Studio Ghibli has released 22 theatrical feature films, starting with Castle in the Sky on August 2, 1986 and ending — so far — with The Boy and the Heron on July 14, 2023. Two more, Ocean Waves and Earwig and the Witch, were made for television and are usually counted alongside them.
All 22 Studio Ghibli theatrical films, in release order
| # | Film | First release | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Castle in the Sky | August 2, 1986 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 2 | My Neighbor Totoro | April 16, 1988 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 3 | Grave of the Fireflies | April 16, 1988 | Isao Takahata |
| 4 | Kiki’s Delivery Service | July 29, 1989 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 5 | Only Yesterday | July 20, 1991 | Isao Takahata |
| 6 | Porco Rosso | July 18, 1992 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 7 | Pom Poko | July 16, 1994 | Isao Takahata |
| 8 | Whisper of the Heart | July 15, 1995 | Yoshifumi Kondō |
| 9 | Princess Mononoke | July 12, 1997 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 10 | My Neighbors the Yamadas | July 17, 1999 | Isao Takahata |
| 11 | Spirited Away | July 20, 2001 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 12 | The Cat Returns | July 19, 2002 | Hiroyuki Morita |
| 13 | Howl’s Moving Castle | November 20, 2004 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 14 | Tales from Earthsea | July 29, 2006 | Gorō Miyazaki |
| 15 | Ponyo | July 19, 2008 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 16 | Arrietty | July 17, 2010 | Hiromasa Yonebayashi |
| 17 | From Up on Poppy Hill | July 16, 2011 | Gorō Miyazaki |
| 18 | The Wind Rises | July 20, 2013 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 19 | The Tale of the Princess Kaguya | November 23, 2013 | Isao Takahata |
| 20 | When Marnie Was There | July 19, 2014 | Hiromasa Yonebayashi |
| 21 | The Red Turtle | May 18, 2016 | Michaël Dudok de Wit |
| 22 | The Boy and the Heron | July 14, 2023 | Hayao Miyazaki |
The two films that are not on that list
If you have seen a Ghibli list with 24 entries, this is why. Two Ghibli films premiered on Japanese television rather than in cinemas, and they get included or excluded depending on who is counting.
| Film | Premiere | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean Waves | May 5, 1993 (Nippon TV) | Tomomi Mochizuki | 72 minutes. Later got a limited theatrical run in the UK and US. |
| Earwig and the Witch | December 30, 2020 (NHK General TV) | Gorō Miyazaki | 82 minutes. Ghibli’s only fully CG feature. Limited theatrical release in 2021. |
Ocean Waves is the more interesting omission. It was made largely by Ghibli’s younger staff, without Miyazaki or Takahata directing, as an explicit exercise in producing something quickly and cheaply. It famously ran over on both counts. It is also, for the same reason, one of the most unusual things in the catalogue — a small, prickly, unresolved story about three teenagers that looks nothing like the studio’s brand.
Why release order is a bad way to watch them
Here is the thing most “in order” lists will not tell you. The chronological list above is a factual record. It is a genuinely poor viewing plan, and the reason is visible right at the top of it.
Look at entries 2 and 3. My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies share a release date — April 16, 1988 — because they were released as a double bill. Japanese audiences in 1988 sat down and watched, in a single session, the gentlest film about childhood ever animated and a film in which two children starve to death in wartime Kobe. It remains the most extraordinary programming decision in the history of the medium, and it is not an anomaly. It is the studio’s whole structure in miniature.
For most of its first three decades, Ghibli was effectively two studios sharing a building. Hayao Miyazaki made flying machines, forests and children who solve things through courage. Isao Takahata made Only Yesterday, Pom Poko, My Neighbors the Yamadas and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya — films that are formally experimental, tonally difficult and frequently about people failing to change anything. They alternated. Going in strict chronological order means bouncing between the two every single film, which is a genuinely disorienting way to meet a studio.
A better order: where to actually start
If you have seen none of them, this is the sequence we would recommend, and the reasoning behind each step.
1. Spirited Away (2001)
The obvious answer and the correct one. It is the studio’s most acclaimed film, it is entirely self-contained, and it contains almost everything Ghibli does — a child in an unfamiliar world, a moral system with no villains, and long stretches where nothing happens on purpose.
2. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Watch it second, on its own, and not on the same evening as anything else. It is the film that established what the studio’s calm actually sounds like.
3. Princess Mononoke (1997)
The counterweight. Violent, morally unresolved, and the film that proves the gentleness elsewhere is a choice rather than a limitation.
4. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Now, and only now, watch the Takahata film. Having established what the Miyazaki mode is, the contrast does the work it was always meant to. Be warned: it is genuinely devastating and most people do not rewatch it.
5. Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), then Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), then Porco Rosso (1992)
The comfortable middle of the catalogue. Kiki is a film about burnout disguised as a film about a witch; Howl is the most visually excessive thing the studio has made; Porco Rosso is Miyazaki writing about himself.
6. Then work through Takahata properly
Only Yesterday, Pom Poko and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Kaguya in particular — the last film Takahata completed before his death in 2018 — is arguably the most beautiful thing the studio ever produced, and it looks nothing like a Ghibli film.
After that the remaining titles will sort themselves. Castle in the Sky, Whisper of the Heart and Arrietty are all excellent and none of them need to come first.
A note on Nausicaä
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) is not a Studio Ghibli film. It was produced by Topcraft, and its success is what funded the founding of Ghibli in 1985 — which is why it is bundled into every collection and why the confusion is completely reasonable. Watch it; just do not expect to find it on an official filmography. The same applies to Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Miyazaki’s feature debut, made at TMS.
Where to watch them
In the United States the Ghibli library sits on HBO Max, with GKIDS handling North American distribution; in most other territories it is on Netflix. Grave of the Fireflies is the long-running exception, because it has a different rights holder — for years it was missing from the package entirely, and it has since landed on Netflix rather than alongside the rest of the catalogue on HBO Max. Availability shifts regularly, so check your region. GKIDS also runs an annual Studio Ghibli Fest of theatrical re-releases in North American cinemas.
If you want more of our animation coverage, we have a ranking of every Makoto Shinkai film — the director most often, and most unfairly, described as the next Miyazaki — plus our Fall 2026 anime lineup and our list of the best food anime.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Studio Ghibli movies are there?
22 theatrical feature films, from Castle in the Sky in 1986 to The Boy and the Heron in 2023. Counting the two television films, Ocean Waves (1993) and Earwig and the Witch (2020), brings the total to 24.
What was the first Studio Ghibli movie?
Castle in the Sky, released in Japan on August 2, 1986 and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind came out in 1984, before the studio existed, and was produced by Topcraft.
Do I need to watch Studio Ghibli films in order?
No. Every Ghibli film is a self-contained story with no shared characters or continuity, so there is no required order. Chronological order is actually a slightly awkward way to watch them because it alternates between Hayao Miyazaki’s and Isao Takahata’s very different styles.
Is Nausicaa a Studio Ghibli movie?
No. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was produced by Topcraft in 1984, a year before Studio Ghibli was founded. Its success directly enabled the studio’s creation, and it is included in most Ghibli collections, but it is not officially part of the filmography.
What is the newest Studio Ghibli movie?
The Boy and the Heron, released in Japan on July 14, 2023 and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is the studio’s most recent theatrical feature.
Sources: release dates, directors and runtimes per Wikipedia’s list of Studio Ghibli works, cross-checked against GKIDS’ official Studio Ghibli filmography.
