Ever sinceAkiraintroducedanimefilms to mainstream audiences in the late ‘80s and shocked the world with itsunparalleled animation and storytelling, the medium has showcased immense potential. Whether it is in the form of films or series, anime has generated a devoted fan base, including children and otakus, who appreciate the medium’s capacity to breathe life into complex stories and make them resonate to a larger audience. Visionary creators like Hayao Miyazaki are primarily responsible for this.
For the past two decades or so, the Academy has opened its eyes to acknowledge and award anime’s growing impact to storytelling. After Miyazaki’sSpirited Awaywon the Best Animated Feature Award back in 2002, there was a new path paved for films that were rich in historical detail and wistful character journeys. In the years since, films from masters like Isao Takahata and Mamoru Hosoda have further expanded anime’s scope.
Whether they’re fantasy adventures orsweeping period dramas, the nominated anime films share the common ability to transport us into worlds beyond our imagination. For anime buffs and newcomers alike, this list summarizes the 10 anime films nominated for Academy Awards.
10Spirited Away (Best Animated Feature, 2002)
Spirited Away
Spirited Awaytells the tale of 10-year-old Chihiro Ogino, who after wandering into a magical amusement park inhabited by spirits, is separated from her parents. With her folks transformed into pigs, she is forced to work in a bathhouse for spirits and gods, under the scrutiny of evil witch Yubaba. Meanwhile, she befriends a kind and harmless spirit Haku and No-Face, a shape-shifting identity.
What Makes It So Great
The film is made by visionary director Hayao Miyazaki, who fashions a fable bursting with imagination. Even though the premise and visuals seem eerie and unsettling, at its core,Spirited Awayisa coming-of-age storyabout Chihiro’s adolescent journey about finding courage and strength. Anime fans and newcomers will both fall under the film’s spell and see just why it was rewarded the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Available to stream on Max
Nominated in the same year as Spirited Away is Kōji Yamamura directed quirky and minimalistic short,Mt Head. Despite only being 10 minutes long, the film tells an impactful story about a man who wakes up to find a tiny tree growing out of his head. After failed attempts to destroy it, the tiny tree eventually inhabits noisy people, leaving the man to begrudgingly deal with them while going about his daily life.
Mt Headis based on a classic piece of Japanese theater known asrakugo,in which a lone performer enacts a story involving multiple characters. The film is a masterwork of clear visual storytelling because it used a combination of emotive hand-drawn figures and CGI. Devoid of any dialogue yet packed with humor and humanity, the anime film proves that even short films have the ability to convey volumes.
8Howl’s Moving Castle (Best Animated Feature, 2004)
Howl’s Moving Castle
If you’re a Hayao Miyazaki fan (and by extension a Studio Ghibli fan), chances are you’ve already seenHowl’s Moving Castle. It centers around a young girl named Sophie, who accidentally has a run-in with the Witch of the Waste and gets transformed into an old woman. to break the curse, Sophie finds shelter in the moving castle of Howl, and befriends Calcifer and Markl.
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Miyazaki’s gem of a film lost the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature toWallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but that does not diminish the effect its astonishing visuals and huge heart had on the audience. From the richly detailed castle world to the charming characters, every element of the film is a soaring achievement for the animation master. Moreover, Howl’s Moving Castle also draws inspiration from the director’s own opinions of the US’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.
7La Maison en Petits Cubes (Best Animated Short Film, 2008)
The only Japanese short film to ever take on an Academy Award,La Maison en Petits Cubes, which translates to “The House of Small Cubes,” centers around a solitary elderly man who lives alone in a small home he’s built cube by cube. But in the event of rising floods, when his pipe accidentally falls through the floor, he deep dives to retrieve it, and in the process takes a nostalgic journey through his own memories from the past.
Packing a truckload of emotion in just 12 minutes, this anime gen thrives on its exquisite visuals. Directed by Kunio Katō, the film makes you witness a lifetime pass from top to bottom. The old man’s life is layered richly and as the film reveals more textures, it takes the dropped pipe asa metaphor for revisiting memories.
6Possessions (Best Animated Short Film, 2013)
Possessionsis another short anime film that won an Oscar nomination. Directed by Shuhei Morita, the film is a part of a larger series titled Short Peace that was released throughout three years. It follows a mysterious traveler who gets caught in a storm and takes shelter in an abandoned shrine. There, he encounters strange and hypnotic spirits and finds himself drawn to a ritual performed by the shrine’s former inhabitants.
