Every Studio Ghibli film, ranked by viewer score
This list ranks all 24 Studio Ghibli feature films by their TMDB user score, the community rating on The Movie Database, as of August 2026. TMDB is the same database the I Like Movies app runs on, the scores are checkable on any film's TMDB page, and ties are broken by release year, older first. Scores drift slowly as people keep rating, so treat a 0.1 gap as a coin flip and anything bigger as a real signal.
Two housekeeping notes. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind predates the studio's founding but is counted here, as it is almost everywhere, because the same team made it and Ghibli exists because of it. And there is no watch order to worry about: every Ghibli film stands alone. The buttons above the list re-sort it if you would rather browse by date.
The ranking
- 1
Spirited Away 2001 A girl works in a bathhouse for gods to free her parents; the Academy Award winner and the highest-rated film the studio has made. - 2
Grave of the Fireflies 1988 Two children starve in wartime Japan. The film on this list you will only ever watch once. - 3
Howl's Moving Castle 2004 A cursed hatmaker and a vain wizard in a walking house; the most romantic thing the studio made. - 4
Princess Mononoke 1997 Miyazaki's hardest and angriest film, a war between industry and forest where nobody is the villain. - 5
My Neighbor Totoro 1988 Two sisters, a house in the country, a sick mother, and the gentlest film ever made about waiting. - 6
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 2013 Takahata's folk tale drawn like moving charcoal sketches; no other Ghibli film looks like it. - 7
Castle in the Sky 1986 The studio's first official film: sky pirates, a floating city, and pure adventure-serial momentum. - 8
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1984 The pre-Ghibli origin: a princess in a poisoned world, and half the studio's later ideas in first draft. - 9
Whisper of the Heart 1995 A junior-high writer chases a boy and a calling; the most down-to-earth film in the catalogue. - 10
When Marnie Was There 2014 A lonely girl and a ghostly friendship in a seaside marsh; the studio's quietest late film. - 11
Kiki's Delivery Service 1989 A young witch opens a delivery business and burns out; the truest film about work in the catalogue. - 12
Porco Rosso 1992 A World War I ace cursed with a pig's face flies the Adriatic; melancholy wearing a comedy's clothes. - 13
Ponyo 2008 A goldfish decides to become a girl; pure preschool joy animated with absurd, hand-drawn extravagance. - 14
The Wind Rises 2013 A biography of a wartime aircraft designer, and Miyazaki arguing with himself about beauty and complicity. - 15
Arrietty 2010 Borrowers living under the floorboards; small-scale in every sense and lovely within it. - 16
From Up on Poppy Hill 2011 A 1963 schoolgirl romance around a condemned clubhouse; modest, warm, and better than its reputation. - 17
Only Yesterday 1991 A Tokyo office worker revisits her childhood on a farm trip; Takahata's adult drama, decades ahead of its time. - 18
The Boy and the Heron 2023 Miyazaki's late, strange self-portrait; more haunted and less tidy than anything before it. - 19
Pom Poko 1994 Shape-shifting raccoon dogs fight suburban development; the studio's oddest film and its most direct eco-fable. - 20
The Cat Returns 2002 A girl is abducted into a kingdom of cats; a light 75-minute lark, and knowingly so. - 21
My Neighbors the Yamadas 1999 A family told in comic-strip vignettes; Takahata experimenting, charming in pieces rather than as a whole. - 22
Tales from Earthsea 2006 Goro Miyazaki's debut, adapting Le Guin without her blessing; handsome and hollow. - 23
Ocean Waves 1993 A made-for-TV teen love triangle by the studio's younger staff; slight, but honest about adolescence. - 24
Earwig and the Witch 2020 The studio's first CG feature, and by some distance its lowest-rated film.
Keep your place
If a list like this turns into a watching project, I Like Movies, the free iPhone and Android app behind this page, is built for exactly that: keep the films you have not seen on your watchlist, rate them as you go, and see where each one is streaming in your country before you press play.
Questions people ask
How is this list ranked?
By TMDB user score as of August 2026, the community rating on The Movie Database, with ties broken by release year, older first. The scores are printed next to each film and checkable on TMDB; nothing here is the author's personal ordering.
What is the best Studio Ghibli movie?
By viewer score, Spirited Away at 8.5: it also won the Academy Award and remains the studio's biggest film. Grave of the Fireflies and Howl's Moving Castle sit just behind at 8.4.
Which Studio Ghibli film should I watch first?
My Neighbor Totoro for children or a family evening, Spirited Away for everyone else. Every Ghibli film stands alone, so nothing stops you starting anywhere; these two are simply the surest first impressions.
Do I need to watch Studio Ghibli films in order?
No. There are no sequels and no shared story anywhere in the catalogue, so release order carries no advantage. Pick by mood, not by date.
Is Nausicaa a Studio Ghibli film?
Technically no: it premiered in 1984, a year before the studio existed. In practice yes: Miyazaki directed it, the core team made it, its success funded the studio's founding, and it is distributed alongside the rest of the catalogue. It is counted here.
Is Grave of the Fireflies on the streaming services with the other Ghibli films?
Often not: its rights sit with a different company than the rest of the catalogue, so it is frequently missing from the platforms that carry everything else. Where it streams varies by country, so check availability where you live.
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