Top 100 Animated Countdown. Reveal begins in 10-12 hours. Just hanging on for that last minute rushed top 20 list that changes everything...

[chasmmi]

60th - Ponyo: 16 Votes, 1 top 10  228 points

 

Previous List - 66th 

 

 

And onto the film that I believe I would personally rank 4th out of the 4 films I know nothing about...

 

And it is a Miyazaki hat trick! Three films in a row and this is by far the most modern. It appears to fall firmly into the cuter, simpler side of Miyazaki film and that is part of the reason I have never chosen to watch this one. I have a negative experience of watching other animation that revolve around cute title characters and being bored to tears by the nothing that happens over the course of the film.

 

Now, Ponyo could be the most exciting, and epic Japanese animation ever and I am completely wrong in my assumptions, but that is up to somebody here to enlighten me on the fact.    

 

 

[chasmmi]

59th - Tarzan: 16 Votes, 1 top 5  230 points

 

Previous List - 56th 

 

 

I've seen this one! I've seen this one!

 

We have a break from the Ghibli deluge to return to Disney. Tarzan is one of the films that found itself on the tail end of the Disney renaissance. It was not the blockbuster smash that many of the preceeding films had been, but it was also not the disaster.

 

On a personal note this was one of only two Disney animations (the other was Hercules) that I watched between Lion King and Tangled. Here's the funny thing, I also like Tarzan a fair bit and there is no reason why this film would turn me off watching Disney for over 10 years. 

 

(Whisper it quietly, but I like the Phil Collins stuff too...)

 

 

[chasmmi]

58th - Kiki's Delivery Service: 13 Votes, 4 top 10  235 points

 

Previous List - 72nd 

 

 

Bloody hell Hayao, give somebody else a shot.

 

And finally we reach the end of the block of films I cannot give much personal comment on with Miyazaki's first film involving a bakery of some description. This is probably the film that has the biggest potential range of reactions on my end. I imagine there is a good chance that I find this film delightful and yet also a decent chance I find it to be empty fluffy tripe. 

 

It is also the film out of the four that I have come closest to actually sitting down and watching, so hopefully by the next installment, I will have an opinion to give... 

 

 

 

  

[chasmmi]

So... 

 

Nausicaa

Castle in the Sky

Ponyo 

Kiki

 

What is the optimum order of viewing?

[Tower]

15 minutes ago, chasmmi said:

So... 

 

Nausicaa

Castle in the Sky

Ponyo 

Kiki

 

What is the optimum order of viewing?

 

1) Nausicaa

2) Castle In The Sky

3 and 4 with Ponyo and Kiki are close, I appreciate the story of Ponyo more, but I also found its tone annoying. If having a tone that is clearly aimed at little children really bothers you then go with Kiki, if not then I'd say Ponyo.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Tower

[Tower]

Nausicaa- My second favourite Miyazaki and my 5th best overall, so obviously I think it should be higher than this.

 

Castle In The Sky- A little too long and It has some silly and boring parts in the middle, but it has a great last act.

 

Ponyo- I'm clearly not the target audience for this, and I didn't like the tone, however, it actually did have a good imaginative story hiding behind that.

 

Tarzan- I actually made sure to watch a lot of Disney movies leading up to this list, and have now seen 21, and yet this list still keeps coming up with more WDAS that I haven't seen, maybe I'll see this before next list.

 

Kiki- There wasn't anything particularly bad or good about this, it was just there and did everything alright, but not amongst the really good Miyazaki.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Tower

[SLAM!]

Ponyo is probably the most outright childish film Ghibli has ever put out, but I certainly see the intention behind that. When the massive floodwater comes and the town is submerged underwater, when all of these things that would normally be regarded as devastation happen, the childlike viewpoint of the narration puts an optimistic lens on the situation. The two children view their plight as a fun adventure, and thanks to how the story is told, the audience views it in the same way. Only a master such as Miyazaki could have pulled off such a feat as to make catastrophic flooding seem thrilling in a happy, exciting sort of way, rather than a dreadful sort of way.

 

One of the most important theatrical ventures of my life happened on the labor day of 2009. We were supposed to see a now-forgotten family film called Shorts, but something happened--either it was sold out, or we had missed it--and my father made the decision to take me and my sister to Ponyo instead.

