Right then. I hope a decent amount of people here will have seen a good handful of these films, they are all fantastic creations.

Hayao Miyazaki is probably most known for Spirited Away, but there have been many great films before that as well.

It all started with Hayao Miyazaki in 1979 and The Castle Of Cagliostro, a film about a thief who attempts to rescute a princess from the top of a castle.
haha okay it doesnt sound the msot original, but it is still a fantastic film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Cagliostro

1984 braught Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind - his first epic film and the first that can be interpreted to have underlying messages. The story follows bug loving Princess Nausicaä on a piece making mission between remaining clans after a large apocalyptic event
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_Wind

1986 brings another majestic film in the form of Laputa: Castle In The Sky. The film follows two young adventurers on a mission to find the lost floating castle of Laputa before everyone else
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laputa:_Castle_in_the_Sky

1988 braught the second film with Studio Ghibli - My Neighbour Totoro, a rather bizarre film of two young girls and their father moving house and waiting for the mother to be released from hospital while in the meantime the girls keep seeing strange things
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Neighbour_Totoro

In 1989 we have more of a childrens film with Kiki's Delivery Service, a story of a young witch and cat staying away from home for a year as part of a witch tradition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki%27s_Delivery_Service

1992 has a complete change though with probably the most 'adult' film with Porco Rosso - a man (or a pig) in the real world staying away from Italian officials who have a warrant for his arrest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porco_Rosso

Five years and in 1997 Princess Mononoke was unleashed upon us. This film was massive, it is such an epic film with many underlying issused concerning the world and nature
The films looks at the different points of view of humans trying to grow in their town, and nature who seems to suffer from the humans 'needs'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke

2001 braught Spirited Away and one of the biggest films ever made in Japan. The story follows a young girl in a different world trying to survive and bring her parents back to the real world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirited_Away

2004 was the last with Howl's Moving Castle, and to be honest - this is the only film here I havent seen. haha
as far as I know though, it is about a young girl taken to a scrappy metal castle
Anyone please feel free to tell me what it is about though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl%27s_Moving_Castle_%28film%29

Picking a favorite is going to be very hard though. For me it is out of Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away
They are all brilliant in their different ways.
Kiki's Delivery Service is a very innocent film about a lovely little girl and it just warms the heart doesnt it.. haha
I really didnt think I would like such a more 'mature' film so much as I did Porco Rosso. It is so true to life the things he comes out with and the whole mystery with him being a pig adds such a satirical element to it.
Princess Mononoke is such an epic film and is so important if you love nature as well - it really makes you look at humankind in different ways and almost makes you ashamed to be human
Spirited Away was the first film i watched in a different language and it was an experience. It is also such a long and epic film and exciting and convincingly real throughout.

Well its crunch time, I am tempted to vote Porco Rosso but I think it is going to have to go to Princess Mononoke.
Just watch it and you'll see why - just after the first quarter of an hour you know it is going to be one of the best films you have ever seen.

I am really really keen to hear what other people have to say on this subject - also if they prefer the films with English dubbing, or original Japanese with English subtitles.
I know there is already an animé thread, but I couldnt do a poll in there - and you cant squash such a huge subject into one thread.
It has taken me a long time typing all this up, so I hope I get lots of replys

Great stuff actually...
From the stuff listed, I've seen :

Spirited Away
Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind
Princess Mononoke
Howl's Moving Castle

And I must say that Spirited Away is my favorite out of those, followed by Howl's Moving Castle. I've always foud Nausicaä to be a little bit bland, imo.

For me, the best of all is Monoke Hime! I love Miyazaki's work, he is so great!!!
I love Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle but I hate HATE Porco Rosso... I don't really kno why, I just don't like it...
So my vote goes for Monoke Hime

haha, i think Porco Rosso is more of a 'for male' film
the film has so many cynical and satirical quotes
"all middle ages men are pigs" for example. haha - i loved it

Man, I say Princess Mononoki, I love the contrast between man and nature

My fav would have to be Princess Mononoke, with Howls Moving Castle at a very close second.

But I must watch Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind soon. Have had it on my computer for almost 2 years now :O.

