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Curated category

Japanese animated fantasy films

  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 11th of March 1984, carrying a story set one thousand years after an apocalyptic war…
  • Castle in the SkyCastle in the Sky opened in 103 Japanese theaters on the 2nd of August 1986, carrying on its shoulders the future of a brand-new animation studio that had…
  • My Neighbor TotoroMy Neighbor Totoro, a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, opens on a family driving to an old house in the…
  • Kiki's Delivery ServiceIn 1987, Group Fudosha approached Kadono's publishers to adapt the novel into a feature film. The studio sought either Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata for…
  • Tales from Earthsea (film)In 1985, Ursula K. Le Guin received a call from Hayao Miyazaki through the bookseller Iwanami Shoten. She turned him down because she had not seen his films…
  • Spirited AwaySpirited Away opens on a ten-year-old girl named Chihiro Ogino riding in her parents' imported Audi, sulking about moving to a new neighborhood.
  • The Cat ReturnsIn 1995, Studio Ghibli released a film titled Whisper of the Heart. That project introduced Baron, a cat figurine who came to life within a fantasy sequence.
  • The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (film)In 1960, Isao Takahata prepared a potential adaptation of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter for Toei Animation. That project never came to fruition.
  • Princess MononokePrincess Mononoke arrived in Japanese cinemas on the 12th of July, 1997, and within days the newspapers had a name for what was happening: the "Mononoke…
  • PonyoPonyo begins with a goldfish-like creature trapped inside a glass jar, drifting toward shore on the back of a jellyfish.
  • ArriettyArrietty is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film from Studio Ghibli, and it carries with it a question that has haunted filmmakers for decades: how do you…
  • Earwig and the WitchStudio Ghibli announced its first full 3D CG animated feature in June 2020. Director Gorō Miyazaki revealed images of the project that month.
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen TrainTanjiro Kamado steps onto the Mugen Train with his sister Nezuko and friends Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira. They board to assist Flame Hashira…
  • Mary and the Witch's FlowerIn 1971, Mary Stewart published a children's book titled The Little Broomstick. A few months after its release, Walt Disney Productions acquired the film…
  • Porco RossoPorco Rosso is a 1992 Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki about a man who has become a pig. Not metaphorically. Marco Pagot, an Italian ace from the…
  • The Boy and the HeronHayao Miyazaki stood before a press conference in Tokyo on the 14th of September 2013 and declared his retirement from feature animation.
  • The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the SunThe Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun arrived in Japanese cinemas in 1968, carrying ambitions that no anime film had openly declared before it.
  • The Red TurtleIn 2008, Vincent Maraval walked into the Studio Ghibli offices in Tokyo. He was a co-founder of Wild Bunch, a French production company seeking new projects.
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrenFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children opened in Japanese theaters on the 14th of September 2005 to an audience that had to earn their seat.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The War of the RohirrimIn June 2021, New Line Cinema announced a fast-tracked anime film to secure the rights to J. R. R. Tolkien's novels before they expired.
  • Pokémon: The First MoviePokémon: The First Movie opened on a Wednesday in November 1999, and so many children skipped school to see it that the day earned its own nickname: the…
  • Your NameMakoto Shinkai stood in the fishing village of Yuriage on the 14th of July 2011. The ground beneath his feet still trembled from the massive earthquake that…
  • Howl's Moving Castle (film)Studio Ghibli announced the production of two films in September 2001. The second project was an adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' novel Howl's Moving Castle.
  • Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XVKingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV opened in Japanese cinemas on the 9th of July 2016 to a striking piece of promotional theater: day-one fans received exclusive…