PopcornTreeCt

I've yet to watch a Studio Ghibli film but I took the first step today and ordered Spirited Away. What else would you recommend? What are the essentials so to speak?

Also, what am I in store for? Why are these films praised so highly? Perhaps I just have to see it, to understand but having not seen Spirited Away yet. What can I expect?

Tomboymama

For me, these films took a bit of getting used to. The first one I saw was Princess Mononoke, and I thought it was just plain weird and creepy in parts :-), but then I have always preferred realistic fiction over fantasy, so I think some of it is just hard to wrap my mind around. My kids, however, love these films, and I have actually found some of them more enjoyable (Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, Howl's Moving Castle) They all do seem to have a melancholy about them at least for me.

The animation is very cool and the imaginative worlds and artistry in them is incredible, and the music likewise. Nothing remotely like Disney animation. Most of the ones I have seen contain environmental/technological/flight themes. A lot of them have strong female protagonists.

I have probably not helped you much, but if you like Sprited Away, you will likely enjoy most of the others. I think Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle are my favorites of the ones I have seen.

RichC2

Ghibli generally has high quality stories with well established characters and creative, well budgeted animation. Some people have trouble getting into the movies (the big one seems to be Spirited Away, either you're into the journey or you're absolutely not) others don't.

Princess Mononoke established itself by being a massive scale epic with ambiguous heroes and villians. Nausicaa covered similar themes and is preferred by many people (I'm not one of them). Both are worth watching.

Grave of the Fireflies is a quietly heartbreaking story of self pride at a time of war. And agreeably, it's a classic.

Howl's Moving Castle is a well done but at times sloppy adaptation of a European novel and in many ways is the most accessible to western audiences, it does get a tad weird later on and is a little contrived.

Kiki's Delivery Service is cute, but is geared a little more clearly toward kids, has a nice sense of wonder to it. My Neighbor Totoro is similar (in some ways but not necessarily the ones you think) to Pan's Labyrinth and, more so, Bridge to Terabithia. It too is more kid oriented, but I actually really enjoyed this one.

I haven't seen Laputa/Castle in the Sky, Pom Poko, or a slew of other Ghibli yet. But I do recommend the ones I've seen, though Cat's Return was a little weak and I hear Earthsea was a massive disappointment.

Grave of the Fireflies, Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are my favorites.

Maxflier

I made the mistake of watching Spirited Away first and as a result had no interest in watching any more Ghibli movies because I absolutely hated it. But thanks to the urging of some fellow DVD Talkers I gave it another shot with Princess Mononoke, which I really enjoyed.
I have also since bought Nausicaa, but haven't gotten around to watchng it yet.

E. Honda

They are all great, some border on psychotic, especially the one with the Tanooki who use their testicles as parachutes.

The Bus

The thing with Miyazaki is that he likes his ideas so much he sometimes ends up making the same movie twice. Almost every single of his movies deals with magic or fantasy and a strong, often young female protagonist.

I would consider his two masterpieces to be Spirited Away and Nausicaä, although every movie of his I've seen is good.

hardercore

I'd like to think a fair analogy is that Ghibli is to Anime what Pixar is to Animation. A different style, but the same good stories, good characters, and good animation exist in both cases.

Supermallet

That's a better comparison than you'd think. John Lassetter of Pixar has been courting Miyazaki to make a Pixar film for years. Hopefully one of these days Miyazaki actually takes him up on it.

toddly6666

POPCORN TREE,
As fellow forum MAXFLIER had posted, I first watched SPIRITED AWAY as my first Miyazaki film, and I thought it was okay, but it prevented me from watching all the others for about 4 years. After 4 years, I saw that Disney started to release the majority of his films on dvd with excellent video quality and excellent English dubbers, so I wanted to give the rest of his films a shot. And then surprisingly, it turns out that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HIS FILMS ARE MASTERPIECES (even his less respectable ones like Cat Returns). Every single one. All excellent high quality animation, simple touching story-telling, children movies on the surface but movies for everyone underneath, extremely re-watchable, and all of his films just stick to you deep inside. If you don't mind that the Miyazaki films have the re-occuring themes of saving the environment and having females in strong roles, then I immediately recommend you BUYING all the Miyazaki/Ghibli films. And furthermore, I have watched Spirited Away again, and it better the second time and definitely better watching it at home that at the theater (it felt long in the theater or I was tired at the time or something).

Buy all of the DVDs of Ghibli/Miyazaki. As I had posted in another forum, I don't buy all the anime/manga films, I'm not crazy about most of them, because they all have the same complex messy stories with an apocolyptic climax. But with Miyazaki/Ghibli films, these are in a world by themselves that goes way beyond past most Japanese animation or any other animated films in the world. These aren't just animated movies, these are masterpiece films.

Here are my favorites and must be bought:
Princess Mononoke - A+
Pom Poko - A
Howl's Moving Castle - A-
Spirited Away - A-
Kiki's Delivery Service - A+
Porco Rosso - A
Whisper of the Heart - A
The Cat Returns - A-
Grave of the Fireflies - A+
Only Yesterday - A- (UK PAL DVD)
Castle In the Sky - A-
My Neighbor Totoro - A
Nausicaa Valley of the Wind - A
The Little Norse Prince - A- (UK PAL DVD)
Ocean Waves - I have this DVD but haven't watched it yet (check Ebay for this hard-to-find DVD. I have one that is anamorphic and with English subtitles. I'm not sure if it's the Japanese DVD or the Taiwanese DVD version)

There are a few more which are interesting to see, but not that great:
Castle Of Cagliostro- B
Puss N' Boots - B
Miyazaki commercials/videos/short film compilation - B (Japanese NTSC Region 2 DVD)
My Neighbor Yamatas - I haven't seen this one, I can't imagine it being that great, and I can't stand the way it's animated.

