Every Studio Ghibli Movie Ranked, From Spirited Away to Earwig

Verdict: Spirited Away is the best Studio Ghibli movie. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and it’s the easiest Ghibli film to love on a first watch. Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro round out the top three. If you’re new to Ghibli, start with any of those three.

Updated October 13, 2026 · All 25 Studio Ghibli features through The Boy and the Heron (2023)

Who this is for: You want to know which Ghibli movies are worth your time, which order to watch them in, or which one to show someone first.

What are the best Studio Ghibli movies?

We ranked every Studio Ghibli feature on how well it holds up today, how much it stands out from the studio’s other work and how easy it is to recommend. The list includes Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which Ghibli counts as part of its catalog even though it was made just before the studio was founded.

The top 10 Ghibli movies

1. Spirited Away (2001)

Spirited Away (2001). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Ten-year-old Chihiro wanders into a world of spirits, watches her parents turn into pigs and has to work in a bathhouse run by the witch Yubaba to save them. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and shared the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It was also Japan’s highest-grossing film for almost two decades, until Demon Slayer: Mugen Train passed it in 2020.

Why it’s #1: every scene adds a new idea, from the soot sprites to No-Face. And the story still works as a simple tale about a scared kid learning to be brave.

2. Princess Mononoke (1997)

Princess Mononoke (1997). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Prince Ashitaka is cursed while killing a boar demon and travels west, where an iron-making town led by Lady Eboshi is at war with the forest gods and San, a girl raised by the wolf god Moro. It’s Ghibli’s most violent film and is rated PG-13 in the US.

Why it ranks here: no one in it is simply the villain. It’s Miyazaki’s biggest and angriest film, and its battle scenes still hold up next to any live-action epic.

3. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

My Neighbor Totoro (1988). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Sisters Satsuki and Mei move to the countryside while their mother is in the hospital, and they meet Totoro, a giant forest spirit, and the Catbus. Almost nothing bad happens, and that’s the point. Totoro became the studio’s logo.

Why it ranks here: it’s the best Ghibli film for young kids, and adults get something different from it: a quiet portrait of a family waiting for good news.

4. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Isao Takahata’s film follows Seita and his little sister Setsuko as they try to survive in Japan after the firebombing of Kobe near the end of World War II. It’s adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical short story, and it first played in Japanese theaters on a double bill with Totoro.

Why it ranks here: it’s one of the most powerful war films ever made, animated or not. It’s also so sad that many people only watch it once, which is the only reason it isn’t higher.

5. Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Thirteen-year-old witch Kiki moves to a seaside city with her black cat, Jiji, and starts a flying delivery business. Halfway through, she loses her ability to fly.

Why it ranks here: it’s the best movie anyone has made about a first job and burnout, wrapped in a gentle coming-of-age story.

6. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Young hatmaker Sophie is cursed into an old woman by the Witch of the Waste and takes shelter in the walking castle of the wizard Howl, powered by the fire demon Calcifer. It’s based on Diana Wynne Jones’s novel and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Why it ranks here: it’s Ghibli’s best romance, and its castle is one of the studio’s best designs. The last act gets messy, which keeps it out of the top five.

7. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Princess Nausicaä tries to keep the peace between warring kingdoms and the giant insects of a toxic jungle a thousand years after an industrial apocalypse. Miyazaki adapted it from his own manga, and its success led to the founding of Studio Ghibli in 1985.

Why it ranks here: it’s the template for nearly everything Ghibli made next: a brave young heroine, flying machines and a world that pushes back against people who damage it.

8. Castle in the Sky (1986)

Castle in the Sky (1986). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Sheeta, a girl with a mysterious crystal, and Pazu, a young miner, race sky pirates and the military to find Laputa, a floating city. It was the first film Studio Ghibli made as a studio.

Why it ranks here: it’s Ghibli’s purest adventure movie, with chases, airships and robots. It’s a great pick for kids who have outgrown Totoro.

9. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). Image: Studio Ghibli.

Takahata’s final film retells Japan’s oldest folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, about a tiny girl found inside a bamboo stalk who grows into a princess. It’s drawn in a loose charcoal-and-watercolor style unlike anything else Ghibli has made, and it was nominated for an Oscar.

Why it ranks here: it may be the most beautiful film the studio ever released. At 2 hours 17 minutes and very slow, though, it isn’t a first Ghibli movie.

10. Porco Rosso (1992)

Porco Rosso (1992). Image: Studio Ghibli.

A World War I flying ace who has been turned into a pig works as a bounty hunter over the Adriatic Sea in 1920s Italy, fighting air pirates and an American rival.

Why it ranks here: it’s Miyazaki’s most relaxed and grown-up film, a love letter to old planes with a melancholy streak about war and fascism.

The rest of the Ghibli movies, ranked

11. The Boy and the Heron (2023)

The Boy and the Heron (2023). Image: Studio Ghibli.

After his mother dies in a wartime fire, Mahito moves to the countryside, where a talking grey heron lures him into another world. It won Miyazaki his second Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Its Japanese title is How Do You Live?

Why it ranks here: it’s gorgeous and personal, but also dense and dreamlike. It’s a richer watch once you know Miyazaki’s earlier films.

12. Whisper of the Heart (1995)

Shizuku, a teenager who loves books, notices that the same boy has checked out every library book she reads before her. It’s the only film Yoshifumi Kondō directed before his death in 1998, from a script by Miyazaki. It’s also the most realistic Ghibli romance.