Few anime films thathold a haunting aestheticmanage to ring with a universal audience. ButPossessionswins not only because of its immersive and atmospheric tale, but also because of the hand drawn animation that conveys much more than words ever could. Moreover, the film explores grief, guilt, and peace as well.
Available to stream on Hidive
5The Wind Rises (Best Animated Feature, 2013)
The Wind Rises
Jiro Horikoshidreams of flight and beautiful machineryand studies hard to become an aeronautical engineer. Against the backdrop of the rising tide of militarism in 1930s Japan and with the beginning of WWII, his creation of some of the world’s most iconic planes, including the Mitsubishi Zero fighter jet, ends up getting used by the Japanese Army against the enemy. However, creating weapons of war weighs heavily on Jiro’s heart.
The Wind Risesis a swooning love letter to flight. But director Hayao Miyazaki is known to infuse his films with timely messages, and this one carries an anti-war voice that strengthens Studio Ghibli’s status as animation’s high art form across the world. The characters, the detailed period visuals, and the overall design also makes the movie a masterpiece.
4The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Best Animated Feature, 2014)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata was theco-founder of Studio Ghibliand he’d collaborated with Miyazaki for several anime films that carried so much warmth and detail.The Tale of Princess Kaguyawas his last film before he passed away in 2018. An epic folktale adapted from ancient Japanese literature, it follows a miniature girl found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by a farmer and his wife. She grows rapidly into a beautiful woman and suitors from noble families seek her hand, but she has otherworldly origins.
Takahata’s final film mirrors his own bittersweet feelings about aging and ambition and finally finding your rightful place in the world. The film is among the most expensive Japanese films ever made, and you’ll see traces of that hard work in the flawless animation and intimate details. The overall story is soft and tender but the Academy recognized it for resonating with the audience.
3When Marnie Was There (Best Animated Feature, 2015)
Studio Ghibli’s brilliance continued with the coming years and fans were blessed withWhen Marnie Was There. A love story between two young girls, the anime film follows shy Anna sent to a seaside town to recover from asthma. She spends her lonely days exploring the marshlands and one day, stumbles upon the mysterious Marnie. She follows clues left by the girl and is introduced to a whole new world. The more she gets close to Marnie, the more she learns of her painful past and family.
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Adapted from the classic British novelof the same name and brought to screen by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the film is a dreamlike story, but one filled with emotions. The entire ethereal atmosphere of the story is enhanced by the animation, which displays the colorful Japanese countryside and also picks on notes of self-discovery, loneliness, identity, and acceptance.
2The Red Turtle (Best Animated Feature, 2016)
Created by Dutch animator in collaboration with Studio Ghibli’s Toshio Suzuki,The Red Turtlewas nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 89th Academy Awards, and it lost to Disney’sZootopia. Now, we all know the acclaim won by the latter, but the 2015 film’s story follows a man stranded on an island that is home to countless turtles, trying to learn to survive alone. One day, he discovers a red turtle and the two form a curious connection that leaves a deep impact on the man.
De Wit crafts a wordless fable that taps into humankind’s primal need for company and connection. The first few minutes of the film will look like any othersurvival film you’ve seen in Hollywood, but the more time passes, the more you’re immersed into the vivid and powerful imagery that takes complex ideas of existence and turns it into a poignant product accessible to all.
Available to buy/rent on Apple TV
1Mirai (Best Animated Feature, 2018)
Passing the torch to the modern generation isMirai. The film follows a four-year-old who harbors feelings of neglect and jealousy after a new baby sister joins the household. One day, he meets Mirai, a stunning older girl who claims to be his sister from the future. Together the use the secret garden in his backyard and embark on adventures through time where the boy meets past and present family members.
Miraiis the non-Studio Ghibli film to ever be nominated for an Oscar. It is directed by Mamoru Hosoda, who crafts the film as a heartwarming family tale. The story is one we can all relate to. We’ve all been the four-year-old boy at some point in life. So to take the feeling and turn it intoan uplifting messageabout appreciating life’s changes, its various phases, and discovering your own place amidst it all is truly beautiful.
