What is the best Studio Ghibli animated film of all time?

Studio Ghibli has created some of the most beautiful and emotionally resonant animated films ever made. From Spirited Away's Oscar-winning fantasy to Grave of the Fireflies' devastating anti-war tragedy, which is the greatest Ghibli film?

1

Howl's Moving Castle

Miyazaki's 2004 romantic fantasy about a girl transformed into an old woman who seeks help from a wizard.

1000pts

2

Princess Mononoke

Miyazaki's 1997 epic about the conflict between industrialization and nature spirits in feudal Japan.

942pts

3

Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 Oscar-winning masterpiece following a girl trapped in the spirit world.

791pts

4

My Neighbor Totoro

Miyazaki's 1988 gentle masterpiece about two girls befriending a forest spirit in rural 1950s Japan.

791pts

5

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Isao Takahata's 2013 hand-sketched masterpiece retelling the ancient Japanese bamboo-cutter folktale.

754pts

6

When Marnie Was There

Hiromasa Yonebayashi's 2014 quiet coming-of-age mystery about a lonely girl and a ghost from the past.

691pts

7

Grave of the Fireflies

Isao Takahata's 1988 devastating anti-war film following two siblings struggling to survive post-WWII Japan.

668pts

8

Porco Rosso

Miyazaki's 1992 romantic adventure about a World War I ace pilot cursed to walk the earth as a humanoid pig.

668pts

9

Only Yesterday

Takahata's 1991 melancholy adult drama about a Tokyo woman recalling her rural childhood self.

565pts

10

Kiki's Delivery Service

Miyazaki's 1989 coming-of-age story about a young witch who moves to a new city and starts a delivery service.

283pts

11

The Boy and the Heron

Miyazaki's 2023 return — a surreal, semi-autobiographical fantasy about a boy visiting a mysterious tower.

283pts

12

Castle in the Sky

Miyazaki's 1986 adventure following two children racing to find Laputa, the legendary floating city.

81pts

13

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Miyazaki's 1984 proto-Ghibli post-apocalyptic epic about a princess protecting her valley from toxic jungle spores.

81pts

14

The Cat Returns

Hiroyuki Morita's 2002 whimsical spin-off in which a girl is swept into the Kingdom of Cats.

81pts

15

The Wind Rises

Miyazaki's 2013 semi-biographical farewell about the designer of Japan's Zero fighter planes.

1pts