This weekend, to mark the US release of The Boy and the Heron, we asked you to name your favorite film from director Hayao Miyazaki. In at number one with 31 percent of the vote was Spirited Away, the Oscar-winning 2001 classic that was, until Demon Slayer, the highest-grossing film of all time at the Japanese box office. The surreal tale of a girl forced to work at a spirit bathhouse after her parents are turned into pigs, Spirited Away is perhaps Miyazaki’s most complete exploration of Japanese culture and folklore, fairy tales, and his concerns about environmentalism and consumerism.
In second place with 17.2 percent was Princess Mononoke, the film’s 1997 predecessor, a spectacular environmental fable that was significantly darker and more violent than Miyazaki’s previous efforts. While not a success in the States when it was released there (something Neil Gaiman, who penned the script for the dub, alleges was thanks to pettiness on distributor Harvey Weinstein’s part), it was undoubtedly a formative experience for the budding anime audience at the time, including Dave Filoni, who paid tribute to the film’s wolves in Star Wars Rebels.
Tied for third place with 10 percent each were 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro, and 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle. My Neighbor Totoro, which was one of Miyazaki’s earlier films, features many a running theme in his later works, like folklore, environmentalism, and grief, while Howl’s Moving Castle, his follow-up to Spirited Away, is a beautiful take on Diana Wynne Jones’s novel, that the director described as his response to the Iraq War. Funnily enough, he didn’t originally plan on directing it: it was initially assigned to Mamoru Hosoda, who’s since gone on to become a great anime filmmaker and studio head in his own right.
Overall, it seems Miyazaki was at the peak of his powers around the start of the millennium, although it could also be a reflection of when most of you were growing up with his work. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to check back on Friday for our next Reader Poll!
