KC Podcast - Episode 117: Passing the Baton

Studio Ghibli Films

Fact: Studio Ghibli has never made a bad film.

If you've never seen any of the Studio Ghibli films, you need to. And to get you started, here are my Top 5 Favorite Studio Ghibli films:

1. Porco Rosso
2. My Neighbor Totoro
3. Howl's Moving Castle
4. Castle in the Sky
5. The Cat Returns


Runner up: Spirited Away

Comments

Arun said…
I need to check these movies soon!

I have seen "Spirited Away". Probably the same director made some of these movies as well...
Rick Davis said…
Hayao Miyazaki is the guy who directed pretty much all of the Ghibli films (he also wrote most of them himself as well). I believe the latest Ghibli movie, "The Secret World of Arietty", is the first to be directed by someone else.

All of the films are bright, colorful, and imaginative. None of them follow a standard formula like Disney cartoons (plucky main character, two goofy non-human sidekicks, central villain with goofy sidekick, etc...). Some of them are clearly intended for children such as "My Neighbor Totoro"; some have more serious themes like "Porco Rosso" (survivor's guilt after WWI) or "Princess Mononoke" (culture clashes, ecology, and moral dilemmas).

I have yet to find one that wasn't worth watching.