Studio Ghibli Movies Ranked: All 25 Essential Films

Which Studio Ghibli movie is the best? Ask a room full of fans and you may get a different answer from every corner: Spirited Away for its dream logic, Princess Mononoke for its ferocity, My Neighbor Totoro for its gentleness, or Grave of the Fireflies for the way it refuses to make grief easy. That variety is the point. Ghibli is not one mood or one director. Its catalogue moves between comedy, quiet realism, ecological fantasy, romance, war, growing up, and the strange beauty of ordinary days.

Here, “ranked” means an editorial recommendation, not a box-office chart or a claim that there is one correct order. We weigh storytelling, visual craft, emotional force, rewatch value, and how fully each film achieves its own aims. A lower placement does not mean a film has no value; some entries are uneven, divisive, or simply aimed at a narrower audience. We explain what each one does well so you can choose by mood as easily as by number. 🎞️

Quick answer: the top 10, at a glance

1. 🌌 Spirited Away
2. 🪶 The Boy and the Heron
3. 🐺 Princess Mononoke
4. 🦝 Pom Poko
5. 🌙 The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
6. 🔥 Grave of the Fireflies
7. ✈️ The Wind Rises
8. 🏰 Howl’s Moving Castle
9. 🌳 My Neighbor Totoro
10. 🎻 Whisper of the Heart

These are strong starting points, but the right first Ghibli film depends on the viewer. For a young child, begin with My Neighbor Totoro or Ponyo. For a sweeping fantasy, choose Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle. For a serious historical drama, Grave of the Fireflies is extraordinary but emotionally intense. Keep reading for the full list, with spoiler-light notes and the kind of viewer each film tends to suit.

All 25 Studio Ghibli movies ranked

25. Earwig and the Witch (2020) 🧪

Goro Miyazaki’s computer-animated adaptation has a clever hook: an orphaned girl lands in the home of a sharp-tempered witch and quickly learns how to negotiate with the adults around her. Earwig’s confidence gives the film a refreshing, mischievous heroine, and the compact setting suggests a fun magical comedy. The problem is that the story feels like a first chapter rather than a complete feature. Its cliff-edge ending leaves character arcs and mysteries hanging, while the CG approach lacks the tactile richness many viewers expect from the studio. There is real charm here, especially in Earwig’s resourcefulness, but it is best approached as an experiment and a curiosity rather than a top-tier introduction. 🪄

24. Tales from Earthsea (2006) 🐉

Goro Miyazaki’s debut draws on Ursula K. Le Guin’s expansive fantasy cycle, following a young prince and a wizard through a world unsettled by imbalance. Its painted skies, dragons, and solemn atmosphere can be beautiful, and the film has a serious interest in fear, mortality, and the burden of power. Yet the adaptation compresses a large literary universe into a story that can feel abrupt and opaque, especially for viewers unfamiliar with the books. Some scenes have a striking mythic stillness; others do not get enough room to land. Earthsea is worth seeing for its visual moments and as an early work by a director who later found a more personal rhythm in From Up on Poppy Hill.

23. The Red Turtle (2016) 🐢

This nearly wordless film follows a castaway whose attempts to leave a deserted island are repeatedly interrupted by a mysterious red turtle. Directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit and co-produced by Studio Ghibli, it is formally distinct from the rest of the catalogue: spare dialogue, pared-back character design, and a fable told through rhythm, weather, and changing landscapes. That simplicity is also its challenge. Viewers who want brisk plot or expressive dialogue may find it distant, while those willing to sit with its silences can discover a moving reflection on companionship, nature, and a life’s seasons. Its delicate animation and patient storytelling make it an excellent companion piece, even if its quiet minimalism is not for every mood.

22. Ocean Waves (1993) 🌊

Tomomi Mochizuki’s television film is a small, bittersweet story of friendship and memory, told from the perspective of a young man looking back on a turbulent school year. Its ordinary locations—train stations, classrooms, family homes—give it a grounded texture that stands apart from the studio’s grander fantasies. The film captures how teenage crushes and misunderstandings can seem enormous in the moment and hazier with time. Some characters are intentionally frustrating, and its pacing can feel loose, but that awkwardness is part of its portrait of adolescence. Choose Ocean Waves for low-key nostalgia rather than spectacle; it is less a sweeping romance than an imperfect memory that keeps changing as you revisit it.

21. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) 📰

Isao Takahata turns the daily life of an ordinary family into a series of comic vignettes, each framed like a watercolor newspaper strip. The loose structure is a deliberate pleasure: a lost child, a family argument, a small act of kindness, or a philosophical aside can each become a miniature episode. Its sketchy visual style is radically different from Ghibli’s richly rendered fantasy worlds, and Akiko Yano’s music adds an offbeat, playful energy. Because it does not build toward one conventional plot, some viewers may find it slight. Others will recognize the humor of family life, where a tiny inconvenience can become an epic and the final image of a day can be its own reward. 🎨

20. From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) ⚓

Set in Yokohama during the early 1960s, this gentle drama follows Umi and Shun as they help save a beloved student clubhouse from demolition. The film’s central pleasure is its lived-in setting: the harbor, hillside streets, and bustling school rooms create a portrait of a Japan moving quickly toward the future while trying to preserve pieces of its past. It is warm, romantic, and unusually interested in civic life and the shared work of young people. A late family revelation introduces a melodramatic knot that some viewers find distracting, but the emotional focus returns to friendship and community. Its hopeful mood and everyday stakes make it an easy choice for viewers who prefer human-scale stories.

19. The Cat Returns (2002) 🐈

When Haru saves a cat from traffic, she is pulled into a feline kingdom where its ruler plans to reward her by arranging a marriage to his son. This compact fantasy adventure moves quickly and wears its whimsy lightly. The Baron returns from Whisper of the Heart as a polished, gallant guide, while Haru’s growing confidence gives the story a satisfying coming-of-age shape. It is not as emotionally layered as the film that introduced the Baron, but it is also not trying to be. Think of it as a brisk storybook detour, full of rooftops, charming absurdity, and a reminder that saying “no” can be a heroic act. A lovely pick for a short, cheerful movie night.

18. Only Yesterday (1991) 🌾

Taeko, a 27-year-old office worker, travels to the countryside and finds childhood memories resurfacing alongside questions about the life she wants. Isao Takahata moves between adult Taeko’s present and vivid scenes from her fifth-grade self, capturing the embarrassment, longing, and small discoveries that stay with us. Its realism is the film’s boldest choice: conversations about school, work, and growing up become as absorbing as a fantasy quest. The pace is leisurely, and the story is more inward than dramatic, but the final movement has a quiet emotional force. If you enjoy character studies about identity, memory, and choosing a direction, this may become one of your most personal Ghibli favorites. 🌱

17. When Marnie Was There (2014) 🌫️

Anna, a withdrawn girl sent to the seaside for her health, discovers an old house across the marsh and meets the mysterious Marnie. The film begins with the texture of a ghost story, using fog, tides, and empty windows to create a feeling of beautiful unease. Its emotional center is Anna’s loneliness and the tentative trust she builds with another person. The mystery becomes more legible as the story unfolds, and the ending asks viewers to reconsider what they have seen. A few twists may feel heavily explained, but Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s delicate staging and the film’s compassion for an isolated child make it quietly affecting. Best for a reflective evening, not a fast-paced adventure.

16. Arrietty (2010) 🍃

Inside a country house, a family of tiny people borrow what they need from the human world, carefully avoiding discovery. Arrietty’s first outing into the garden is one of Ghibli’s most immersive sequences: a dewdrop becomes a pond, a flower is a forest, and a single sound can feel enormous. The film’s scale gives ordinary rooms a sense of wilderness, while Cécile Corbel’s score adds a distinctive folk-pop warmth. Its conflict is quieter than the premise suggests, and some viewers will wish the story went further. Still, Arrietty is a graceful, beautifully observed film about a friendship made fragile by difference and the courage it takes to leave a sheltered place.

15. Porco Rosso (1992) ✈️

In the Adriatic between world wars, a mysterious pilot with a pig’s face makes his living chasing air pirates and avoiding the forces that want to recruit him. Porco Rosso combines high-spirited dogfights, dry comedy, and a melancholy streak that slowly surfaces beneath its breezy adventure. Its planes feel lovingly mechanical, and the seaplane sequences turn the sky into a playground. The film’s most intriguing mystery is not how Porco became a pig, but what he is trying not to feel or remember. That emotional reserve gives the humor an aftertaste. It may be one of Miyazaki’s most adult films, yet its sense of flight and mischief makes it an inviting watch at any age.

