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Comment by jjulius | Hacker News Reader

I'd had Miyazaki's films on my watchlist for years, and when we found out we were expecting our first kiddo (now 3 years old), I decided to wait to watch any of them so that I could watch them, for the very first time, with her (well, "them" now, on account of our second kiddo).

I'd love to see suggestions from folk around which film might be a great first choice, I'll probably give that a go this week.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! :)

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Totoro is probably the best for your kids age. Ponyo and Kiki's Delivery Service might also be good around this age.

A lot of suggestions for Spirited Away, but I think you're going to need to wait a few years for your kids to appreciate and connect with it -- I'd say 7 or 8y/o. Around that same age, Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa become palatable too. A little after that you can probably introduce them to Porco Rosso and Howls Moving Castle -- they both touch on some war stuff that might be hard for young kids to understand.

Whatever you decide though, hold off on Princess Mononoke until they're older. That one to me is the most visually jarring one, and I'm glad I was as old as I was when I first saw it because a younger me would have definitely had a nightmare or two.

I haven't gone super-super-deep into Ghibli but I feel confident saying either My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away.

Be careful to keep your expectations straight for any of the Ghibli films you watch after Spirited Away though, because it's possibly their best. I go back and forth on that or Princess Mononoke taking the crown.

Spirited away is pretty scary for a 3 or even 6 year old. Perhaps Kiki? Or Arrietty?

Spirited away is one of the best.

Spirited Away is going to be too scary and too complicated for a lot of littler kids.

Spirited away: One of the best and has all all the flavours of Ghibli, I recommend starting with it.

Shorter: Totoro, great for kids with a short attention span, my toddler enjoyed it.

Totoro of course, but Kiki is highly underrated and great for little kids.

Kiki is pretty sad though. It's the definition of a coming-of-age story and the ending is not particularly upbeat.

She saves the day and writes a letter to her parents that she's doing great!

I've been doing this with my kids. It's been so enjoyable, we're all getting a lot of joy out of it. My youngest became obsessed with Totoro when she was 4 and I think I enjoy it more every time we watch it. Waiting a while before I show them spirited away, Ponyo spooked her first time round, but a year later and she loved it. There's a lot to process in some of them for small kiddos, so like most everyone else says, those two are probably the best ones to start with.

Ponyo or My Neighbor Totoro would probably be best for a first choice.

Kiki's Delivery Service and The Secret World of Arriety would be better for a (slightly) older child.

Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle for slightly older yet.

For kids:

My Neighbor Totoro

Spirited Away - (3 year olds might find some moments scary, lost of strange creatures and scary moments for the protagonist but not for too long.)

The Secret World of Arrietty

Depending on how they handle those you could try others.

Totoro or Ponyo would be my recommendation.

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