13. The Wind Rises (2013)

A fictionalized life of Jiro Horikoshi, who designed the Mitsubishi Zero fighter plane. It’s Miyazaki’s most adult film, about loving something that will be used for war, and it was nominated for an Oscar.

14. Only Yesterday (1991)

Taeko, a 27-year-old office worker from Tokyo, takes a trip to the countryside and keeps remembering her life at 10. It’s a quiet, grown-up film that most kids will find slow. The 2016 English dub stars Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel.

15. Ponyo (2008)

A goldfish princess wants to become human after she meets a five-year-old boy named Sōsuke. It’s a loose spin on The Little Mermaid and the best Ghibli pick for very young kids after Totoro.

16. When Marnie Was There (2014)

A lonely girl named Anna is sent to the seaside for the summer and befriends a mysterious girl, Marnie, in an old mansion on the marsh. It’s based on Joan G. Robinson’s novel and was nominated for an Oscar. It has one of Ghibli’s most moving endings.

17. Pom Poko (1994)

A community of shape-shifting tanuki (raccoon dogs) fights a housing development that is wiping out their forest outside Tokyo. It’s funny, strange and surprisingly sad, and probably Ghibli’s most Japanese film.

18. The Red Turtle (2016)

A man shipwrecked on a desert island keeps trying to escape until a giant red turtle stops him. Ghibli co-produced it with Dutch-British director Michaël Dudok de Wit. It has no dialogue and was nominated for an Oscar.

19. Arrietty (2010)

A family of tiny people who live under the floorboards and “borrow” from humans is discovered by a sick boy. It’s adapted from Mary Norton’s The Borrowers. The everyday objects seen at tiny scale are the best part.

20. The Cat Returns (2002)

Schoolgirl Haru saves a cat who turns out to be a prince, and she gets dragged into the Kingdom of Cats. The Baron, a cat figurine from Whisper of the Heart, comes to her rescue. At 75 minutes it’s short, light and easy to watch.

21. From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

In 1963 Yokohama, before the Tokyo Olympics, Umi and her classmates fight to save their school’s old clubhouse. Gorō Miyazaki directed it from a script by his father, Hayao. It’s pleasant but forgettable.

22. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

Short comic-strip sketches about an ordinary, chaotic family, drawn in a simple watercolor style. It was Ghibli’s first fully digital film. Some of the sketches are lovely, but there’s no story to hold it together.

23. Ocean Waves (1993)

A made-for-TV film by Ghibli’s younger staff about a high school love triangle in Kōchi. It’s well made but slight, and it’s mostly for completionists.

24. Tales from Earthsea (2006)

Gorō Miyazaki’s debut adapts parts of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books. It’s handsome, but the story is muddled, and Le Guin said publicly that she was disappointed with it.

25. Earwig and the Witch (2020)

Ghibli’s first fully 3D CG film, made for Japanese TV and based on a book by Diana Wynne Jones. The animation looks stiff next to the studio’s hand-drawn films, and the story stops just as it gets going.

Where can you watch Studio Ghibli movies?

In the US, most Ghibli films stream on HBO Max. Grave of the Fireflies is the exception: it streams on Netflix instead. Outside the US and Canada, Netflix carries most of the catalog. Streaming deals change, so check JustWatch before you subscribe. If you’d rather own them, most Ghibli films are on Blu-ray from GKIDS, and there’s a new line of limited-edition steelbooks. Our picks are listed at the end of this guide.

What order should you watch Ghibli movies in?

Start with the three easiest to love: Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Then move to the bigger adventures, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky and Howl’s Moving Castle. Save Grave of the Fireflies, The Wind Rises and The Boy and the Heron until you know what you’re in for. The films don’t share a story, so you don’t need to watch them in release order.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Studio Ghibli movie?
Spirited Away (2001). It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and is the easiest Ghibli film to recommend to anyone.

How many Studio Ghibli movies are there?
25 feature films through The Boy and the Heron (2023), counting Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the TV film Ocean Waves and the co-production The Red Turtle.

Which Ghibli movies won an Oscar?
Two: Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron, both for Best Animated Feature. Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There and The Red Turtle were nominated.

What’s the best Ghibli movie for kids?
My Neighbor Totoro for young kids, and Ponyo for preschoolers. Kiki’s Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky are great for ages 7 and up.

Is Grave of the Fireflies a Ghibli movie?
Yes. Isao Takahata directed it at Studio Ghibli in 1988. It streams on Netflix in the US rather than HBO Max because its rights are handled separately.

Next step: pick one from the top three for tonight. For more, see the 20 best anime movies of all time, which puts Ghibli up against Akira, Your Name and Perfect Blue, our 25 best anime series and the best anime gifts, which include The Art of Spirited Away.

More Ghibli on Blu-ray: Castle in the Sky ($17.78) · Whisper of the Heart ($17.78) · Kiki’s Delivery Service steelbook ($30.43) · The Tale of the Princess Kaguya steelbook ($29.95) · Grave of the Fireflies steelbook ($30.43). Prices checked October 13, 2026.

Sources: release years, directors and source material from Studio Ghibli’s filmography. Awards from the Academy Awards database and the Berlin International Film Festival. Streaming availability from HBO Max, Netflix and JustWatch, checked October 2026. Blu-ray prices checked on Amazon (US) on October 13, 2026; every disc listed is sold and shipped by Amazon. Film stills from Studio Ghibli’s official free-to-use image library, © Studio Ghibli.