14. Ponyo (2008) 🐟

A goldfish-like sea spirit escapes the ocean, meets a young boy, and decides she wants to become human. The result is a burst of color and movement, built around a child’s scale of attention: a bowl of noodles can be thrilling, a storm can remake the map, and love is expressed through a promise kept. Miyazaki’s hand-drawn waves are among the film’s great pleasures, playful and forceful at once. Adults looking for tightly explained mythology may find the logic wonderfully loose; young viewers often respond to the emotional clarity and visual energy. Ponyo is a strong family pick when you want excitement without cynicism, and a reminder that environmental wonder can feel joyful rather than preachy. 🌊

13. Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) 🧹

At thirteen, young witch Kiki leaves home to find a town where she can build a life of her own. She starts a delivery service, learns the geography of a new place, and discovers that confidence can disappear when you are tired or lonely. Rather than centering a villain, the film treats work, friendship, and creative burnout as its real tests. The seaside city is inviting, and Kiki’s small flights between rooftops make the daily commute feel like an adventure. This is one of the best Ghibli introductions for children and adults alike: light on frightening material, full of charm, and honest about how growing up includes ordinary setbacks. 🧺

12. Castle in the Sky (1986) 🏰

The first film released under the Studio Ghibli name sends young mechanic Pazu and mysterious Sheeta on a race toward a legendary floating city. It is a classic adventure built from strong ingredients: a chase, a friendship, an ancient secret, noisy comic side characters, and a technological wonder with real danger attached. The airborne action remains exhilarating, while the film’s unease about militarism and exploitation keeps its spectacle from feeling empty. Its straightforward storytelling is an advantage when you want momentum and a clear emotional through-line. Some later Miyazaki films are more formally daring, but few are more purely satisfying as an animated adventure. Start here if you want a lively, accessible gateway into the catalogue.

11. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) 🌬️

Released before Studio Ghibli was founded, this Hayao Miyazaki film is still essential to any Ghibli conversation: its ecological imagination, complex political conflict, and compassionate heroine point toward many ideas that the studio would revisit. Nausicaä tries to understand a toxic forest and the enormous insects within it rather than simply destroy what frightens her. That empathy gives the adventure its moral center. The story’s scale can feel compressed compared with the manga, and the film asks viewers to keep track of several factions, but its world is vivid from the first scene. For a Ghibli marathon, it belongs near the beginning as a creative precursor and an extraordinary film in its own right.

10. Whisper of the Heart (1995) 🎻

Shizuku is a book-loving middle-schooler who notices the same name appearing on library cards and grows curious about the boy behind it. That small mystery opens into a story about first love, artistic ambition, and the frightening act of trying something before you know whether you are good at it. Yoshifumi Kondō’s film has a rare intimacy: streets, trains, and familiar rooms become part of Shizuku’s inner life without turning into fantasy. The Baron’s story-within-the-story brings a brief flourish of imagination, but the film’s magic comes from its grounded details. It is an ideal pick for anyone who loves coming-of-age stories about finding a voice and making a first draft of the future. ✍️

9. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) 🌳

Sisters Satsuki and Mei move to the countryside while their mother recovers in hospital, and their new home seems to open onto a world of quiet spirits. Totoro understands that childhood wonder can coexist with worry: the girls run, laugh, and explore, but they also miss their mother and sense the adults’ concern. Its famous forest encounters work because the film never treats every mystery as a puzzle to solve. Sometimes a bus stop, a rainy evening, and a gentle creature are enough. The pacing is patient, the humor is warm, and the animation finds magic in wind, leaves, and waiting. It remains one of the most comforting family films ever made. ☂️

8. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) 🔥

Sophie, a young hat maker transformed by a witch’s curse, finds refuge in the walking house of the wizard Howl. The film turns a romance into a grand, shifting fantasy, with a fire demon, a vain wizard, and a war whose destructive logic threatens to swallow everyone. Howl’s machine-like home is a character of its own, forever rearranging rooms and doors as Sophie brings care and order to its chaos. The story’s late turns can feel deliberately tangled, and the war is more impressionistic than explained. But that dreamlike shape supports its central idea: people become more than the roles fear assigns them. For visual invention and emotional warmth, it is an enduring favorite.

7. The Wind Rises (2013) 🛩️

Miyazaki’s historical drama follows Jiro Horikoshi, an aeronautical engineer whose desire to design beautiful aircraft unfolds during a period of increasing militarization. Dreams of flight, technical ambition, romance, and historical tragedy sit side by side without an easy answer. The film’s planes are drawn with an engineer’s attention and a dreamer’s awe, while its quiet love story gives the public history a personal scale. Some viewers find its treatment of Jiro too sympathetic; others value the tension between creation and the uses to which a creation can be put. Either way, it is a mature, contemplative film that rewards a second viewing. Watch when you want thoughtful drama rather than comfort or escapism.

