What is the best Isao Takahata movie?

Decades of hand-drawn storytelling, from gut-wrenching wartime tragedy to gentle slice-of-life comedy and folktale fantasy. Which one moves you most?

1. 1
   Grave of the Fireflies

   Takahata's devastating 1988 wartime drama about two siblings struggling to survive in the final months of WWII Japan.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Pom Poko

   A 1994 environmental fable about shape-shifting raccoon dogs fighting to save their forest from urban development.
   591pts
3. 3
   Gauche the Cellist

   A 1982 musical drama about a struggling cellist who learns to play through nightly visits from animals.
   577pts
4. 4
   My Neighbors the Yamadas

   A 1999 comic-strip-style slice-of-life comedy following the everyday misadventures of an ordinary Japanese family.
   409pts
5. 5
   Horus, Prince of the Sun

   His 1968 debut feature, a landmark fantasy adventure that helped define modern Japanese animation.
   409pts
6. 6
   The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

   His final film, a 2013 watercolor-style retelling of a Japanese folktale nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
   409pts
7. 7
   Only Yesterday

   A 1991 introspective drama about a Tokyo office worker reflecting on her childhood during a countryside trip.
   300pts
8. 8
   Panda! Go Panda!

   A charming 1972 children's film about a girl who befriends a pair of pandas, an early collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki.
   300pts
9. 9
   Chie the Brat

   A 1981 comedy about a streetwise young girl running her family's restaurant in working-class Osaka.
   0pts

Comments