Summary
- Studio Ghibli's animal companions are integral parts of the stories, sometimes more popular than the protagonists.
- Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service is a mentor and guide to Kiki, with different personalities in the original script and English dub.
- Totoro is an iconic spirit, resembling a friendly cat, who befriends Mei and helps Satsuki find her missing sister.
Even the strongest anime heroes can't go through their adventure alone, which is why some have Studio Ghibli's best animal companions to help them. These creatures, real or fantastical, are an integral part of the world and story they're involved in. Sometimes, they become more popular than the actual protagonists.
As expected from Ghibli's top-notch writing and appealing animation style, all of these characters are memorable in their own ways. Whether for their witty lines or the big personalities that shine through even if they’re silent, audiences have loved them for decades.
10 Jiji Is The Best Kitty A Witch Could Ask For
Kiki's Delivery Service
As Kiki sets out into the world to hone her powers, her only companions are her beloved broom and her cat, Jiji. One of the best cat companions in anime, Jiji serves as a mentor and guide for Kiki when she’s on her own for the first time. Her ability to understand him as only a witch can do is one of the most powerful indicators of her mental state and connection with her powers.
Unusually, Jiji is a very different character between the original sub and the English dub. He speaks much less in the original script, appearing more nervous about their unfamiliar – and, to him – frightening surroundings. In the dub, Phil Hartman gave him not only a chattier personality but an extra helping of sarcastic commentary about their adventure.
9 Totoro Is An Iconic Spirit
My Neighbor Totoro
In their new home in the country, Mei and Satsuki meet a number of forest spirits. From the Catbus to the soot sprites, they're amazed and fascinated to discover the existence of each one of them. Chief among them, of course, is Totoro himself.
Totoro is unlike any other animal, but his signature appearance is similar to a huge, friendly cat. He doesn't speak, but he quickly makes friends with Mei, who isn’t one bit afraid of him, and when Mei goes missing, he's more than happy to help Satsuki reunite with her sister. He's made enough of an impression on audiences that he’s become Studio Ghibli's official mascot: even anime fans whohaven't watched the classic film are familiar with Totoro.
8 The Cat Is Quiet But Essential
Whisper Of The Heart
No, not the Baron: in this movie, he's only a statue in the antique shop. Despite its actual cat only being a background character, he's quietly integral to the story. As Seiji explains, he isn't actually the shop cat, but is known by many different names depending on where he goes, suggesting the many life paths Seiji and Shizuku have to choose between as they decide if and how to pursue their dreams.
He is also the one who leads Shizuku to the antique shop in the first place, and Shizuku's offhand remark that the pursuit is like the beginning of a story isn’t too far off the mark. In the shop, Shizuku finds the inspiration for her first book and meets the people who give her the courage to write it. The cat is also the first to hear about Shizuku's deepest insecurities, making them clear to the audience before she opens up to any actual people.
7 Soot Spirits Are Consistently Helpful
Spirited Away
Chihiro and Haku are one of Studio Ghibli's best couples, but despite Haku's impressive true form, he doesn't quite fit the archetype of an animal companion. The closest the human Chihiro has to this kind of character are the soot spirits. These little guys first appeared in My Neighbor Totoro, and are no less memorable here.
Chihiro's character arc is about learning to be mature, selfless, and responsible. In Kamaji's furnace, she watches the many soot spirits working to carry coal and feed the fire. Though Kamaji later advises her to leave them to it, she steps up to lend a hand of her own will. She discovers that it's a lot harder for a human to carry coal than the spirits made to do it, but refuses to give up, impressing both Kamaji and the soot spirits enough to help her out in return.
6 The Fate Of The World Depends On Dragons
Tales From Earthsea
Tales From Earthsea might not be among the most loved of Studio Ghibli's films, but its fantasy elements are strong. This adaptation of several of Ursula K. Le Guin's works begins with two dragons fighting to the death, which heralds the beginning of catastrophe for the world. For Prince Arren, however, becoming friends with Therru eventually saves his life.
