Porco Rosso

Aired: 1992

A Studio Ghibli theatrical feature directed by Hayao Miyazaki, set in the Adriatic Sea after the First World War. The story follows Porco Rosso, an ace seaplane pilot cursed to live in the body of a pig, as he tangles with sky pirates and political agents while reconnecting with the strong-willed bar hostess Gina and a brilliant young mechanic, Fio. Through their company, he gradually confronts the regrets of his wartime past. Suffused with longing for a fading Mediterranean era and the romance of golden-age aviation, the film blends elegiac atmosphere with humor and high-flying action. Joe Hisaishi's score, paired with Tokiko Kato's ending theme Sometimes I Remember Old Stories and the French chanson Le Temps des cerises, gives the work an unmistakable nostalgic warmth, sealing its status as one of Ghibli's most beloved adult-oriented fantasies.