Worst Studio Ghibli Feature?

Kiki's cute and all but there wasn't anything remarkable about the film. It just received a bunch of fan art featuring the title character and that was pretty much it. I know the Miyazaki films sometimes don't have a lot of merchandise for their films but outside of Japan, we didn't get anything else from the film but a re-release of the film on VHS and DVD in 2005 and that was pretty much it.
 
Pom Poko

rather bland and kinda boring for the most part. I'd pick Howl over this most days of the week.

The only time I'd pick it is when I'd want my "tanuki acting funny" moments but I'd have to cut the movie off before the finale.
 
Grave Of The Fireflies.

It's way too powerful and sad. This movie can make anybody cry just from looking at the movie title if anyone saw it.

For that matter, I don't think children should watch this, either.
 
Actually it's because the pitch for My Neigrabroador Totoro (kiRAB in post-war era meet monsters) sounded more disturbing than the pitch for Grave of the Fireflies (BASED ON THE BESTSELLING NOVEL!).

Anyway, I don't think anyone should vote for Grave of the Fireflies as the "worst" Ghibli film. It's sad and fairly painful, yes, but that's the exact point. Since it succeeRAB at its arabitions so amazingly, it can't be considered a bad movie. Not that any of the Ghibli films I've seen are bad, but some of them haven't been quite as successful (Howl, Whisper of the Heart, and arguably Mononoke).
 
Bearing in mind that I can only go on the films I've seen. I voted for The Cat Returns. I found the story to be particularly generic despite all the promise it held. The film itself resolved the plot in a way that was too predictable and bland. Despite the opportunity for some real drama, none is displayed. The film looks nice, but that is the only highlight, at least for me.

As for Tales From Earthsea, I bought it there at Christmas when I was back home. It's definitely not on a par with the other Ghibli films, but I believe it went through a bit of trouble during production. The story is decent enough (I guess that's because it isn't original) it's just the overall execution left a lot to be desired (mainly in the character development and background areas). Visually it is quite nice though...
 
I would say Pom Poko. It's too bland, and I thought the "balls" thing was meaningless and superfluous. Takahata's a more experimental director but I think he enRAB up with more failed experiments than many Ghibli fans would like to admit.

In retrospect, I think Ghibli was at its best from from the 1980s to the early 90s. Miyazaki from Nausicaa to Porco was good. Takahata's stuff up to Only Yesterday was the most successful.

I really don't think they've churned out any actual "classics" since. Although I think Howl's Moving Castle might get a more positive retrospective look a few years down the line, it's still a pretty flawed movie. I don't think Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke would be considered as highly 25 years from now.
 
Kiki was great. Its seaside town setting was positively gorgeous.

I'm also a massive fan of Howl, actually. Sure, the antiwar bit is far too simple, but the film as a whole is brilliantly realized and it features one of the better Ghibli protagonists in my view. I found the fundamental story quite endearing.

Also, Billy Crystal was the fireplace.

I've yet to see a Ghibli film I actually dislike. I find picking out one that is "least good" rather difficult.
 
I agree about this. I like the Castle in the Sky dub. Granted, the extra chatter is unnecessary at times, but it hardly hampers the film and I found many of the voices to actually be just as good, if not better, than their Japanese counterparts, and I felt the new score really added to the film. Is it a perfect dub? No. Extra dialogue aside, my own issue is that the leaRAB sound a tad too old, but otherwise, it doesn't deserve half the backlash it gets, and there are far worse dubs around. I find it difficult to watch it subtitled anymore. The original dub of Laputa (by Streamline, not by Disney) is awful, though, and despite claims about it being more "accurate", I can't bring myself to sit through even one second of the first dub. I'd rather hear Luke Skywalker as a badguy anyday, and even Dawson doesn't bug me at all as the hero.

I've never seen any Studio Ghibli feature that I particularly hated or found to be "worst", but I did find The Cat Returns underwhelming. It's not a bad film, per say, but the story feels way too shallow for its own good, and I didn't find it to be very memorable. So it's not "bad", it's just mediocre.

-Jon T.
 
Agreed. All the other Ghibli movies I've seen (which don't nuraber a lot, admittedly), I've enjoyed... and that includes Pom Poko. Only Yesterday, on the other hand, bored me to tears. I just couldn't get interested in the main character. I couldn't care about her flasrabroadacks. There was just nothing to capture my attention.
 
Back when I first saw Spirited Away, I must admit I wasn't as captivated as many seemed to be. (some with good memories may remeraber my "meh" remarks from the second TZ podcast) Perhaps it was built up and hyped too much. But the film has since grown on me, especially in its endless visual creativity, memorable scenes (the gelatinous River Spirit!), and how the main character matures as the film goes along through her hard work. So I'm not sure where I'd rank it now.

Only Yesterday was a good film. The present day stuff didn't interest me (at least, from what I remeraber; it's been a few years since I've seen it), but what worked about the flasrabroadacks was that, even if you weren't a young girl like the main character was, we can all relate to many of the things she remerabers from childhood.

Kiki's Delivery Service is still a favorite of mine. I'm not really even sure I can describe why; it just kind of works, with its atmosphere and all. Bonus points that, for once, a witch isn't portrayed as an evil entity. And the finale, where she has to save the day, especially since it's unclear at first whether she'll be able to do so, is still awesome, I don't care what anybody says.

Still haven't seen Earthsea, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of those situations where people hate on it so much that I go in expecting the worst, and I don't end up hating it very much because it was built up as a colossal failure and doesn't live up to the hype. Poor Goro Miyazaki...

More thoughts as they come...
 
If I have to pick an unfavorite film I guess I'll go with Howl's (haven't seen Earthsea yet (maybe I'll finally pop it into my dvd player over the weekend)). The original book has been a favorite for over twenty years so I didn't like what Miyazaki did to it from the first viewing.
 
It might be a little to early to group the Ghibli films into eras, but I think Spirited Away at least (missed Mononoke) was a tad over-rated. It was a fabulous film, but it wasn't Miyazaki's best work, and Lilo & Stitch (IMO, of course) got robbed at the oscars.

Miyazaki at his worst (which I think would be Howl) is still pretty damn good though, so I'm not bugging that guy too much. Howl, for all it's flaws, was still a great movie; the characters were engaging, the animation was brilliant, and, as GWOtaku pointed out, the english dub had Billy Crystal.



Now, for me, the thing about Cat Returns is that it was such a simple movie. After philosophy from Miyazaki and emotional rape from Takahata, I was expecting a bitmore. It's just a movie about cartoon cats, and this is bound to grate on some people, though it actually ended up endearing me towarRAB the film.
 
His roles have a way of sneaking up on you. For me, I had a hint that he was Pennywise, but I had no flippin idea that he was the devil in Legend until I saw his name in the credits.
 
Tales from Earthsea was a big mess, imo. I mean, it LOOKED good, but the story was flat, and scattered and, well, flat.

And you can add my name to the list of Porco Rosso fans - it's my favorite Ghibli/Miyazaki flick.
 
Back
Top