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Curated playlist

Japanese animated fantasy films

  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)The English version of Nausicaä was cut by about 22 minutes and renamed her Princess Zandra.
  • Castle in the SkyCastle in the Sky began as a way to recover money spent on a canal documentary.
  • My Neighbor TotoroEight animators finished My Neighbor Totoro in just eight months. They spent one full month on a tadpole scene alone.
  • Kiki's Delivery ServiceKiki's Delivery Service was first planned as a 60-minute TV special. It grew into a 102-minute feature.
  • Tales from Earthsea (film)Hayao Miyazaki never looked at his son Gorō's storyboard for Tales from Earthsea.
  • Spirited AwayIn Spirited Away, a girl's parents turn into pigs in an abandoned resort town. Ten-year-old Chihiro is left alone.
  • The Cat ReturnsThe Cat Returns began as a 20-minute short for a theme park that canceled it. Ghibli made it a feature.
  • The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (film)The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was the most expensive Japanese film ever made. It opened in Japan in November 2013.
  • Princess MononokeHayao Miyazaki spent seventeen years getting Princess Mononoke made.
  • PonyoMiyazaki shut down Studio Ghibli's computer graphics section to make Ponyo. He wanted the film hand-drawn.
  • ArriettyA handwritten envelope led a French musician to score Studio Ghibli's Arrietty.
  • Earwig and the WitchEarwig and the Witch was Studio Ghibli's first feature made entirely in 3D computer animation.
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen TrainDemon Slayer: Mugen Train topped the 2020 worldwide box office. It was the first non-American film to do so.
  • Mary and the Witch's FlowerMary and the Witch's Flower was the first film from Studio Ponoc, made after its director left Studio Ghibli.
  • Porco RossoIn the film Porco Rosso, an Italian war hero has become a pig. Nobody in the story explains why.
  • The Boy and the HeronThe Boy and the Heron reached Japanese theaters with one poster and no trailer.
  • The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the SunThe 1968 anime film Horus, Prince of the Sun played in Japanese theaters for only ten days.
  • The Red TurtleIn The Red Turtle, every raft a shipwrecked man builds is smashed by something unseen. It has no spoken dialogue.
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrenAdvent Children first screened only for registered members of a Square Enix fan club.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The War of the RohirrimIn Tolkien's appendices, King Helm Hammerhand's daughter has no name, so a film gave her one.
  • Pokémon: The First MovieSo many kids skipped school for Pokémon: The First Movie that the day got the nickname Pokéflu.
  • Your NameYour Name began in a fishing village wrecked by a tsunami. Director Makoto Shinkai visited Yuriage in July 2011.
  • Howl's Moving Castle (film)A curse turns Sophie into a 90-year-old woman, and she becomes bolder.
  • Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XVThe climax of Kingsglaive was an invasion scene cut from the game Final Fantasy XV.

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