 

Because God guides a life in little ways, you know?

 

We walked in a little late to the film, which only increased the intrigue, because I was greeted by the film's opening segment that showcased the film's underwater world. I had seen underwater worlds in animation before--from The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo--but I hadn't seen any interpretations such as that, and that peculiarity really struck me.

 

From then on, I heard the excellent voicework from Tina Fey and Liam Neeson (among others), I related to the main child character's position in the middle of the relationship struggle between his parents, I stared in awe at the screen as I was transfixed by the breathtaking visuals... and when the most emotional moment came (I'm not spoiling it), when I heard a young woman crying in the audience, that's when I knew what a great film is capable of.

 

I wish I wasn't in such a hurry to grow up back then. I was only ten years old. Did I have the right to roll my eyes at the scenes in the preschool, did I have the right to scoff at the childish end credits song?

 

Ponyo has a viewpoint that I want to get back to--the idea that, even when the waves are crashing down around us, we can keep ourselves going by looking at the situation through an optimistic lens. Life doesn't have to suck. It can be an adventure if we want it to be.

 

I'll never forget when I was walking out of the theater. I glanced up at the screen, and as the credits rolled against the watercolor backdrop, for the first time in my life, I saw and comprehended the film's production company: Studio Ghibli. I had watched Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away on VHS, and I certainly knew they had similarities of a sort, but it had never occurred to me that there was a wonderful company behind them, a company as prolific as Studio Ghibli, until that moment. I've only seen a select few of all the Ghibli films to this day, but the repertoire alone has been enough to inspire me throughout the years.

 

Ponyo is an anomaly of a film, however underrated it may be. It is, in my opinion, essential Ghibli viewing; it is a film that every child deserves to experience for themselves; it is a film that adults can watch to reminisce the times when their carefree spirit and their imagination were regarded as priceless.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Slambros

[4815162342]

2 hours ago, chasmmi said:

So... 

 

Nausicaa

Castle in the Sky

Ponyo 

Kiki

 

What is the optimum order of viewing?

 

1) Nausicaa

2) Castle

3) Kiki

4) Ponyo

[Spidey Freak]

Kiki >>>>>>>>>>> the rest

 

Though I'm surprised at the amount of Nausicaa fans here. It kind of comes across as the beta version of Mononoke. Which still makes it a good movie, but it is underwhelming if you have watched PM first. 

 

Also, did I miss Only Yesterday's entry? Or has it dropped out of the Top 100? () Don't think it would place higher than the current point in the list.

[Tower]

18 hours ago, Spidey Freak said:

Also, did I miss Only Yesterday's entry? Or has it dropped out of the Top 100? () Don't think it would place higher than the current point in the list.

Has yet to show up, full list so far:

100	Kung Fu Panda 3
99	When Marnie Was There
98	The Sword In The Stone
97	The Rescuers
96	Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
95	Song Of The Sea
94	Watership Down
93	Anastasia
92	The Fox And The Hound
91	Millenium Actress
90	Tokyo Godfathers
89	Cars
88	Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm
87	Treasure Planet
86	Brave
85	The Tale Of Princess Kaguya
84	Paprika
83	Alice In Wonderland
82	The Simpsons
81	Wolf Children
80	Basil, The Great Mouse Detective
79	The Princess And The Frog
78	Lady And The Tramp
77	Despicable Me
76	The Curse Of The Wererabbit
75	Peter Pan
74	Ice Age
73	The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
72	Finding Dory
71	Whisper Of The Heart
70	The Wind Rises
69	Team America: World Police
68	Sleeping Beauty
67	Persepolis
66	Dumbo
65	Rango
64	Robin Hood
63	A Bug's Life
62	Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind
61	Castle In The Sky
60	Ponyo
59	Tarzan
58	Kiki's Delivery Service

Edited October 13, 2018 by Tower

[Morieris]

Kiki is my favorite Ghibli movie and Tarzan is my favorite Disney movie so yay at the rising spots!