Apone

I really love Totoro and I consider it one of the best animation films. It's a quintessential viewing for Miyazaki's works and mastery of storytelling at minimalist settings. I would place Princess Mononoke closely behind. You can't go wrong with most of his films (Howl's Moving Castle being my least favourite).

In my opinion, Spirited Away can be a quiet challenge for first viewing because it's full of references to Japanese culture and 'fairy tales' but it can be a bold introduction. Let us know what you think of it, PopcornTreeCt.

Giles

of all the Ghibli films Whisper of the Heart really surprised me on so many levels

ranked:

Nausicaa Valley of the Wind - A+
Whisper of the Heart - A+
My Neighbor Totoro - A+
Kiki's Delivery Service - A
Spirited Away - A
Grave of the Fireflies - A
Castle In the Sky - A-
Pom Poko - A-
Porco Rosso - A-
Princess Mononoke - A-
Howl's Moving Castle - B
Only Yesterday - B
The Cat Returns - C-

Castle Of Cagliostro- A-
My Neighbor Yamatas- B+

Jericho

Well damn, this is almost exactly what I was going to say right down to the exact favorite movies of his.

Basically, you might think of Ghibli as somewhat akin to Pixar. Putting out high quality animated films (sans CGI). Most of the titles are directed by Miyazaki, although not all are.

I think the Bus is reading my thoughts, I need to go put on my tinfoil hat.

Giles

the only real exception to the Ghibli rule was Pom Poko which Miyazaki didn't direct. They were racoons and the lead wasn't a female.

Porco - while there was a female character ancillary to the titular character, Porco is a male 'pig' (Miyazaki bended the rules slightly). For anyone purchasing this, go with the R2 Japanese version, there's a French language track that Miyazaki has stated is his favourite and prefered dub since Jean Reno does the voice work for Porco.

even though the latest Ghibli film Tales of Earthsea was a commercial success, critics and writer Ursula K. Le Guin have been negative on the filmization of the book. Again Miyazaki didn't direct this, that went to his son.

Hiro11

My Rankings:

1 My Neighbor Totoro- one of the best movies about childhood ever made. A masterpiece, IMO.

2 Spirited Away- a fantasy epic that works on about seven different levels. An incredibly complex and inclusive allegory for post-war Japan. Seems like it's made for kids, but only adults will really get it.

3 Grave of the Fireflies- incredibly affecting and sad drama. One of the hardest movies to watch I've seen. It's about how war affects children. Where do I start in talking about this film...

4 Princess Mononoke- morally complex and interesting movie about man's relationship to the environment. Basically a summary of Miyazaki's work up to this point. Epic moviemaking.

5 Whisper of the Heart- this movie nails the early teenage years and first loves. It seems slight on first viewing, but each time you watch it , it becomes more powerful and meaningful. Also, one of the better portraits of contemporary Japanses suburban life out there.

6 Nausicaa Valley of the Wind- sci-fi epic, probably the hardest sci-fi Ghibli's done. Again, about man and the environment. Amazing world design.

7 Castle In the Sky- A huge, influential sci-fi adventure movie about the corrupting influence of technological power, fascism and young love.

8 Kiki's Delivery Service- another seemingly slight and cheerful movie that reveals greater depth on close inspection. This is one of my daughters' favorite movies. Also serves as a fantasy European travelogue, the city design is simply amazing.

9 Castle Of Cagliostro- action comedy. Amazing ersatz European setting, great action set pieces, tons of fun. They should remake this in live action. Don't miss it.

10 Howl's Moving Castle- slightly flawed but extremely inventive fantasy epic.

11 Porco Rosso- slight but well made action adventure comedy. Evocative early 30s Italian setting, great dogfight and dream sequences.

I own but haven't watched the others... I need to get to that some time.

All of these are worth seeing. For example, even though I ranked Porco Rosso last, it's still better than most movies I own and I've probably watched in 10 times.

IMO, the first three on this list rank with among the greatest movies of any type ever made. I honestly don't think it's hyping them too highly to say so...

Hiro11

Really? Wow. You need to watch it again, IMO.

Giles

for those who get the cable station Howl's Moving Castle is being aired in 1080i HiDef on StarzHD - I taped it this morning and will watch it sometime over the weekend.

Giles

he did, you should have asked him what he thought the second time around, if his opinion changed at all.

Hiro11

I understood from his post that he watched Princess Mononoke, but did not watch Spirited Away again. If that's truly the case, he should rewatch Spirited Away...

Maxflier

Yeah, that's what I meant. By it, I meant Ghibli/Miyazaki.
Maybe someday I will rewatch Spirited Away again, but i'd rather watch the other stuff first.

Giles

I just misinterpreted the senteance, now it does make sense... sorry.

PopcornTreeCt

Thanks for all the replies. If I don't like Spirited Away I will still give a few other movies a try. I'm glad now that I know what I'm getting into and am pretty excited about it. If only my order would get here.

RichC2

I think Pixar and Ghibli have similar issues, they're well made, but either they click and you're into them or they don't and you're bored. It's an oddly thin line between the two, and it could rely on your mood for the day.

I know the first couple times I saw 28 Days Later... I was fidgeting and bored to tears (it took me 3 tries to get into it), then one time I sat down and was thrilled by it. Same goes for Spirited Away but in reverse, completely enraptured the first time I saw it, bored to tears the second time, and in love with it all over again on the third.

But I suppose this applies to all movies.