Isao Takahata

A mystical miniature girl is discovered inside a glowing bamboo stalk by a poor, elderly bamboo cutter. She rapidly grows into an exquisitely beautiful young woman and is soon pursued by noble suitors and the Emperor himself. This visually stunning adaptation explores the responsibilities of grace, the pain of love, and the conflict between earthly life and celestial origins.

Anne is an orphan full of imagination. The story covers Anne's growth from about eleven to seventeen years old as she makes friends, goes to school and studies. This is the first 6 episodes of the 1978 animated TV series re-edited into a feature film, including some previously cut scenes. Originally scheduled for a 1989 release, it was cancelled and only finally made it onto cinema screens in 2010 in conjunction with the release of The Secret World of Arrietty.

Winter Days is based off a set of poems (renku) collected by Japanese poet Bashō. In this style of poetry, poets take it in turn to write a stanza, in reaction to the stanza of the previous poet. Each stanza has been animated by a different animator using a wide variety of styles; as well as various Japanese animators, famous names such as Yuriy Norshteyn also contributed animated shorts. There are 36 animated segments in total, animated by 35 animators.

The life and misadventures of a family in contemporary Tokyo. (imdb)

A community of magical shapeshifting raccoons desperately struggle to prevent their forest home from being destroyed by urban development. (imdb)

A 27-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tôkyô. (imdb)

During the final devastating months of World War II in Japan, a teenage boy and his younger sister struggle to survive after their mother is killed in a firebombing. Driven from their relatives, the two siblings attempt to carve out an independent life in an abandoned shelter. It is a profoundly moving and tragic portrait of resilience, hunger, and the heartbreaking cost of war.

An (almost) live action documentary movie, produced by Nibariki, with the royalty revenue from Nausicaä. Miyazaki visited Yanagawa, and was impressed by the beautiful town with its canals, and came up with an idea for a film about high school boys and girls in Yanagawa with Takahata as director. Takahata was more interested in the history of the town, and as a result, it became a live action documentary, and Miyazaki decided to spend his own money on it. (imdb)

A cellist in a small orchestra receives help from animals to help him practice his music. (imdb)

Based on the very popular manga by Etsumi Haruki, it is about ten year old Chie, "the most unfortunate girl in Japan", who manages her family diner while her unemployed yakuza father and her mother are separated. This sounds really depressing, but it's actually a very funny comedy.

After the world is nearly destroyed by a war, a young boy and his friends must fight to save the world from those who seek to conquer what is left of civilization. (imdb)

In the late 19th century, a young Italian boy named Marco sets out on a perilous journey from Genoa to Argentina. Driven by determination and love, he travels across continents to find his mother, who had emigrated to find work and suddenly stopped writing. The narrative follows his emotional and physical struggles through vast landscapes as he encounters various cultures and hardships.

An orphaned girl is sent to live with her embittered grandfather in the scenic Swiss Alps. She blossoms in the mountain environment, forming a deep bond with her surroundings and friends. However, her life is upended when she is taken to Frankfurt to serve as a companion for a wealthy girl with a disability, forcing her to navigate a rigid urban world while longing for her alpine home.

The circus comes to town and Mimiko and the Pandas make friends with a tiny tiger.

When her grandmother goes away on a trip, 7-year-old Mimiko stays at home by herself in her small, friendly village, unafraid of burglars. When she arrives back home from the train station where she saw her grandmother off, she discovers she has a visitor-a baby panda. (imdb)

Arsene Lupin III is the grandson of the master thief Arsene Lupin. With his cohorts Daisuke Jigen and Goemon Ishikawa XIII and his love interest Fujiko Mine, he pulls off the greatest heists of all time while always escaping the grasp of Inspector Koichi Zenigata.

Horus, a kid living in a unnamed Scandinavian/Eastern Europe culture of the Iron Age, recovers the Sword of the Sun from the rock giant Moog and learns from his dying father that he must returns to his ancestral territory. In the process, he defends a village from the attacks of Grundewald, a warlord/ice demon and befriends the enigmatic Hilda, a lonely and beautiful girl who sings haunting songs (and who hides a terrible secret). (imdb)