6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 🔥

Isao Takahata’s story of siblings Seita and Setsuko during the final months of World War II is among animation’s most devastating achievements. It observes hunger, pride, childhood play, and the erosion of hope with clear-eyed compassion. There is no comforting fantasy to soften the historical reality, and the film’s beauty makes its suffering more, not less, affecting. This placement is not a judgment about artistic merit; it is a practical note about emotional intensity. Many viewers consider it a masterpiece, but it is not a casual family-night choice. Approach it with care, particularly with younger viewers, and leave room afterward to talk. For historical context, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and related educational resources can support a broader conversation about civilian life in wartime.

5. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) 🌙

A bamboo cutter discovers a tiny girl who grows with astonishing speed, and an old folktale unfolds as a meditation on beauty, freedom, and the cost of turning a life into an ideal. Takahata’s watercolor-and-ink animation appears to breathe; at moments, the linework seems to rush across the screen with the force of Kaguya’s feelings. The film’s emotional architecture is as careful as its visual one: delight gives way to constraint, and lavish court life becomes a kind of cage. Its 137-minute length asks for patience, but the ending gathers its themes into a sequence that is hard to forget. This is a film to experience with time and attention, preferably on the largest screen available.

4. Pom Poko (1994) 🦝

Takahata’s ecological comedy follows a community of tanuki as urban development reshapes the hills they call home. The film shifts between slapstick, folklore, social satire, and sorrow, often within the same scene. Its shape-shifting animals turn resistance into a series of inventive visual gags, but the larger conflict is painfully recognizable: a landscape changes faster than a community can protect it. Pom Poko is bolder and stranger than its cute animal premise suggests, and its tonal shifts may catch first-time viewers off guard. That unpredictability is part of its power. It asks what happens when tradition meets construction, and what a culture chooses to remember after a place has changed. 🌱

3. Princess Mononoke (1997) 🐺

Ashitaka travels west to understand the force that has cursed him and becomes caught between a settlement powered by iron and the forest spirits defending their home. Princess Mononoke refuses to divide the conflict into simple good and evil: Lady Eboshi protects people whom society has abandoned, while the forest’s resistance can be terrifying. Its action is ferocious, its landscapes monumental, and its questions about industry and the living world remain urgent. The film is more violent than many Ghibli entries, so it may not be the right first choice for young children. For older viewers ready for a mythic story with moral complexity, it is one of the studio’s most powerful works.

2. The Boy and the Heron (2023) 🪶

Miyazaki’s later feature begins with Mahito, grieving his mother and adjusting to a new home during wartime Japan. A strange heron draws him toward a world where memory, mortality, and creation fold in on themselves. The film’s dream architecture does not explain every image, and that openness can be exhilarating or disorienting. Its hand-drawn movement has the confidence of a filmmaker returning to the medium with a lifetime of images behind him. Mahito’s journey is less a neat puzzle than an encounter with grief and the choice of what to carry forward. It won the Academy Award for Animated Feature at the 96th Oscars; the Academy’s official record gives the award context. A challenging, beautiful late-career statement.

1. Spirited Away (2001) 🌌

Chihiro’s family takes a wrong turn and enters a world of spirits, bathhouses, contracts, and strange appetites. To save her parents and find her way home, she must work, observe, remember her name, and learn how to treat others with care. The film’s abundance is astonishing: every corridor, food stall, and passing creature suggests a larger life beyond the frame. Yet its emotional line stays clear because Chihiro changes through small acts of courage rather than sudden power. The result is both a richly strange fantasy and a deeply human coming-of-age story. It remains the best all-round Ghibli recommendation: imaginative enough for first-time viewers, layered enough for lifelong fans, and rewarding every time you return. 🏆

Which Ghibli movie should you watch first?

Use the ranking as a starting point, then match the film to the kind of evening you want. Pick Totoro for gentle wonder, Kiki for an encouraging coming-of-age story, Spirited Away for a complete fantasy adventure, and Princess Mononoke for a more intense epic. When you want grounded emotion, try Only Yesterday or Whisper of the Heart. For a visually experimental film, choose Princess Kaguya. For grief, loss, or wartime history, approach Grave of the Fireflies with care.

What makes a Studio Ghibli movie feel like Ghibli?

