I start smiling as soon as the theme music starts in the beginning and except for a tiny bit of drama towards the end I smile all the way through.

Commercials didn’t start until 15 min after start time. Then movie didn’t start until 50 minutes after the posted time. My daughter had to leave 1/2 way because she had to work. If you say the movie starts at 3pm don’t start it at 350 pm.

Miyazaki so effectively captures the feeling of a child’s life, inside as well as out, that little ones are often mesmerized by the movie, and adults are returned to a time when they could enjoy mystery for its own sake.

Sam Adams

The A.V. Club

Here is a children's film made for the world we should live in, rather than the one we occupy. A film with no villains. No fight scenes. No evil adults. No fighting between the two kids. No scary monsters. No darkness before the dawn. A world that is benign. A world where if you meet a strange towering creature in the forest, you curl up on its tummy and have a nap.

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

An otherworldly tale of childhood and a definitive work of imagination.

Dan Jolin

Empire