The Films

Eleven feature films over four decades — each one a world unto itself, each one entirely his own.

The Filmography

Miyazaki directed his first feature in 1979 and his most recent in 2023. Every film was produced with an insistence on hand-drawn animation, and every frame bears the mark of total creative control. Together they form one of the most remarkable bodies of work in cinema history.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

1984

A post-apocalyptic epic following a young princess navigating the toxic Fukai forest. Based on Miyazaki's own manga, it led directly to the founding of Ghibli.

Castle in the Sky

1986

Two children race against sky pirates and a villainous government agent to find the legendary floating island of Laputa. Pure adventure, pure Miyazaki.

My Neighbor Totoro

1988

Two sisters move to the countryside and befriend gentle forest spirits. Quiet, warm, and utterly timeless — now the mascot of Studio Ghibli.

Kiki's Delivery Service

1989

A thirteen-year-old witch moves to a seaside city to earn her independence. A gentle, precise study of creativity, doubt, and growing up.

Porco Rosso

1992

A World War I ace pilot cursed to live with a pig's head flies seaplanes over the Adriatic. Melancholy, funny, and deeply personal.

Princess Mononoke

1997

A prince becomes entangled in a devastating war between the gods of the forest and the humans consuming it. Miyazaki's most epic and morally complex work.

Spirited Away

2001

A ten-year-old girl is trapped in the spirit world and must find her way home. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature — one of the greatest films ever made.

Howl's Moving Castle

2004

A young woman cursed with an old woman's body seeks help from a vain wizard. A meditation on war, vanity, and what it costs to love someone.

Ponyo

2008

A goldfish princess befriends a five-year-old boy and longs to become human. Deliberately simple, painted in brilliant watercolor-bright strokes.

The Wind Rises

2013

A fictionalized account of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Zero fighter plane. Miyazaki's most autobiographical film, and his declared final one — until it wasn't.

The Boy and the Heron

2023

A grieving boy follows a mysterious heron into a hidden world. Miyazaki's true final film — a farewell, a dream, and an act of defiant creation at age 82.

We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation. — Hayao Miyazaki