Therru spends much of the film as a human, but sheds that disguise in the climax of the movie, revealing that she is really a dragon herself and killing Cob to save Arren's life. Though she and Arren must part, their friendship restores balance to both their lives, as the return of dragons begins to heal the world. All in all, she certainly is a bit more helpful than Arren's nameless fluffy horse.
5 This Island Revolves Around The Turtles
The Red Turtle
This film was produced in part by Isao Takahata, making it the final Ghibli project he was involved with before he ed.
Both nameless heroes of this film have their lives changed by the turtles of a remote island. The father attacks the red turtle, preventing him from leaving the island, but after killing it, falls for the red-haired woman who emerges from its shell and stays for the rest of his life. Their son eventually leaves the island by befriending three green turtles, ing them as they swim away.
The Red Turtle is among the more underrated of Studio Ghibli's titles, technically being a collaboration between Ghibli and several French animation studios. The red sea turtle becoming a human is its only fantasy element, but it's a set piece that makes up the core of the movie. The pair find contentment on the island together, and their son is a completely unique being.
4 Tanuki Are The Last Bastion Of Magic In A Human World
Pom Poko
In any other Ghibli movie, the tanuki would be background characters who a human hero. However, this is their movie, all about the tanuki residing in Tokyo's forests fighting to protect their land and way of life from being destroyed by human urban development. First, though, they have to be convinced to stop fighting among themselves for scarce resources.
Pom Poko continues Ghibli's recurring themes of nature versus industrialism and spiritual belief versus modern values. As strong and determined as the tanuki are, especially after they're united, they are ultimately powerless to fight human encroachment into their territory. Some are able to assimilate into the human world, but their old lives are gone even if they can fleetingly retake their true forms.
3 The Baron Is The Most Heroic Cat In His Kingdom
The Cat Returns
The nameless cat from Whisper of the Heart also has a counterpart here named Muta.
Implicitly the story that Shizuku's first draft from Whisper of the Heart becomes, the cat statue has grown from her fantasies to become the hero of his own movie. When Haru Yoshioka protects a cat from being hit by a car, she's shocked when she's spirited away to the Cat Kingdom as thanks for saving the life of their Crown Prince. Her only hope of getting back home is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen.
Gentlemanly and kind, the Baron makes it his life's work to do good in the Cat Kingdom, which includes protecting Haru from their king and his many loose screws. He is a master fighter with his cane, and handily faces down all their enemies until Haru has gained the confidence to stand up for herself. The Baron is a natural leader and holds the group together in their adventure.
2 Yakul More Than Proves His Worth
Princess Mononoke
Yakul is more than just a noble steed: he's one of the best creature companions in anime. He is Prince Ashitaka's only companion in his exile from home and his quest to break Nago's curse. From long, hard days of riding to dangerous battlefields, the loyal red elk never balks or panics, always being by Ashitaka’s side.
Though he and Ashitaka can’t have a conversation, it turns out he’s very chatty with San, who can speak to animals. A big part of what improves San's opinion of Ashitaka is Yakul apparently talking her ear off about what a wonderful and selfless person his human is. Even after San tries to set him free, he stays with the wounded Ashitaka of his own will.
1 The Grey Heron Is A Very Unusual Bird
The Boy And The Heron
Some may debate whether the Heron counts as an animal, seeing as he transforms from a leering bird to a bird-like humanoid with the loss of a feather. Mahito would probably object to the Heron counting as a companion, since the two are regularly at odds for most of the film. They prove to work well together when it counts, but their dynamic is very different from Ghibli's usual hero-and-animal pairs.
According to producer Toshio Suzuki, the change in title for international release (How Do You Live? to The Boy and the Heron) is intended as a nod to how the two's relationship is the core of the film. The Heron guides Mahito through its strange and often menacing world, eventually helping him reach not only his own world but take the first steps towards adulthood. Their friendship is just one of many reasons why it is Studio Ghibli's best movie in years.
