Words: Keyan Milanian

Before Merida, before Moana and before newly feminist Belle, there was Kiki the entrepreneurial witch and her sassy, sarcastic black cat, Jiji. Animated film Kiki’s Delivery Service came out in 1989, the same year as Disney’s The Little Mermaid. But while Ariel was begging her father to be allowed to marry a human prince, Kiki was waving goodbye to her family, opening her own business and, eventually, making good in a strange town.

There’s no denying Disney has been producing incredible work for almost a century, but for more than 30 years now, Studio Ghibli and its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, sometimes referred to as ‘Japan’s godfather of animation’, have been creating inspirational female characters, enchanting storylines and beautiful artwork for their own magical feature films.

Love Disney? Try these glorious Japanese animations you might not have heard of