Every Studio Ghibli Animated Film, Ranked Worst to Best
Updated February 1, 2021 to add Earwig and the Witch.
There has never been a better time to revisit the Studio Ghibli catalog. Founded in the mid-1980s by a group of animators led by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, the Japanese studio is almost without peer in the world of animation, releasing 20 critically acclaimed features (and just one dud) over three decades. Recently, the entire Ghibli catalog was added to a variety of digital services (like Amazon, YouTube, and iTunes) for the first time ever (in both their subtitled Japanese original versions and Disney-produced English-language dubs), and all of the films will be available to stream for free to subscribers on day one when HBO Max launches at the end of May.
Wondering where to start? In the gallery above, we rank every Studio Ghibli release from worst to absolute best, according to their Metascores (which measure the opinions of top professional film critics).
Photo credits: Studio Ghibli, Toei (slide 18)
Released the same year (1988) as one of the studio's darkest films (the war drama Grave of the Fireflies) was one of Ghibli's gentlest, most heartwarming features. Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro introduced the title character, a large wood spirit who has become an enduring icon for the studio—basically, Ghibli's own Mickey Mouse—popping up in numerous films and in pretty much every form of merchandising you can imagine. The film itself is considered an all-time classic of animation, though you'll want to skip the 1990s English-language dub in favor of Disney's 2004 version (or the original with subtitles).
“Compared to the breathtaking action sequences and elaborate fantasy landscapes of Miyazaki's early features, the genteel, languid Totoro seems at first slight, and even soporific. Yet My Neighbor Totoro may be the most enduring entry in Miyazaki's impressive filmography, because it's so particular about the nuances of human behavior and emotion.” —Noel Murray, AV Club
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