Isao Takahata’s Typical Vibe
Signature vibe
Recurring themes

Highest-ranked title
Highest-ranked title
Isao Takahata has 8 titles in the CriticCrunch catalog across a career spanning the 1960s through the 2010s. 1 sits in the Top 1% of all titles we track — including Grave of the Fireflies.
2013
Drama

Grave of the Fireflies
1988 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 1%Netflix · Included

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
2013 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 6%Max · Included

Pom Poko
1994 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 14%Max · Included

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
2013 · Movie · Actor
Top 25%Max · Included

Only Yesterday
1991 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 36%Max · Included

My Neighbors the Yamadas
1999 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 60%Max · Included

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Aki Asakura, Takeo Chii, Nobuko Miyamoto

The Raccoons of the Tama Hills are being forced from their homes by the rapid development of houses and shopping malls. As it becomes harder to find food and shelter, they decide to band together and fight back. The Raccoons practice and perfect the ancient art of transformation until they are even able to appear as humans in hilarious circumstances.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Makoto Nonomura, Nijiko Kiyokawa, Shigeru Izumiya
Heidi is five years old when her aunt Dete, who has raised Heidi since her parents' deaths four years earlier, takes the orphaned Heidi to live with her formidable grandfather in the Swiss Alps. The American feature-length adaptation of Heidi (1974), the Japanese anime series produced by Zuiyo Eizo.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Kazuko Sugiyama, Kohei Miyauchi, Yoshiaki Nemoto

Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.
Dir. Mami Sunada · With Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki

In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Miki Imai, Yoko Honna, Toshiro Yanagiba

Young Horus lives in a mythical Scandinavia of the Iron Age. Recovering the stolen Sword of the Sun from a rock giant, he learns he must travel to the lands of his ancestors, encountering the beautiful but enigmatic Hilda as his journey leads to a series of adventures.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Hisako Ôkata, Etsuko Ichihara, Eijirō Tōno

The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.
Dir. Isao Takahata · With Hayato Isohata, Masako Araki, Naomi Uno