There is no single formula, and the differences between Miyazaki, Takahata, Kondō, Morita, Yonebayashi, and Goro Miyazaki matter. Still, recurring qualities help explain why the films feel connected. Many give ordinary routines close attention: making a meal, walking to school, sorting tools, or waiting for a train. Many let landscapes shape the story rather than decorate it. Nature can be shelter, mystery, livelihood, or force, not simply a pretty background. And even stories with witches, spirits, or flying machines tend to place character choices at the center. The films trust pauses and gestures; a silent look can carry as much meaning as a speech.

That approach creates a distinctive kind of wonder. A fantasy may have rules, but it does not always stop to explain them. A character may be brave and frightened at once. An antagonist may be loving in one scene and dangerous in another. Those contradictions make the worlds feel lived in. The best Ghibli films do not ask viewers to escape reality permanently; they make reality feel larger, then return us to the daily world with sharper eyes. 🌿

Do you need to watch Studio Ghibli movies in order?

No. Nearly all of the feature films are standalone stories, so release order is useful for seeing the studio’s changing craft but not required for plot. If you want a chronological tour, start with Nausicaä as a pre-Ghibli precursor, then move from Castle in the Sky through The Boy and the Heron. For a first-time sampler, choose three contrasting films: My Neighbor Totoro for gentle wonder, Princess Mononoke for epic conflict, and Spirited Away for fantasy adventure. Then follow your favorite director or mood.

For another anime-film watch guide, see our articles on every Naruto movie in release order, Dragon Ball movies in watch order, One Piece movies ranked, the Evangelion movie watch order, and our guide to Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Each series uses a different mix of canon, side stories, and standalone films, so a little context makes a marathon smoother. 🎬

Where to explore the filmography and awards

For official titles and studio credits, browse Studio Ghibli’s works catalogue. The Ghibli Museum film works page offers another official look at films and related screenings. For North American release information, see GKIDS’ film catalogue. Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Animated Feature at the 75th Oscars, while The Boy and the Heron won at the 96th; the Academy’s ceremony archive lists both records. For a critic-based comparison, Rotten Tomatoes’ Ghibli ranking offers a different lens from this editorial order.

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest-rated Studio Ghibli movie?

There is no single universal ranking because critics, audiences, award bodies, and individual fans use different measures. In this editorial list, Spirited Away takes first place for its balance of inventive fantasy, emotional clarity, and rewatch value. Other widely celebrated choices include Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Ratings and lists change with the source, so treat a ranking as a guide to exploration rather than a final verdict.

How many Studio Ghibli movies are there?

The count depends on what you include. The studio’s core feature-film catalogue is commonly counted as 23 productions through The Boy and the Heron. Add Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, released before Studio Ghibli’s founding but made by its creative founders’ earlier team, and the count becomes 24. Include the Ghibli co-production The Red Turtle as a companion feature and this guide covers 25 movies. Shorts, museum films, and television works are not included.

Which Ghibli movie is best for kids?

My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Ponyo are common family-friendly starting points, though every child is different. Princess Mononoke contains intense violence, and Grave of the Fireflies deals with war and severe loss. If you are choosing for a child, check a local age guide or review the film first, especially when they are sensitive to peril or frightening images.

Is Nausicaä a Studio Ghibli movie?

It is not technically a Studio Ghibli production because it was released in 1984, before the studio was founded in 1985. It was made by Hayao Miyazaki and key collaborators whose work led directly into Ghibli, and the studio’s own catalogue and many fan filmographies treat it as part of the wider Ghibli canon. That is why it appears here with a clear note about its status.

Is The Red Turtle a Studio Ghibli movie?

The Red Turtle is a feature co-produced by Studio Ghibli with European partners and directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit. It is often included in broad filmography lists, but it differs from the studio’s in-house productions and has its own visual language. We include it as a companion entry and label its co-production status rather than treating it as an ordinary core title.

What is the best order to watch Ghibli movies?

There is no required order. Watch by release year if you want to see the studio’s history unfold, by director if you want to compare creative voices, or by mood if you simply want a great film tonight. Since most titles are standalone, you can jump directly to the movie whose setting or theme interests you.

Final verdict: a catalogue worth wandering through

Spirited Away is our number-one pick, but the lasting joy of Studio Ghibli is that there is no single doorway into it. You may arrive for the bathhouse fantasy and stay for a quiet story about memory. You may love the films with flying machines, then discover the studio’s most affecting work happens in a kitchen or on a walk home. Let the ranking point you toward a first choice, then follow curiosity rather than completionism. 🌠

If you want one simple starter trio, watch My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. Together they show three different kinds of wonder: intimate, dreamlike, and epic. From there, the rest of the filmography opens up like a map.