This man is pure genious!

haha yes he is.
in the 'post your desktop' thread i have just posted my new desktop which is from the 'My Neighbor Totoro' film
it looks quite nice

note: i watched 'Howl's Moving Castle' last night so i have seen all of them on there now
i thought it was rather good

I watched Spirited Away because Baz Anderson advised me to after that I watched Howl's moving Castle, Mononoke Hime and My Neighbor Totoro which was kinda nice but definitely not my favorite, ah well to be honest, I cannot decide between Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle ^^ both are just so good, but but I guess I'm gonna vote for Spirited Away, just because I can understand more dialogues than in Howl's noda ^^ nyam

I really enjoyed Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Monoke and Castle in the Sky the best! That is until I saw Spirited Away!! That is an amazing movie!

Howl's moving castle! i love that movie, i've seen it like a hundred times and i just cant get enough hehe...princess mononoke is an excellent film too, that would've been my 2nd choice

I haven't seen spirited away...

I've got to go with Spirited Away. Every time I see that film tears fill my eyes. It is so beautiful and majestic.

Mononoke all the way for me. I haven't seen his latest (and it's not in the poll) but of all those I've seen (that also includes Spirited Away, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, Howl's Moving Castle, Porco Rosso) Princess Mononoke is without doubt the one I prefer. Spirited Away and Porco Rosso would both be at the second place, even if they're really different.
Howl's moving castle was not as good, and I REALLY prefer Nausicaa in manga (paper) version.

Hmm does anyone have an opinion on Ponyo?

Ponyo STILL hasn't been released over here, so I am waiting until then before I see it.

It's over three years since I made this thread, and my favourite Ghibli films now are actually the Takahata ones, I think.

I've just seen My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. Both are extremely adorable and maked me feel like a child again! Such a wonderful experience and the animation is beautiful, such bright colours... Makes me feel all fuzzy when I watch those movies

I will watch the rest and then think about my answer.

I just got finished watching Laputa actually and i quite liked it. Though i have a tie between Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle for my favorite.

I would have to go for Nausicaä, first one I saw and still amazing. Second place would go to Spirited Away

You just can't go past spirited away, the animation is some of the best i've ever seen.

Written by whatsacow on 17.02.2010 at 00:40

You just can't go past spirited away, the animation is some of the best i've ever seen.

Do you mean Art style? Because although the animation is good... It not really the most fluid thing this side of Disney. ;P

I voted for Howl's Moving Castle. Lots of reason, of course... but the most important two things:

1. Christian Bale on the English dubs.
2. A scarecrow with a fucking UMBRELLA.

Written by Fat & Sassy! on 18.02.2010 at 23:10

Written by whatsacow on 17.02.2010 at 00:40

You just can't go past spirited away, the animation is some of the best i've ever seen.

Do you mean Art style? Because although the animation is good... It not really the most fluid thing this side of Disney. ;P

I voted for Howl's Moving Castle. Lots of reason, of course... but the most important two things:

1. Christian Bale on the English dubs.
2. A scarecrow with a fucking UMBRELLA.

Howls moving castle was brilliant. But with spirited away, while it doesnt have the fluidity, the style, the characters, and the landscapes are just amazing. and the movie itself is just brilliant.

From the list i have seen: The castle of Cagiostro, Porco Rosso, Spirited away, Howls moving castle, Laputa, castle in the sky.
I voted for Porco Roso mostly because it was one of the first Hayo Miyazaku films I saw at young age of like ten or something. Its still one of my all time fav films but my only problem is the DVD I bought is a new revised edition and all the dubed voices are different and to me it doesnt sound like the way it use to when I was a child.
My runner up would be Howl's Moving castle.

Howl's Moving Castle has really grown on me over the years. I wouldn't mind watching that again some time.
I'll have to watch Spirited Away some time again too... it was good, but I didn't think it was that good.

Ponyo (On The Cliff By The Sea) is missing from the list now - but I can't imagine anyone would want to vote for it.

Spirited Away is just a bunch of random things happening in a sequence. The world makes no sense, the rules of the spirit town are never explained, the characters are thinner than paper (one of them is attacked by pieces of paper WTF?). An awful film, with the exception of gorgeous animation.

Princess Mononoke is really good. Unlike the world of Spirited Away, this world is magical and interesting, but still maintains a certain amount of mystery without becoming incoherent. The characters have real depth, almost noone is just good or bad. The animation is stunning, especially the scenes in the sacred forest, the soundtrack is beautiful and the story is damn good and relates to many real world issues. Miyazaki should have stopped after this one as he originally intended and never made the following disasters.

