40 Hayao Miyazaki Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

Ten year old Chihiro and her parents find themselves in a deserted amusement park. Overruling their daughter’s objections, her parents eat at an empty restaurant and turn into pigs. Chihiro, with the help of Haku, realises that she has entered a world inhabited by demons, spirits and evil gods. She must now figure out a way to rescue her parents and return to human world.

Mononoke-hime also known as Princess Mononoke is a Japanese animated classic. It follows the journey of the Emishi prince Ashitaka, who finds himself in the midst of war between forest gods and humans. In his quest to find a cure for a deadly curse, he comes up against San, the Mononike Hime and they unite to end the war. 

Soon after young milliner Sophie Hatter befriends the wizard Howl, she is cursed by the Witch of the Waste into a ninety-year-old woman. In her quest to end the curse, she finds Howl's moving castle with help from a living scarecrow, befriends fire demon Calcifer who powers the castle, and alters the course of war between two kingdoms.

Also known as Castle in the Sky, the movie follows the young girl Sheeta who has been kidnapped by Colonel Muska. When Sheeta escapes and becomes friends with Pazu, a young boy, they are pursued by Muska and Captain Dola and her pirates who want to reach the mysterious floating city of Laputa and plunder its riches.  

Kaze no tani no Naushika is a Japanese anime fantasy film that centres around Princess Nausicaä of Valley of the Wind kingdom who must save humanity from the destruction being planned by the Tolmekian kingdom whilst keeping her lands safe from the toxic jungle of the post-apocalyptic earth. Full of drama and adventure, this film was adapted from an eponymous manga comic.

This animated romantic drama film tells the story of a young girl, Shizuku, who loves reading and aims to be a writer in the future. When one day, she notices that all the library books she had chosen to borrow were previously borrowed by one boy, she aims to find this mysterious person, who might even be her soul mate.  

Majo no takkyûbin or Kiki's Delivery Service is a Japanese animated film adapted from Eiko Kadono 1985 novel. The movie follows a 13 year old witch Kiki, who as per her community tradition, moves to the seaside town of Korico to live independently for a year. She kick-starts her own flying delivery service but is soon faced with a challenge when she begins losing her magical powers.

A curse has transformed ace World War I pilot Marco Pagot into an anthropomorphic pig. He is now called Porco Rosso or the Red Pig and works as a bounty hunter chasing air pirates in the Adriatic Sea. He prepares for a final battle with the American ace pilot Curtis hired by the pirates. 

This animated biographical film chronicles the life of Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, the man who is known for designing Japanese fighter planes during the Second World War. 

Five-year-old Sōsuke rescues a goldfish princess trapped into a bottle and names her Ponyo. As they develop a bond, she is brought back under the ocean by her father, powerful wizard Fujimoto, who imprisons her after learning that she wants to become human. She frees herself and becomes human using Fujimoto's potent magic, upsetting the balance of the world.

Also known as The Secret World of Arrietty, the movie tells the story of a group of tiny people known as the Borrowers, who live in the floors and walls of humans and survive by borrowing small items from them. Their secret existence is put in danger when a young borrower girl Arrietty befriends a young boy named Shō. 

Along with his gang, a thief tries to free a princess from an evil count, as she is the key to a fabulous treasure.

This Japanese animated drama film is about Taeko Okajima, who takes a trip outside her native Tokyo, when she travels to rural Yamagata, to visit her sister’s family. During her train journey, she daydreams about her childhood, and soon she starts wondering if her stress-filled adult life is really what she wanted for herself.

This Japanese animated film tells the story of two high school friends who fight to save an old wartime era clubhouse from being destroyed, as Japan prepares for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

This animated comedy drama film takes us to 1960s Japan, and it tells the story of a few magical raccoon dogs, whose home is threatened due to a gigantic suburban development project. Since the development project is cutting into their forest, their land is getting divided, and their food is decreasing every year. Eventually, the raccoon dogs unify and plan to do something to stop this development project.   

High school student Haru Yoshioka saves a cat’s life and learns that he is Prince Lune of the Cat Kingdom. The Cat King invites her to marry Prince Lune, so Haru is taken to Cat Kingdom where she finds that she is turning into a cat. Now, only large cat Muta and Baron, a cat figurine-come-to-life, can help her escape the ordeal.  

In a mystical land known as Earthsea, a mysterious force is threatening to plunge humanity into destruction. Sparrowhawk, a wizard tries to find the source of this imbalance, and along the way, he also rescues Arren, a runaway prince. They eventually join forces with a former priestess and her daughter to fight an evil force that seeks destruction.

Yuki is a short animated drama film which tells the story of a 10 year old orphaned child who is being adopted by a family.

Also known as My Neighbour Totoro, the Japanese animated classic depicts the story of sisters Satsuki and Mei after they move to an old country house. They become friends with spirits called susuwatari and particularly the adorable creature Totoro, while they come to terms with their mother’s illness and personal trials.