My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Castle in the Sky
Howl's Moving Castle
Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Ponyo
With all due respect, screw Disney. The best animated movies are by Hayao Miyazaki, founder of Studio Ghibli. I love every one of the Ghibli movies I have seen, although my girls aren't ready for all of them yet. My Neighbor Totoro is the perfect entry to the Ghibli universe. I wrote about that one a couple days ago.
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| There's nothing scary about this witch. |
We let her watch Castle in the Sky after her birthday party. Our 2.5 year old was a little frightened by the silly pirate chase scene in the beginning, but it cracked up our seven year old. I had forgotten how funny Castle in the Sky was, or we probably would have let her watch it months ago. There is a very serious theme about power and its use and abuse, as well as an environmental message, but the funny pirates and the beautiful animation, paired with the central love story all serve to lighten the touch so that even a sensitive child can handle it.
I have to admit, Ponyo is the weakest of the Ghibli movies. It seemed to build to something that never appeared. But, even the scary parts didn't scare my (then) six year old or 2 year old. And that counts for a lot. Especially since my kids will probably be in college before I let them watch Mononoke.
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