Streaming services are a perfectly fine way to enjoy the kinds of movies we watch once and never again. But for the films that hold a special place in our hearts, it’s nice to have a physical copy. Blu-rays generally offer better audio and visual quality than streaming, which can be especially noticeable with animated films. What’s more, physical versions often include more bonus features, like cast and crew commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. If you’re looking to start a Studio Ghibli collection, here are a few must-have movies to add to your home library.
Spirited Away
Widely hailed as the best of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, Spirited Away is two hours of the most stunning visual storytelling you’ve ever seen. When Chihiro’s parents undergo a magical transformation, the young girl is transported into the spirit world and put to work in a magical bathhouse. With the help of her new friend Haku, she must figure out a way back to the real world — while meeting the needs of the bathhouse’s extremely unusual clientele.
Princess Mononoke
Long before Link had all that Zonai funk on his arm in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Studio Ghibli gave us a warrior with a cursed arm in Princess Mononoke. Seeking a cure in strange lands, Ashitaka has a dramatic encounter with Princess Mononoke, a young girl raised by wolves who is determined to protect her home from the villagers of Iron Town. (And yes, that’s Gillian Anderson providing the voice of the formidable wolf goddess, Moro.)
Porco Rosso
Hayao Miyazaki is famously besotted by airplanes, and Porco Rosso is a love letter to the exhilaration and beauty of flight. Transformed by a mysterious spell, Porco is a former Italian flying ace turned bounty hunter who must outwit a gang of sky pirates while winning the heart of his longtime love, Gina. Watching this movie feels like a beautiful vacation, and it also gave the world the all-time classic line: “I’d rather be a pig than a fascist.” It’s as true now as it ever was.
My Neighbor Totoro
You had to have known this one would be here. It’s where the header image for this article comes from. It tells the story of two young girls, Mei and Satsuke, who move to a rural village, spend a lot of time running around outside barefoot, and befriend a big fuzzy local. It’s also one of the most chilled-out, heartwarming, and beautiful animated films ever made. This was the movie that introduced many kids (and kids at heart) to the magic of Studio Ghibli, and it still holds up beautifully today.
Howl’s Moving Castle
An ordinary girl named Sophie finds her humdrum life thrown into turmoil when she accidentally draws the wrath of the Witch of the Waste, who turns her into a 90-year-old woman. Sophie’s endearingly nonchalant about the whole thing, but she’s still looking for a way to break the curse. To do so, she moves in with a hot wizard (voiced in the English dub by Christian Bale) who lives in his car. As one does.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
This one’s for the dreamers, the frustrated creatives, the fortunate ones born with prodigious natural talent — only to have it suddenly dry up one day. After striking out on her own and starting a delivery business in a seaside town, the young witch Kiki finds herself suddenly unable to fly on her broom anymore. It’s an endearing tale about growing up and learning to believe in yourself that deftly avoids the usual kid-flick clichés.
Castle in the Sky
With airships, magic crystals, floating ruins, and a lovable pirate gang, Castle in the Sky is like injecting a ’90s RPG straight into your eyeballs. Kind of like the Twilight Zone show from the ’60s, it’s only when you go back to the source that you realize just how many things have been influenced by this movie. We probably wouldn’t have the Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda series as we know them today without this rollicking fantasy adventure. It might not hit the remarkable highs of Studio Ghibli’s very best, but it’s a heck of a good time for a certain kind of nerd.
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