Anyone with experience as to an appropriate age to introduce a child to Miyazaki? I imagine the dubbed versions are useful for this.
I'm about to have my first child, and have recently (in the last 5 years or so) revisited some Disney classics from my youth, and I'm not really thrilled with them.
I recommend "Ponyo". Because it's good :) I think this is possibly the Miyazaki movie for the youngest target audience of all his movies, but I don't know his early movies, only all the later ones that many people know.
Minimum age recommendations start at 0 (simply meaning no official limit, it's up to the parents) - depending on country - to around 5-7 years old for a minimum age for this movie.
The Cat Returns would be a great Ghibli film for children. I also would never show children most Disney movies as a lot of them have terrible take-aways.
Definitely do not show them Spirited Away as a young child. I was permanently scarred (emotionally) by the grotesqueness of no-face as a child (~5). It really depends on the movie, but the ones with more mature themes should be left until they are at least in their teens. As a blanket statement, I would not generally say Ghibli films are as suitable for really young children as Disney/Pixar films are.
I'm about to have my first child, and have recently (in the last 5 years or so) revisited some Disney classics from my youth, and I'm not really thrilled with them.