Hayao Miyazaki has been directing and animating films for decades, and each one of his movies has received nearly universal acclaim. Miyazaki is one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio that has been producing films since the mid-'80s, and their incredible artistry, original stories, and relatable characters put them among the rankings of the best-animated features of all time. As an animator and director, Miyazaki has a significant role in the creation of all his movies, and each is deeply emotional and very human, despite many of them having fantastical settings and plots.
Miyazaki is best known as the director and writer of his 11 Studio Ghibli movies, none of which has a Rotten Tomatoes score under 87%. He has also been nominated three times for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, winning once. These movies contain unique stories with memorable characters and settings that often have one person, usually a young girl, growing up through the trials and challenges of the narrative. Every one of Miyazaki's movies is worth discussing at length no matter their ranking, but these are his absolute best.
11 The Castle Of Cagliostro (1979)
The Castle of Cagliostro (a.k.a. Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro) is the first animated feature directed by Hayao Miyazaki. While it was made before the studio's founding, it's a manga adaptation, like many of Studio Ghibli's movies. It focuses on the famous thief character Arsène Lupin III, created by Kazuhiko Katō, following him as he robs a casino and then travels to the country of Cagliostro to rescue its princess from a scheming count. Though it wasn’t initially a hit, The Castle of Cagliostro found success through re-releases, and its rollicking, slap-stick adventure influence can be seen in many American animated films, such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
10 Ponyo (2008)
After making a number of films for more mature audiences, Hayao Miyazaki returned with a movie for children. Ponyo, like all his films, still has much for adults, but the stakes are noticeably lower here. The title character is a goldfish-like creature who desires to become a human. Her relationships with humans, including a young boy named Sōsuke and (in the English-language dub) a Betty White-voiced grandmother, her feisty and delightful nature, and her clash with her traditional father make for a literal fish-out-of-water movie that’s delightful and poignant. Miyazaki is famed for his aerial animations, but Ponyo shows he is just as masterful at creating water scenes.
9 Castle In The Sky (1986)
Castle in the Sky is Hayao Miyazaki’s third movie and the first produced by Studio Ghibli. It follows a boy and a princess as they try to protect a crystal from pirates and government agents, who are bent on weaponizing it and the secret city that it controls. Castle in the Sky's story involves robots, forgotten kingdoms, magic, and airships, making it one of the first modern steampunk films. Its colorful aesthetic and vibrant characters, particularly the pirate gang who go from being villains to allies, make even the altered English-language version of Castle in the Sky one of the core fairytale film texts, influencing others in the genre since.
8 Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is an early example of Hayao Miyazaki’s focus on anti-war and pro-environmental messaging. Nausicaä is the princess of a tribe living on Earth millennia after an apocalyptic war destroyed most of human society and left much of the land an uninhabitable, poisonous wasteland only traversable by gigantic, armored insects that survived and live peacefully even as the humans continue to war. The film is massive in scope, and its success helped lead to the development of Studio Ghibli a year later. Miyazaki is also a talented manga writer, and this is an adaptation of his own comic series of the same name.
7 The Wind Rises (2013)
Hayao Miyazaki has a well-documented love of aircraft, aerial engineering, and all things having to do with flight. A tribute to that subject, The Wind Rises is a biographical story of Jiro Horikoshi, an aircraft designer whose planes were used during World War II — which he regretted. The Wind Rises was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2014 Academy Awards and has an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s an incredibly honest look at an inspiring but tragic life. Horikoshi does realize his dream of creating beautiful aircraft but how his designs are used in war makes for an emotional ending for the Studio Ghibli movie.
6 Porco Rosso (1992)
The title character of Porco Rosso is a misanthropic Italian World War I ace who now flies around Italy fighting pirates and generally doing whatever he wants. What sets him apart from others, however, is that he has been cursed with a pig head through some unexplained means. It’s a mix of swashbuckling adventure, female empowerment (with Fio Piccolo the hotheaded woman mechanic), and melancholy sadness with the war that caused everything in the first place. The film has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes thanks in part to its unique look at the classic hero story, never painting Porco totally as the good guy he appears to be.
5 Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Howl’s Moving Castle is based on the book of the same name and was deservedly nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 76th Academy Awards. The movie's fantastical storytelling can be challenging, as it sometimes feels like there are two different plots going on, one with Howl as he tries to avoid fighting in a destructive war, and one with Sophie as she tries to figure out how to transform from an old lady back into a young woman after being cursed by a witch. Despite this, the details of the magical world and the story arc of Sophie make it one of Hayao Miyazaki's most engrossing films.
4 Princess Mononoke (1997)
Japanese folklore is a major component of many Miyazaki films, and Princess Mononoke pairs its mythological characters with an environmental and anti-war message to make an epic and often scary tale. In the film, Prince Ashitaka goes on a journey to cure himself of a demon’s curse, and his travels put him in the middle of a war between an industrial society, boars, talking wolves, and powerful forest spirits. Ashitaka and the wolf-princess San have a well-developed relationship that adds a romantic and loving heart to a film filled with violence and danger. Princess Mononoke examines how the pursuit of power even in the name of safety can be destructive.
3 Kiki’s Delivery Service (1988)
Hayao Miyazaki is notable in that many of his films follow female protagonists. Kiki’s Delivery Service is another of Miyazaki’s feminist works as it follows a young witch Kiki, who leaves home, as all witches do, to find a job and start living independently. She goes through ups and downs as she settles into her new life and has to contend with her powers weakening. It's a beautiful film with a perfect setting for the confident and adventurous Kiki, who loses her confidence and powers and gains them back all on her own.
2 My Neighbor Totoro (1989)
My Neighbor Totoro is a movie aimed primarily at children, and yet it has some of the most mature and adult themes out of all of Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography. The cast and characters of My Neighbor Totoro include the Kusakabe family. There's the 10-year-old sister Satsuki, 4-year-old Mei, and their father, Tatsuo, who all move into a large, but old, home close to the hospital where their mother is recovering from an illness. In their new home, Mei and Satsuki discover three pointy-eared and fluffy forest spirits. The largest of the spirits, Totoro, becomes a friend and source of familiarity during a tough time.
There are no villains in My Neighbor Totoro, and the biggest source of conflict comes when Mei goes missing and Satsuki and the titular spirit search for her. With such low stakes, the movie doesn’t seem like it should work, but the young girls' relationship with each other and their new life is refreshingly real. The sisters are among the best female characters in Studio Ghibli movies. They fight and tease but ultimately love each other, and the world through their eyes is simultaneously scary and amazing. What it lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in heart. It’s a quiet and moving film that anyone can enjoy.
