Japan is home to numerous animation studios, but Studio Ghibli stands out for its extraordinary success and international acclaim. This esteemed studio has produced some of the most iconic animated films ever created, such as “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” and “Spirited Away,” the latter winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003. The studio’s impressive accolades can largely be attributed to Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary Japanese animation director who co-founded it.

Studio Ghibli took a while to gain recognition beyond Japan’s borders. However, as its popularity surged globally, American fans began to explore the studio’s films, initially on VHS tapes and other physical media, until the advent of streaming services broadened their accessibility.

Today, nearly all of Studio Ghibli’s extensive collection is accessible on Max, with a single movie available on Netflix due to an exclusive licensing agreement. Furthermore, Netflix has secured rights to stream the studio’s entire catalog outside the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Although licensing agreements periodically change, here’s the current availability of Studio Ghibli’s films for North American audiences as of 2025.

The only Studio Ghibli movie you’ll find on Netflix currently in North America is “Grave of the Fireflies,” and that’s due to the fact that the film’s distributor is Shinchosha Publishing, not Studio Ghibli, though it is indeed a Ghibli movie.

Shinchosha Publishing owned the rights to the story the film is based on and hired the animation studio to produce it in the mid-1980s. The rights then went to Sentai Filmworks, but have since reverted to the original owner, which inked a deal with Netflix to stream the film worldwide. 

One of the saddest movies ever made, it’s a devastating story about two children trying to survive in World War II-ravaged Japan. The ending of “Grave of the Fireflies” alone is one of the bleakest in animation history. All of Studio Ghibli’s films have heavy themes and messages, but the one about kids trying to survive the deadliest conflict in human history will undoubtedly leave you puffy-eyed. Despite it being animated, nothing is held back.

Warner Bros. Discovery has owned the rights to every other Studio Ghibli film except “Grave of the Fireflies” since 2020. That’s when the company signed a licensing deal with GKids, the U.S. distributor of Studio Ghibli’s movies, to stream them in the States. Before that deal was signed, the only way to see a Ghibli film in the U.S. was to purchase it or catch it in the theater. That changed in November 2020, with Warner Bros. Discovery reupping the agreement in March 2024 for several years.

The details of the deal haven’t been made public, but Warner Bros. Discovery — which has removed a lot of other animation from its Max platform — clearly considers the studio’s movies to be a hot property it doesn’t want to relinquish. As a result, Max will be the U.S.’s streaming home for 21 Studio Ghibli films for the foreseeable future, as well as two behind-the-scenes documentaries about director Hayao Miyazaki.

If you’re new to Ghibli’s films, you may be wondering about the best way to watch them. Since the movies aren’t connected narratively, you can watch them in any order you wish. You can begin with a classic like “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” or “My Neighbor Totoro,” or dive into newer fare like “Ponyo” or “The Boy and the Heron.” Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong, as Studio Ghibli has something for everyone.