For one reason or another, the Studio Ghibli movies from 2008 onwards tend to be ones I never saw (The Wind Rises, From Up on Poppy Hill) or that I saw once and didn’t like at all. The latter category pertains to Ponyo (2008), Hayao Miyazaki’s loose adaptation of The Little Mermaid by Hans Chris...
Read More2006 brought the directorial debut of Gorô Miyazaki, son of revered animation master Hayao Miyazaki. Based on Earthsea, a high fantasy book series by Ursula K. Le Guin, Tales From Earthsea follows Prince Arren of Enlad and Sparrowhawk, the wizard. I’ve never seen this movie before, and the only k...
Read MoreI like most Studio Ghibli movies, but my absolute favorites have to be Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle. I reviewed the former a while back, and the latter is one of the main reasons I wanted to review Studio Ghibli’s output. Howl’s Moving Castle is based on a novel of the same name ...
Read MoreNote: I won’t be reviewing Spirited Away, but you can find Nick’s review here. When I watched some of the Studio Ghibli films back in high school, I remember really liking The Cat Returns. 1995’s Whisper of the Heart introduced a fan-favorite character in Cary Elwes’ Baron, a cat figurine wh...
Read MoreNOTE: I will be skipping over Princess Mononoke in the Studio Ghibli line-up because I already have a review which you can find here. My Neighbors the Yamadas is an unusual film, both for Studio Ghibli and in general. Most of their movies tend to be either fantastical or mundane, exploring magical w...
Read More1995 saw the release of the first cinematic Studio Ghibli film not directed by either Isao Takahata or Hayao Miyazaki. Whisper of the Heart is more grounded and toned-down than many of the studio’s more famous efforts. The movie follows a young girl’s day-to-day life in a pretty honest, believab...
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