Howl’s Moving Castle is my least favorite of Miyazaki’s films that I’ve watched. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it a lot. It’s more of a testament to how good his movies are.

It seems to be the consensus that Howl is Miyazaki’s “weakest” film. It’s hard for me to say how I would rank them, but I do find it a testament to his abilities that Howl is such a great movie and it’s seen as being “not as good” as his other works.

Princess Mononoke is definitely number one for me. All his other films are too close to call.

I for one would love to see how you would rank Miyazaki’s films. And I don’t care how hard it will be. I want to see you rank them! If you rank them, I want to see you find a few nitpicks you may have with them. Yeah, I know how hard that would be, considering how crazy you are for Miyazaki, but come on. Every thing in this world has flaws, and I would like to see you find anything that may be wrong with these movies. I mean, even though Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite game of all time, I can find some (incredibly) minor flaws with it. Also, I would like to learn more about these movies, as I have only seen one of them (I made time a few months ago to watch Spirited Away), and I would like to know more about them.

It’s not that I’ve never given any thought to ranking Miyazaki’s films, but it seems whenever I try it ends up a little differently (though some are usually consistently higher than others). I may do it someday, but don’t expect it any time soon…

If you want to learn more about Miyazaki’s movies, I can always provide information (pardon my bragging, but I’m a bit of an encyclopedia on the subject). For now I can give you a brief rundown of Miyazaki’s directorial works.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) – This is obviously based on the popular Lupin III anime series, and is widely considered the best product of the franchise. This was Miyazaki’s first film, but it predates the creation of Ghibli by a good few years. And since Lupin III was an established series of its own, Ghibli doesn’t own the rights to it. As such, Disney doesn’t distribute it, making it harder to find. It also means when you do find it, watch the Japanese version.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) – Is Miyazaki’s second film as director, it’s based off of his own manga series. Though because the movie was released only two years into the manga (which went on an additional ten years) there are huge differences between the two. This is the movie that popularized anime in Japan. It too predated Ghibli, but its production led to Ghibli’s creation, as such, Ghibli owns the rights to it. And you can find it pretty easily thanks to Disney (it was also released on blu-ray last year).

Castle in the Sky (1986) – Is the first “official” Ghibli film. Another original story by Hayao Miyazaki. It also inspired countless video games, oddly enough. Also easy to come by, and Disney released it on blu-ray just last month.

My Neighbor Totoro (1988) – Is one of Miyazaki’s most beloved films, and the titular character is to Japanese animation what Mickey Mouse is to western animation (but less commercial). It shouldn’t be too hard to find, as Disney even re-issued it in 2010, but no blu-ray as of yet.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) – Another beloved Miyazaki classic, though one of his few films to be based off of existing material (a Japanese children’s book series, in this case). Disney also re-issued this one in 2010, so it shouldn’t be too hard to come by.

Porco Rosso (1992) – One of Miyazaki’s more obscured movies, but no less wonderful. It’s basically a tribute to his love of movies from Hollywood’s “golden age.” It was released on DVD in 2005, but Disney has yet to re-issue it or release a blu-ray, so it might be a little more difficult…

Princess Mononoke (1997) – One of Miyazaki’s most lauded films. Despite the word “princess” being in the title, don’t expect a Disney princess-esque story (no no). This one can be a doozy to find today, since Disney released it through Miramax in the first place (it has some violent moments, so you can’t put Disney’s name on it apparently), and it hasn’t seen a re-release of any kind for over a decade.

Spirited Away (2001) – Miyazaki’s most successful film (being the highest-grossing film not in the English language and recipient of an Academy Award). Widely regarded as the best animated film ever (alongside a number of other movies on this list). It was released on DVD in 2003, but is still very easy to come by. Waiting on pins and needles for a blu-ray release…

Howls Moving Castle (2004) – Miyazaki’s second highest-grossing film, and based on the book of the same name (though with some considerable differences, particularly in the second half). It was released on DVD in 2005, but I think you can still come across it without too much trouble…

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008) – Miyazaki’s latest film, which is similar to the likes of Totoro and Kiki in tone. Very easy to find. First Miyazaki film released on blu-ray.

And well, there’s a brief rundown. If you want any more info on them let me know.

Here’s another question: I want to see these movies, but do I have to be familiar with some of the original properties that said films are based on, like the anime of Lupin III, or the book of Howl’s Moving Castle? Or can I watch them on their own without any knowledge of their preexisting materials?

No, I wouldn’t say you need to know the source materials for Howl, Lupin and Kiki to understand the movies. It might help a little bit with some aspects in Howl, but the latter half is very different from the book anyway, so I wouldn’t say it’s necessary.

With Castle of Cagliostro and Kiki, I don’t think theres any need whatsoever to know the source materials before watching them. I’ve never read the Kiki book series (I don’t even know if they’re available in English), and it certainly hasn’t effected my love and appreciation for the movie.