Summary

• There are very few living animators who have such a storied and prolific career as Hayao Miyazaki.
• Miyazaki wrote some Studio Ghibli movies that he did not direct, and these, like the Secret World of Arrietty and From Up on Poppy Hill, are perhaps among his weakest.
• The Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki's most recent movie, proves that he is still a great director and writer of characters.

Warning: Contains spoilers for The Boy and the Heron.Hayao Miyazaki’s work has undeniably impacted animation, especially his movies, and there’s a definite hierarchy to them, too. Miyazaki is undeniably one of the biggest names in not just anime, but cinema, in general. The films and TV shows he’s created, both before and after founding Studio Ghibli, have all gone on to be some of the most beloved stories in all of animation, and they’ve all managed to strike a chord with people worldwide.

Whether it comes down to the story, characters, animation, or just overall writing, some of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, directed by him or otherwise, are easily better than others, and that’s true of his work from both before and after he founded Studio Ghibli.

There are very few living animators who have such a storied and prolific career as Hayao Miyazaki, and as such, there’s definite merit in seeing how all of the movies he’s been involved with across so many decades compare to one another.

Related: All Studio Ghibli Movies In Order of Release Date (Including How Do You Live?)

15 Howl’s Moving Castle Is Hayao Miyazaki’s Most Overrated Movie

Howl's Moving Castle - 2004

The Hayao Miyazaki movie that easily stands out as his worst is 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle. The story is one of the weakest of any Studio Ghibli film with a severe lack of development, agency, and logic. Not only is Sophie a surprisingly ive Studio Ghibli protagonist, but her relationship with Howl is never written convincingly because of how one-sided it is from Sophie spending so much time helping Howl and his friends and Howl never returning the favor. Howl’s Moving Castle is often heralded as one of the best Studio Ghibli films, but it’s hard to see it as anything other than Miyazaki’s worst effort.

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14 The Secret World Of Arrietty Is Surprisingly Dull, Despite Its Interesting Premise

The Secret World Of Arrietty - 2010

Hayao Miyazaki may have only written 2010’s The Secret World of Arrietty, with Hiromasa Yonebayashi directing, but it’s a very weak film, regardless. Seeing the tiny Borrowers interact with the giant, mundane world around them always makes for a wonderful aesthetic, but the story and characters are both far too underdeveloped to be engaging in the slightest, the villain especially standing out as one of the worst in any Studio Ghibli film. Yonebayashi’s next Studio Ghibli film, When Marnie Was There, would be a far better film than The Secret World of Arrietty, but that doesn’t change how much Arrietty wasted both Yonebayashi’s and Miyazaki’s talents.

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13 From Up On Poppy Hill Ruined Its Story For Seemingly No Reason

From Up On Poppy Hill - 2011

Another film that Hayao Miyazaki only wrote and was overall lackluster is 2011’s From Up on Poppy Hill. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, the film initially succeeds at selling a cute romance story between the two leads, but the second half introduces a plotline about the leads thinking they’re brother and sister, which does nothing but grind what should have been a simple story to a halt for the sake of pointless melodrama that could have been easily written out. From Up on Poppy Hill is still a far better film than Goro Miyazaki’s other films, Tales from Earthsea and Earwig and the Witch.

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12 My Neighbor Totoro Has Surprisingly Very Little Going On For It

My Neighbor Totoro - 1988

1988’s My Neighbor Totoro is one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most iconic films of all time, with Totoro even being Studio Ghibli’s mascot, and that makes the lack of quality in the film all the more surprising. As cute as Satsuki and Mei’s antics can be, the lack of a central narrative for most of the story makes it hard to feel invested in anything, and Totoro’s surprising lack of screentime only further emphasizes that feeling that nothing ever really happens. My Neighbor Totoro is hardly the only slice-of-life movie Studio Ghibli has done, but it’s handled far more effectively elsewhere, and this one ultimately suffers from its lack of execution.

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11 Kiki’s Delivery Service Improves On The Slice-of-Life Formula

Kiki's Delivery Service - 1989

1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service has a similar formula as My Neighbor Totoro, and to a certain extent, it’s executed far more effectively. Both films suffer from a lack of a central narrative and stakes, but Kiki’s Delivery Service being framed around the titular delivery service does allow for a comparatively more focused story that the film more than benefits from. Not only that, but while the story doesn’t have the maturity of its contemporaries, Kiki’s struggles with burnout and having to understand that inspiration comes and goes is surprisingly poignant for an otherwise childish film, and that helps it stand above some of Miyazaki’s weaker stories.

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10 Ponyo Finally Strikes A Good Balance Between Fantasy And Slice-Of-Life

Ponyo -2008

2008’s Ponyo is another Hayao Miyazaki film that blends fantasy with slice-of-life antics, and the execution is far better than some of its contemporaries. While Ponyo also has a problem with a lack of agency in its story, the stakes are far better established than they are in other films, and while Ponyo and Sosuke aren’t that deep compared to other Studio Ghibli protagonists, their dynamic is still good enough for that to not matter. Add in some of the best art and animation to ever feature in a Studio Ghibli film, and Ponyo still has a lot to offer over a decade after its release.

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9 The Wind Rises Would Have Been A Good Finale For Hayao Miyazaki

The Wind Rises - 2013

2013’s The Wind Rises was once intended to be Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, but even with that, it’s a surprisingly uneven film. The story never feels like it goes as far with its political messages as it should, and with how slow the pacing tends to be, it makes for a film that feels like it’s always holding itself back. That being said, the animation is some of Miyazaki’s best, and Jiro Horikoshi is given some of the best character writing of any 2010s Studio Ghibli film, so if Miyazaki had retired with The Wind Rises, it still would have been a good film for him to go out on.

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8 Porco Rosso Is Hayao Miyazaki’s Underrated Masterpiece

Porco Rosso - 1992

Among Hayao Miyazaki’s older works, 1992’s Porco Rosso is the one that gets the least attention, but it’s still a great film to watch. The film is somewhat light on story, but it does a great job of selling itself as a goofy film with a likable cast to make up for that, and the absurdity of Porco being treated as a dashing rogue despite having a pig’s head perfectly embodies that idea. Add in Miyazaki’s always impressive visuals, and Porco Rosso is a film that excellently keeps to the Studio Ghibli aesthetic of balancing goofiness with occasional bits of seriousness, and that makes it plenty worth watching.

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7 Castle In The Sky Was An Amazing Debut Film For Studio Ghibli

Castle In The Sky - 1986

1986’s Castle in the Sky was the first official Studio Ghibli film, and it was an all-around amazing debut for the company. In addition to having a great cast of heroes and villains alike and one of Miyazaki’s best executions of an environmental message, Castle in the Sky does an incredible job of crafting a classic adventure story with some of the most vibrant animation and visuals in a Studio Ghibli film, even after almost 40 years. Castle in the Sky more than holds up decades later, and it’s easy to see it as having set the standard for what Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli would do for years to come.

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6 The Boy And The Heron Shows That Hayao Miyazaki Is Still As Great As Ever

The Boy And The Heron -2023

Hayao Miyazaki officially came out of retirement with 2023’s The Boy and the Heron, and it’s more than a worthy return to animation for him. Not only is the art, animation, and overall direction some of Miyazaki’s best, but the story, while weak in some areas, has some of the most emotionally resonant storytelling of any Studio Ghibli film, and that leads to its themes of grief and figuring out how to live one’s life to come across in the best of ways. The Boy and the Heron is easily Studio Ghibli’s best film in years, and it creates plenty of excitement for Miyazaki’s future work with the company.