10 Impeccable Studio Ghibli English Dubs, Including The Boy And The Heron

My Neighbor Totoro’s titular character may be silent but its child leads carry the whimsical film. Sisters Elle and Dakota Fanning were just the right age to play siblings Satsuki and Mei, resulting in a very cute family performance. The film’s English dub cast also includes Disney stars Lea Salonga and Pat Carroll.

In Princess Mononoke, Claire Danes and Billy Crudup lead one of the most beloved Miyazaki films. Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson, Keith David, and Billy Bob Thornton also star.

Hands down my favorite dub. As Howl Pendragon, Christian Bale uses an American accent since he was Batman at the time (and maybe practicing his gravely growl through the beastly Howl). No really, he took David Bowie Labyrinth vibes plus his star power at the time to really give us the hottest male animated character in existence. Emily Mortimer co-stars as the film’s romantic lead Sophie, with Jean Simmons voicing the older Sophie; the character gets cursed by Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall as the Witch of the Waste. Also featured are Billy Crystal as the heart of the film, Calcifer, and a young Josh Hutcherson as Howl’s kid ward Markl.

This Ghibli dub stars Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, a witch who goes out into the world to find her way. Kiki’s Delivery Service also has a standout performance by the late, great Phil Hartman as Kiki’s cat Jiji.

This adorable loose adaptation of The Little Mermaid features Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Betty White, and Cloris Leachman in its ensemble, as well as a young Noah Cyrus as Ponyo.

If you thought Robert Pattinson as the Heron was a wildcard choice, it’s not the first time GKIDS cast a Batman for an unexpected role. We already mentioned Christian Bale in Howl’s Moving Castle, but Porco Rosso gives us Michael Keaton’s hilarious and heartfelt Humphrey Bogart-esque performance as the leading pig pilot.

Lilo and Stitch’s Lilo, Daveigh Chase, voices Chihiro in this Disney distribution era dub. Hercules’ Meg, Susan Egan, is also featured in the film.

This wartime historical fantasy was Hayao Miyazaki’s last retirement film before his 2023 comeback, and it features quite a stacked English dub cast. Joseph Gordon Levitt leads the film alongside Emily Blunt; the ensemble includes Stanley Tucci, John Krasinski, Martin Short, Mae Whitman (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off), Mandy Patinkin (The Princess Bride), Elijah Wood, and freakin’ Werner Herzog (The Mandalorian).

Alison Lohman (Drag Me To Hell) stars as Nausicaä in Ghibli’s apocalyptic tale alongside Shia LeBouf (Transformers), Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica), and Patrick Stewart (Picard).

The inspired casting of Robert Pattinson (The Batman) as the Heron really is just the cherry on top of the amazing ensemble put together for The Boy and the Heron. For what was once believed to be Miyazaki’s final final film—he’s since reconsidered this— GKIDS brought back a number of actors from previous English dubs including Bale, Mark Hamill (Castle in the Sky), and Willem Dafoe (Tales from Earthsea). Newcomers include Gemma Chan (Eternals), Dave Bautista, Florence Pugh, and Karen Fukuhara (Suicide Squad).

The Boy and the Heron is in theaters now.

This slideshow originally appeared on on Gizmodo’s io9.

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