Whether they’re made up of hand-drawn cels, pixels or good ol’ modelling clay, Netflix‘s finest animated movies will give you a whole new appreciation for the medium.
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Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)
Watch on NetflixRoald Dahl’s story of anthropomorphised woodland critters sticking it to the man is rendered in gorgeous, scrappy stop-motion detail by Wes Anderson. There aren’t too many other movies on this list that make you so keenly feel the character’s wiry textures—or their hunger for cider and roast chicken. With an all-star cast of A-listers and Anderson regulars (Clooney, Streep, Murray, DeFoe, Schwartzman, Wilson, etc.), it’s a cussin’ great film.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Watch on NetflixThe first of many Ghibli favourites on this list, Howl’s Moving Castle can be confusing, romantic, sweet and powerful all at once—a heady animated adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ fantasy novel. When teen milliner Sophie (Emily Mortimer) is transformed into an elderly woman, she joins the strange found family of the sorcerer Howl (Christian Bale). The movie’s strong anti-war sentiments and message of compassion make it Miyazaki’s favourite of his own creations.
I Lost My Body (2019)
Watch on NetflixWatch this one when you’re feeling disconnected. I Lost My Body is a detailed and hypnotic French-language film, following both lonely youth Naoufel and his severed hand as it scurries across Paris trying to find its way back to him. The hand’s miniature-sized battles with pigeons are just as absorbing as the romantic and human drama Naoufel faces. It all culminates in a wise ending, questioning where our memories and identity lie.
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Watch on NetflixThere’s something utopian about Kiki’s Delivery Service: its meditative pace, scenes of Kiki taking to the skies on her broomstick in search of her own life, all that drool-worthy bread-baking and cloud-watching…This 1989 fantasy is a damn salve, all about a young witch and her talking cat settling down in a small seaside town. Kirsten Dunst is a force of optimism as the voice of Kiki in the English dub, if you’re not a fan of subtitles.
Klaus (2019)
Watch on NetflixIt takes a while for new films to be inducted into our homes as Christmas traditions. Klaus definitely deserves to creep into your holiday movie rotation quick-smart: with traditionally-animated, powdery visual style, it tells an alternative Santa Claus origin story with bundles of heart and humour. Jason Schwartzmann voices a miserly postman working with an even-more-miserly toymaker (J.K. Simmons) to bring a frosty, broken town back together again.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021)
Watch on NetflixThis springy family story manages to make fun of our screen-obsessed culture without devolving into Black Mirror old-man-yells-at-cloud negativity. Wannabe filmmaker Katie (Abbi Jacobson) has to work with her dysfunctional fam to save the world, when an out-of-control algorithm (Olivia Colman) decides that humans just aren’t user-friendly enough.
Monster House (2006)
Watch on NetflixRick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon is one of the writers on this genuinely scary haunted house story—technically it’s fun for the whole family, but even as an adult I’m fairly spooked by some of its animated set-pieces. Perfect for a Halloween sleepover or gently spooky movie marathon, Monster House follows a trio of suburban kids who suspect the shambling old home across the street is not only alive, but hungry for intruding neighbours.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Watch on NetflixOne of the first major Ghibli films to break out in the West, My Neighbor Totoro is deceptively melancholy. Your kids might watch and appreciate the cuddly, mystical spirits that Satsuki and Mei encounter from their rural home. But for grown viewers, this is a wistful window back into childhood, that fleeting period before we’re wise enough to grasp the meaning of illness, war, adulthood. I just wanna ride the Catbus back to adolescence, man.
Pom Poko (1994)
Watch on NetflixIf you already love My Neighbor Totoro and want to delve even deeper into the folklore of Japanese yōkai, Pom Poko should be your next stop. It follows a community of tanuki, mystical raccoon dogs who use mischievous magical disguises to protect their forest home. The only time you might tear up and commit to anti-deforestation activism, in between scenes of lazy lil beasts using shape-shifting furry testicle pouches to glide through the air.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Watch on NetflixProbably the most gnarly and action-packed Ghibli offering, Princess Mononoke still has the same wistful scenes and compassionate environmental message of the studio’s most child-friendly films. In the English dub, Billy Crudup sensitively voices the cursed prince Ashitaka, caught between the industrial might of man and the ancient needs of the forest, as represented by feral warrior San (Claire Danes).
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Watch on NetflixNausicaä is like a squishy and hopeful anime version of Mad Max, with a fierce female protagonist who can communicate with (seemingly) destructive giant mutant insects. Your own young eco-warriors will be swept up in the worldbuilding and urgent story, where even the most gutting ‘hope is lost’ ending can be reversed with a little magic.
Robin Robin (2021)
Watch on NetflixAardman plays Santa Clause by gifting us this precious, short yet sweet holiday fable. It runs for just half an hour but you’ll want to stay with the adorable, felted characters for much longer, as a clumsy baby robin (Bronte Carmichael) is raised by a family of thrifty rodents. Richard E Grant is a delightfully cranky Magpie and Gillian Anderson purrs as a hungry Cat.
Shrek (2001)
Watch on NetflixTwenty years down the line, it’s hard to determine where a great, subversive kids film ended and where an evergreen meme began. Sure, Shrek kickstarted a now-tiring trend of family cinema that pandered to the paying parents in the audience, with witty pop culture and adult references that would only increase in the (also hilarious) second film. But it still has surprising heart, telling its story of self-acceptance over beauty with irreverent humour. Shrek is love, Shrek is life.
Spirited Away (2001)
Watch on NetflixOkay, our Ghibli fan-fest has come to an end, we’ll move on—after recommending this, the most broadly loved and Academy-Award celebrated film from the Studio. It’s still, shockingly, the first and only hand-drawn and foreign-language film to win Best Animated Feature, maybe because it feels like the most distinctly ‘Japanese’ Ghibli film to make it big? In any case, Chihiro’s journey, from seeing her parents enchanted into pigs to dealings with witches, river spirits, and dragons, is endlessly bewitching and detailed.
Vivo (2021)
Watch on NetflixThere’s music all over this Sony family adventure; from Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda’s bright, Latin-inspired score, to the kinetic look of all our animated scenery and characters. Miranda voices a talented busking kinkajou forced to travel with an annoying little girl, all in a bid to deliver his late owner’s last song. It might borrow heavily from Pixar’s musical history of making viewers weep in Coco and Toy Story 2, but Vivo also has some new moves and tunes of its own.
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