WATERSHIP DOWN and other more mature animation — Page 2

Roscoe, I am a huge Studio Ghibli buff--so keep that in mind. I do think Princess Mononoke is Miyazaki's masterpiece, but it also is a SLOW movie. Spirited Away is probably the ideal movie to get into his themes and subjects. If you can handle insanely sad movies, I would recommend Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies too--based on a true story of two siblings trying to survive the war. (And if you are watching with kids, My Neighbour Totoro is the best family movie I know of--weirdly enough it was actually shown in Japan as a double feature with Fireflies--maybe to help people who were so upset by the first film.)

Perfect Blue is a good choice, too. Studio Gainax's The Wings of Honnêamise is a personal favorite, but nearly everything they've done is worth watching.

I'd be interested to read what you think of any of them you watch--even if I disagree