Get ready to binge Studio Ghibli on Netflix

The streaming giant is adding 21 Studio Ghibli to its site over the next few months, including masterpieces like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro

Article by Jamie Dunn | 20 Jan 2020
  • My Neighbour Totoro

Get set to escape into the wild imagination of Studio Ghibli films from the comfort of your own couch as the back catalogue of the legendary Japanese animation house is heading to Netflix. 

It’s been announced today that most of the studio’s back catalogue will be making its way on to the streaming service over the next few months. The first batch lands on 1 February and includes many of the studio’s early hits like Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) and Porco Rosso (1992) alongside the more recent Tales from Earthsea (2006).

March sees the arrival of two of the Studio’s most loved works: Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001), as well as other recent hits like Arrietty (2010) and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013).

And in April, you’ll find the likes of Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008) and The Wind Rises (2013), the supposed final feature from Studio Ghibli co-founder and linchpin Hayao Miyazaki.

Studio Ghibli fans have had to suffer through a five-year famine. The animation house’s future was in limbo for a while after the reported retirement of Miyazaki and the hasn’t been a new Ghibli film since 2015’s When Marnie Was There. Word is, however, that the Studio will return in 2020. Miyazaki’s retirement was short-lived and he began work on new film How Do You Live? in 2017, which is due to be ready for release before the Olympics come to Japan this summer. This glut of Ghibli films on Netflix will be the perfect way to gear up to this release.

Officially, today has been dubbed Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. This news is the absolute tonic to that.