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Princess Mononoke poster

Movies that feel likePrincess Mononoke (1997)

Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.

If you loved Princess Mononoke, the closest films we have are Porco Rosso (1992), Warriors of the Wind (1984) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004). All three share Princess Mononoke's epic and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998).

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Hayao Miyazakiepicdreamlikewhimsicalwarm
11 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

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If Princess Mononoke hit the spot, these will too

Porco Rosso poster
Porco Rosso
1992 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 96%★ 7.7animation · adventure · fantasyMax

Another cursed Miyazaki hero carrying his transformation with grace

The difference: Breezy and romantic — seaplanes and banter, not war

In Italy in the 1930s, sky pirates in biplanes terrorize wealthy cruise ships as they sail the Adriatic Sea. The only pilot brave enough to stop the scourge is the mysterious Porco Rosso, a former World War I flying ace who was somehow turned into a pig during the war. As he prepares to battle the pirate crew's American ace, Porco Rosso enlists the help of spunky girl mechanic Fio Piccolo and his longtime friend Madame Gina.

Warriors of the Wind poster
Warriors of the Wind
1984 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 87%★ 8adventure · animation · fantasyMax

Miyazaki's other warrior princess standing between nature and war

The difference: This is the notoriously shortened English cut of Nausicaä

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

Howl's Moving Castle poster
Howl's Moving Castle
2004 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 88%★ 8.2fantasy · animation · adventureMax

Curses, war and transformation swirled into moving-castle magic

The difference: Dreamier and less coherent — the plot melts when you grip it

Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.

My Neighbor Totoro poster
My Neighbor Totoro
1988 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 94%★ 8.1fantasy · animation · familyMax

Forest spirits met with wonder instead of fear

The difference: Gentle to its core — no conflict darker than a missing child

Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

Spirited Away poster
Spirited Away
2001 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 96%★ 8.6animation · family · fantasyMax

A spirit world with its own laws, rendered in staggering detail

The difference: A child's odyssey — intimate courage, not clashing armies

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

Ponyo poster
Ponyo
2008 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 91%★ 7.6animation · fantasy · familyMax

Nature's raw power meeting human love, drawn by the same hand

The difference: Aimed at small children — the stakes stay storybook-soft

When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

Tales from Earthsea poster
Tales from Earthsea
2006 · dir. Goro Miyazaki
★ 6.3animation · fantasy · adventureMax

The same mix in both: scale, then dream logic

The difference: Takes it somewhere less warm than Princess Mononoke does

As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.

Ronal the Barbarian poster
Ronal the Barbarian
2011 · dir. Philip Einstein Lipski
★ 6.5animation · adventure · fantasy

Whimsical adventure, and it commits to that

Ronal is a young barbarian with low self-esteem, the polar opposite of all the muscular barbarians in his village. He's a real wuss. However, as fate would have it, responsibility for the tribe's survival falls on Ronal's scrawny shoulders, when the evil Lord Volcazar raids the village and abducts every living barbarian with the exception of Ronal, who is forced to go on a perilous quest to save his enslaved clan and thwart Volcazar’s plot to rule the world.

Castle in the Sky poster
Castle in the Sky
1986 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 97%★ 8adventure · fantasy · animationMax

A Miyazaki adventure where hunger for power ruins what's sacred

The difference: Lighter serial spirit — chases and pirates over moral weight

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

Kiki's Delivery Service poster
Kiki's Delivery Service
1989 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
★ 7.8animation · family · fantasyMax

The everyday warmth that makes Ghibli worlds feel lived-in

The difference: No villain at all — its only battle is self-doubt

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

Kirikou and the Sorceress poster
Kirikou and the Sorceress
1998 · dir. Michel Ocelot
🍅 96%★ 7.5fantasy · adventure · animationPrime Video

Fantasy built on warmth, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to family than Princess Mononoke does

Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.

Anastasia poster
Anastasia
1997 · dir. Gary Goldman
🍅 83%★ 7.2animation · family · fantasyDisney+

Hand-drawn epic sweep with a heroine finding who she is

The difference: A Broadway-style musical — songs and romance set the pace

Ten years after she was separated from her family, an eighteen-year-old orphan with vague memories of the past sets out to Paris in hopes of reuniting with her grandmother. She is accompanied by two con men, who intend to pass her off as the Grand Duchess Anastasia to the Dowager Empress for a reward.

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The best-reviewed films that share Princess Mononoke’s defining feeling.