Every Studio Ghibli Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Just because it's arguably the studio's most famous film - on account of it winning an Oscar - doesn't immediately make Spirited Away the best. That Oscar recognition was a long time coming, for sure, and it did open the door to a lot of new fans, but there have definitely been better Studio Ghibli films.

Having said that, it's still one of the most important animations ever released because of how accessible it made the rest of the Ghibli body of work. And again, it works as a "greatest hits" of Miyazaki's key messages - environmentalism, the power of imagination, a young vulnerable protagonist who finds strength and a commitment to Japanese mythology. It's a modern fairytale whose story-telling is its chief virtue.

It is as hauntingly beautiful as it is profoundly weird (and occasionally dark), which might as well be the studio's general tag-line.