Nausicaa of the valley of the wind - haven't seen.

Howl's moving castle. Garbage. This film makes even less sense than Spirited Away. There is no clear plot to follow, there is no depth in the characters, there are a ton of unexplained things. There are events that we see, but don't know the importance of and therefor couldn't care less and so on and so on. A well animated nonsensical mess. Don't watch it.

Laputa Castle in the Sky. With the exception of a few silly scenes that seem to defy all laws of physics, this one isn't half bad. The storyline is clear, the main characters are likeable and the animation is good. Some elements of this film seem to have inspired Final Fantasy VII (but I wouldn't bet on it). There were minor problems with the plot and some underexplained things as is always the case with Miyazaki, but overall it was a very enjoyable film. The ending dragged a lot.

Porco Rosso - haven't seen.

The Castle Of Cagliostro - ditto

My Neighbour Totoro. This one I like. It's meant for young kids, but works for adults too. The animation is getting pretty good at this point and the theme song is catchy as hell. The story is so simple, that it's almost funny, but that makes it enjoyable. This film does have a lot of heart and absolutely no violence. Recommended for everyone who has the heart of a small child (that's just an expression, so don't go opening your fridges you damn psychopaths).

Kiki's Delivery Service - Haven't seen.

Written by Guest on 17.07.2010 at 06:42

Howl's moving castle. Garbage. This film makes even less sense than Spirited Away. There is no clear plot to follow, there is no depth in the characters, there are a ton of unexplained things. There are events that we see, but don't know the importance of and therefor couldn't care less and so on and so on. A well animated nonsensical mess. Don't watch it.

Porco Rosso - haven't seen.

Really? You must have been watching a different Howl's Castle than the one I saw. It made sense to me. I mean a lot of key points in the plot were SPELLED OUT for ya, but it is very sensible. Also, the story was more thematic than anything else. The relationship between Howl and the girl was really what the movie was about.

Judging by your views on how you like your stories, I think you'd like Porco Rosso though. It has great characters and the plot is a bit more typical, straightforward and easy to follow than some of his other films.

Written by Fat & Sassy! on 23.07.2010 at 02:22

Written by Guest on 17.07.2010 at 06:42

Howl's moving castle. Garbage. This film makes even less sense than Spirited Away. There is no clear plot to follow, there is no depth in the characters, there are a ton of unexplained things. There are events that we see, but don't know the importance of and therefor couldn't care less and so on and so on. A well animated nonsensical mess. Don't watch it.

Porco Rosso - haven't seen.

Really? You must have been watching a different Howl's Castle than the one I saw. It made sense to me. I mean a lot of key points in the plot were SPELLED OUT for ya, but it is very sensible. Also, the story was more thematic than anything else. The relationship between Howl and the girl was really what the movie was about.

Judging by your views on how you like your stories, I think you'd like Porco Rosso though. It has great characters and the plot is a bit more typical, straightforward and easy to follow than some of his other films.

Well, i don't remember Howl's moving castle very well, but I wrote down how I remember feeling about it. Even when I was watching it, I already began to hate it. The only compliment I can make for that film, is that Howl is probably the best designed character Miyazaki has ever come up with.

I'm torn between Spirited Away and Laputa as my fave Miyazaki but I've yet to see one of his films that hasn't wowed me. Can't say Ponyo looks very appealing though; looks far too cutesy. I'm sure it's great though.

How come Totoro doesn't have a single vote? I feel sorry for the big guy...then again, he does have a freaking catbus, so it's ok.

This poll is really good, never thought I would find something like this here.
For me it's a hard choice, I like almost every movie made by Miyazaki, I remember I first watched "My Neighbor Totoro" when I was a kid, a long time ago, I like it, and one of the songs of the movie is very sticky hahaha, sadly, I haven't seen that movie in a while.

I think I'll have to remember some of those movies, to make up my mind, but to be honest, I'd like to vote for "Howl's Moving Castle", I feel quite biased towards that movie.

Written by Guest on 23.07.2010 at 07:03

Well, i don't remember Howl's moving castle very well, but I wrote down how I remember feeling about it. Even when I was watching it, I already began to hate it. The only compliment I can make for that film, is that Howl is probably the best designed character Miyazaki has ever come up with.

Try watching it again. Howl's Moving Castle didn't make full sense to me after the first watch, but it soon becomes clear. This one is one of my favourites.