Studio Ghibli Marathon.

Well its been quite a while since i got the idea of doing a Studio Ghibli Marathon, i mean not only would i be able to re-visit those superb movies i loved but also i'll be able to watch those missed gems. I am not a fan of Anime, or should i say Anime which is not from Studio Ghibli. The first ever movie from this studio that i saw was Kiki's Delivery Service as a child which was so mindblowing in terms of the story and everything it was unlike anything i have ever seen (mind that i am a big fan of Disney and Pixar) but that one movie made me a die hard fan of Hayao Miyazaki's world.

So this is a Japanese Animation and Film Studio founded in 1985, people like Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki founded it. Apart from Miyazaki and Takahata, many other directors like Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroyuki Morita and Goro Miyazaki directed movies too.

Kiki's Delivery Service was not the only movie that i saw but after that i got to see Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Ponyo. All of their Anime are widely acclaimed and very loved with Spirited Away winning Academy Award for Best Animated Movie and Best Film at Berlin Film Festival along with numerous other awards that their movies have been winning. Its just fantastic that there are such creative minds in this field with a strong grasp and control over grand storytelling with eye dazzling visuals, heart touching simple stories underneath, superb character studies and movies which teaches us a lot.

Below are the movies i'll be watching:

Pre-Ghibli Movies:

1. Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

2. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Studio Ghibli Movies:

1. Castle in the Sky (1986)
2. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
3. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
4. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
5. Only Yesterday (1991)
6. Porco Rosso (1992)
7. Ocean Waves (1993)
8. Pom Poko (1994)
9. Whisper of the Heart (1995)
10. Princess Mononoke (1997)
11. My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
12. Spirited Away (2001)
13. The Cat Returns (2002)
14. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
15. Tales from Earth and Sea (2006)
16. Ponyo (2008)
17. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

Note: I am going to go with the original release dates of Ghibli Movies in my reviews and lists except for the recent 2 movies Ponyo and Arrietty for which i'll write their US release dates 2009 and 2012 respectively.