on about either of them for days.

Beyond that? The technical skill brought to every Ghibli film is unassailable, though your mileage will vary on any given story. Much like Pixar in that regard, they're ALL good, but there's going to be some you just don't don't care for and some you love and its going to roll differently from person to person.

Personally I was really bored by Totoro, Kiki and Spirited Away… The slice of life kid wandering around thing just never really clicked for me, but I haven't tried to watch the first two since the era of VHS, so its probably been at least 10 years. And haven't seen Spirited Away since it came out, so, probably about the same.

I've tried so, so many times to get into Nausicaa. The movie and the manga. I've watched it several times and read it twice, and by all rights I should love it, but it just doesn't click for me. I've had this conversation with Zephos before. I think it boils down to that there is no sense of fun (or glory) in it, so nothing breaks up the ever present despair and gloom of it all, and it doesn't present war as anything but what it is.

Really liked Porco Rosso and Laputa. They weren't fantastic, but I enjoyed the characters and the journey and the visuals. To this day it wierds me out to realize that the sky sanctuary level in Sonic 3&K was blatantly ripped off of Laputa, right down to how it crumbles apart in the end.

I really enjoyed Whisper of the Heart, which Miyazaki didn't direct, but was heavily involved in. (And really. All the Ghibli films have his influence so heavily on them in the art department and dedication to visual quality its difficult to seperate them.) By all rights I should be bored about the story of a girl going to school writing stories and a boy making violins, but I think it strikes the same chords that Ratatouille did with me. Its about creating and being a storyteller and having passion in what you do, and I really identify with that.

Enjoyed some of his early career tv work, too. Animal Treasure Planet is fun.

Earthsea I wanted really badly to love, but Miyzaki's son just isn't quite up to task yet, even with the studio behind him putting in that inherant quality.

Still haven't seen Ponyo or Borrowers, but I want to.

[THE SEA]

Miyazaki Hayao talked about his encounter with Tezuka Osamu's works for the first time. He confessed the admiration for and the repulsion against the great Mangaka.

"I've been struggling with Tezuka for long. Words like indebtedness or gratitude cannot describe my feeling toward him. The impact of Shin Takarajima upon the mangaka in our generation was beyond the imagination of the younger people."
Shin Takarajima is Tezuka's manga published in 1947. It established the style and the architecture of the modern manga.
"It brought us to a totally unseen world and greatly broaden our horizons."

Miyazaki was also absorbed in Tezuka's Sci-fi trilogy "Lost World", "Metropolis", and "Kitarubeki Sekai".
"The image of the future Tezuka showed us was not only bright but scary, irrational, and sad. He'd already realized the two opposing aspects of Modernism: prosperity and destruction."
Miyazaki supposed that the memory of the piles of corpses in the air raid on Osaka city made a dark hollow in Tezuka's mind. Tezuka started to hide the dark side as he became more and more popular.
"I can see Tezuka's nihilistic idea that humanism is the only way to succeed in the anime/manga business. He intentionally removed the darkness from his works. That's why Tetsuwan Atom (1963) was boring."

Miyazaki once bitterly criticized Tezuka in 1989 in the mourning message for him. "Tezuka's animation was Ohya no Gidayu. A landlord forces his tenants to see his terrible performances. The evaluation hasn't changed. But it's true that I felt relieved to see Tezuka failed in Atom. It gave me a chance to beat him."

Miyazaki quitted Mangaka and became an animator because he couldn't be free from the influence of Tezuka's arts. He admitted the basis of his perception originated from the impact he got from Shin Takarajima.
"And that's why I've never wanted to be a worshiper of Tezuka."

Source: Yomiuri

[sanji499]

I have only seen Howls moving castle and Spirited away.

I was dissapointed with moving castle cause I felt lost a lot. The animation is gorgeous but I don't remember a lot of scenes.

Spirited away really holds a special in my heart. When I got out of the theater, it was sunny and crowded. I felt so happy…
The train scene is my favourtite scene of the film.

Princess Mononoke and Porco Rosso are next on my list.

[Monkey King]

I think I could endlessly watch Totoro.

[Taggerung]

Porco Rosso, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke are my favorites.

I didn't really like ponyo but maybe something was lost in translation. It was cute though, i loved all her sisters.

[Big_Bad_Lith]

All of these are great movies, of course, but to rank my favorites…

Spirited Away
Totoro
Howl's Moving Castle
Nausicaa
Castle of Cagliostro
Laputa
Porco Rosso
Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
Ponyo

I know, I know. "mononoke so low!?" See, I just didn't like the whole last 20 minutes. There is this dubious "god" who gets his head shot off, and then can't frigging control himself and starts killing everything, then they give him his goddamn head back, and then he still dies, or at least disappears, and then it starts undoing the damage his rampage caused. The message I saw wasn't "technology is bad let's go back to the earth" but rather "wow what a sucky god seriously".

I liked almost everything else about the movie, and if the god had turned back into the deer thing at the end, smiled at our heroes, and then leaped away, I'd be fine. But to establish a time limit, and then have the heroes make it in time, but the god still dies, seemed really lame. Maybe I'm just a stupid westerner who can't wrap his head around the concept of millions of "kami", but it doesn't sit right with me. And that taints the rest of the movie, because I'm waiting for the horrible ending.

also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the wonderful music, yet. Every film has a great score, but I think Spirited Away had the best, which is partially what pushes it to the front of my list.