[lolifofo]

Not usually a fan of Ghbili films (or anime for that matter), but Ponyo was so gorgeous and cute I couldn't help but fall in love with it. I believe it;s the highest-ranked anime film on my list. Kiki's alright but somewhat uneventful. Haven't seen Nausica and Castle in the Sky yet. Tarzan is amazing of course, but I'm a Disney fanboy.

[JJ-8]

Well I can’t speak for 3 of those as I haven’t seen them but I do love ponyo. It made my top 30 films and my 2nd highest rated studio ghbili film. Actually. 

[chasmmi]

57th - The Land Before Time: 14 Votes, 1 Top 5, 1 top 10  236 points

 

Previous List - 49th

 

 

I won't lie this is my favourite Bluth film.

 

This film was the right amount of fun to scary for young chasmmi to happily deal with. It is one of the poster childs of Bluth's adage that as long as the last 10 minutes ends happily, you can do almost anything you want in your children's film and it will be okay. 

 

This film comes with a lot of tragedy both on and off screen, but at the end of the day, it is an all time classic animation that arguably spawned the most successful animated movie franchise of all time (all least as far as volume goes), but then again there are also 4 Beethoven films, so that may not always be a good thing. 

 

P.S that scene above... I shouldn't have watched it again...

  

 

[chasmmi]

56th - Hercules: 16 Votes, 237 points

 

Previous List - 62nd

 

 

The other post Lion King Disney film that I watched between 1994 and 2012

 

and as with Tarzan, it is another that I enjoyed. I like the musical style that was used for a lot of the songs (Go The Distance and Won't say I'm in love will certainly make my personal top 100 Movie songs list), Hades was weird in a wonderful way, and Danny Devito was there.

 

Hercules probably should have been more epic in scale and story than it ended up being in order to be considered truly great. But it is extremely solid and that is why it received 16 votes without any being a top 10 vote (only 3 other films will make the list without a top 10 nomination.)

[chasmmi]

55th - Bambi: 18 Votes, 1 First, 1 top 10,  238 points

 

Previous List - 29th

 

 

That's a huge drop for Bambi, the ultimate 'One Scene Film' from Disney animation.

 

I admit it is unfair for Bambi to only be remembered for the one scene, but it is. Just like many folks can only really tell you about the first 9 minutes of Up and then it gets hazy, there are a lot of people that remember traumatic childhoods of seeing a deer killed before their eyes (even though she wasn't), and don't really recall how the story pans out after that (other than it somehow involves a skunk and a rabbit).

 

Bambi is gorgeous for its time, and there is a lot of good in it. I personally consider edge of top 50 to be a better placement than edge of top 25 though. 

[Tower]

The Land Before Time- Has some nice epic moments, but most of the film is the dialogue between the children which I didn't think was good.

 

Hercules- A middle of the road Disney movie, it's not bad, but it didn't leave much of an impression.

 

Bambi- outside of a few minutes near the end where all the action happens, it's quite boring.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Tower

[4815162342]

Land Before Time wrecked me as a kid.

[lolifofo]

Deserved drop for Bambi. Very dull and overrated movie imo. The Lion King did it 1000x better, and it actually has a plot.

[BadAtGender]

On 10/12/2018 at 6:33 AM, chasmmi said:

So... 

 

Nausicaa

Castle in the Sky

Ponyo 

Kiki

 

What is the optimum order of viewing?

 

Kiki - An absolute classic, with a totally amazing climax scene. Overall, it's just a great character development film, to see someone overcome their anxieties and feelings of helplessness. 

 

Ponyo - Newer than the rest, but the animation is superb. Ghibli had a period where they experimented with some computer animation, but had abandoned it entirely by the time Ponyo came out. The storm running scene is as visually engrossing as some of the ocean scenes in Pinocchio, but with an entirely different feel. It's probably Miyazaki's youngest targeted film besides Totoro, but since he's so keen on getting the character mannerisms exactly right, it still draws you in.

 

Castle in the Sky - Do you like steampunk? Most of Miyazaki's films have some element of steampunk, but CitS is probably the preeminent example of that.

 

Nausicaa - Where CitS is steampunk, this is... bio punk? It's got an especially overt environmentalist theme, which weaves its way through all of Miyazki's films, but it becomes more subtle over time. Some great visual sequences.