[Robby]

@Big_Bad_Lith:

I know, I know. "mononoke so low!?" See, I just didn't like the whole last 20 minutes. There is this dubious "god" who gets his head shot off, and then can't frigging control himself and starts killing everything, then they give him his goddamn head back, and then he still dies, or at least disappears, and then it starts undoing the damage his rampage caused.

The entire movie was about revenge, forgiveness, and Ashitaka being the man in the middle trying to be neutral and find answers. From the very opening with the insane boar god, Ashitaka's curse, and the later boar, and the deer god also going mad… to lady Eboshi and San trying to constantly kill each other... to Moro wanting to save her last bit of energy for killing Eboshi and instead using it to save San.

Returning the deer's head wasn't to save its life, but to calm its death rage and prevent it from cursing everything in death.

Revenge and forgiveness, that was the theme throughout the movie. Technology versus nature was heavily in there too, but it wasn't the only message. If it was, everyone in the village would have been evil, instead most of them are sympathetic, likeable and have many redeeming qualities, including the "villain" Lady Eboshi who takes in helpless women and soothes the lepers.

[Monkey King]

No, actually I'm wondering why Kiki is on the bottom let alone low.

[hreinnbeno]

I will just throw a list together, and Ill have all of the studio ghibli, so I wont have to do another one.
1. Pom Poko, for some reason I adore this movie, its offbeat storytelling, the character somehow so distant, the environmental message (it has probably never been as facegrabbing as in this movie but it somehow fits) and just how realistic it is. The move can as well be transferred to many places where people are fighting to hold on to their heritage or land.
2. Porco Rosso
3. Kiki
4. Whisper of the heart
5. Totoro
6. Spirited away
7. Princess Monohoke.
8. Fireflies
9. Laputa
10. Only yesterday
11. Nausicaa
12. Ponyo
13. Yamadas
14. Howls moving castle

I just put my views for the first as of now, Ill edit the rest, very soon.

[Big_Bad_Lith]

@Monkey:

No, actually I'm wondering why Kiki is on the bottom let alone low.

well… man, it feels bad for me to have ANY ghibli movie on the bottom, because the difference in my opinion of them after the first 5 or so is pretty minuscule. I love Kiki, but I haven't seen it in a while. So that's part of it.

but comparing it to the others, it doesn't have the fantastic visuals that Spirited Away, Howl, Nausicaa, and Laputa have. It doesn't have (as many) exciting action scenes as Porco Rosso, Cagliostro, or Mononoke. And it doesn't capture the essence of childhood as well as Totoro.

But thinking about it, I really should've put it ahead of Ponyo. goes to edit

@robby - that's a way of thinking about it that I guess I never really considered. It always seemed implied to me that they were trying to save to god of the forest, not merely trying to calm its death throes.

It also bugged me how the forest god's wrath was killing literally everything, not just the "bad men". I would have expected it to do a cleansing, like in Laputa, but instead it was just destroying everything, including the forest it supposedly protected.

[Darkstorm]

Arrietty's come out in the uk, so went to see it in the cinema today - it's a pretty fun film. Haru cracked me up.

[Smudger]

I always get annoyed how little praise half of the ghibli films get.

Some of the more obscure/less commercial titles have such truly brilliant moments , rarely seen in animation, or any other kind of production for that matter. Porco Rosso is an obvious example of how great a film can truly be just by adding a touch of magic to a relatively simple film.

Side note: I should really catch up on his more recent works. Heck I still haven't even seen Ponyo for some unfathomable reason.

[Flux]

@Darkstorm:

Arrietty's come out in the uk, so went to see it in the cinema today - it's a pretty fun film. Haru cracked me up.

Really wanted to see it too but a film studies student who is evaluating Miyazaki's work got word Odeon are doing limited UK Release only in Machester, Norwich and London because it's 'not big enough for release' but that view isn't not surprising. Not here anyway. I really like that Saoirse Ronan is in it as well. My local University's anime-y theatre are gonna show it sometime though, so here's hoping.

Anyway I just saw Kiki for the first time about a week ago and I really loved it. But also Smudge, Porco has been on my list for a while now. I'll need to keep an eye out for DVDs when I get into town soon. Or maybe TV screenings.

[SakugaSaga]

@Big_Bad_Lith:

also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the wonderful music, yet. Every film has a great score, but I think Spirited Away had the best, which is partially what pushes it to the front of my list.

You can thank Joe Hisaishi for the wonderful music that he composes for these films. That man is simply amazing.

Cécile Corbel composed the music for Anrietty. Haven't seen the movie or listened to the OST yet, but I heard that the music is pretty good.

I'd have to mention that Grave of the Fireflies, was the most, tear-jerking movie I have ever seen. I just couldn't stop crying after every 10 minutes. Kudos to you, Isao Takahata, for making me bawl my eyes out.

I wonder, has anybody else seen "On Your Mark"? It's a music video that was directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by the same studio.

[Oga Simpson]

@Flux:

Really wanted to see it too but a film studies student who is evaluating Miyazaki's work got word Odeon are doing limited UK Release only in Machester, Norwich and London because it's 'not big enough for release' but that view isn't not surprising. Not here anyway. I really like that Saoirse Ronan is in it as well. My local University's anime-y theatre are gonna show it sometime though, so here's hoping.

Anyway I just saw Kiki for the first time about a week ago and I really loved it. But also Smudge, Porco has been on my list for a while now. I'll need to keep an eye out for DVDs when I get into town soon. Or maybe TV screenings.

You're in luck with Porco Rosso. Assuming that by living in the UK you have Film4, it's actually showing on Friday at 2.50pm I believe. So there's your chance, I recommend it.