Good vs. Evil
In Miyazaki’s films there is almost always the struggle of good versus evil. Whether that good or evil is clearly defined in the story is to be decided by the viewer since often the ‘villains’ of the story possess a respectable, rather than feared, demeanor. They often commit acts of great selflessness, such as in Princess Mononoke where Lady Eboshi destroys the forest which the gods live in and protect, but also treats the wounds of leapers and offers refuge to former prostitutes.
Love
Many of Miyazaki's films deal with the power of love. The power of love is enough to break curses set upon people such as in Spirited Away, Kamajii tells Haku that Chihiro saved him from a terrible curse using the power of her love for him. In Howl's Moving Castle Sophie's confidence in herself and her love for Howl breaks the curse laid upon her by the Wicked Witch of the Waste. In Porco Rosso Marco becomes human again when he is kissed by Fio. In Whisper of the Heart Shizuku's love for Seiji makes her follow her passion of writing and write the book while Seiji is away in Italy. In Ponyo, Sousuke's love for Ponyo is put to the test and in the end is enough save the world.
Environmentalism
The fragility of Earth’s ecosystem is pointed out multiple times in his films. Often being the key to quelling the conflict within the story or being the place of living or refuge from characters. Miyazaki expresses his thoughts on pollution, more so in bodies of water since that’s where it has it’s greatest effect. In movies such as Spirited Away with the stink spirit, it enters the bath house and after being cleaned up, is revealed to be a river god whose domain had been polluted. In Ponyo the water that the humans dwell by is riddled with trash, silt and excessive amounts of sludge despite the beautiful island just above the waters surface.
Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind all evoke Miyazaki’s cause towards environmentalism, in each plot there is a struggle between nature and the destruction that war and conflict bring.
Miyazaki’s films have gained recognition from international environmentalism organizations such as WWF as well as awards for his messages to the new generation.
Pacifism
Both Nausicaä and Princess Mononoke feature strong anti-war themes. Ending the humans' hateful war with themselves and nature becomes the driving force for Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. In the manga version of Nausicaä, Miyazaki dedicates a numerous amount of pages to depict the brutality and suffering of war in graphic detail throughout most of the story. The post-apocalyptic world is filled with remains of the old civilizations that ended in the destruction of the environment. In Castle in the Sky, the military is portrayed as mindless, needlessly violent, greedy and heavyhanded. In Howl's Moving Castle, Howl's negative view of the war is clear as he refuses to join the fight in any official capacity. Despite this, he frequently participates on the magical plane of the war as a demon bird battling "hack" wizards, in hopes he might have a positive impact.
In 2003, when Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Miyazaki didn't attend the awards show personally. He later explained that it was because he "didn’t want to visit a country that was bombing Iraq".[1]
Flight
Flight is a recurring theme in Miyazaki's films. He thinks of flight as a form of liberation from gravity and how it keeps you stuck to one place.The Studio Ghibli 2002 short film Imaginary Flying Machines is completely devoted to the wonders of flight.
In addition to the many aerial devices and drawings of Laputa, which is a floating city, in Castle in the Sky. This theme is also found with Nausicaä piloting her glider and the airborne armies in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Kiki riding her broomstick and watching dirigibles fly over her city in Kiki’s Delivery Service, the large Totoro carrying Satsuki and Mei across the night sky in My Neighbor Totoro, Chihiro riding on Haku in his dragon form in Spirited Away and Howl and Sophie soaring above their town in Howl's Moving Castle. The protagonist in Porco Rosso, Marco, is a pilot and the film is focused on flying, airplanes and aerial combat.
Politics
Marxism is apparent in some of Miyazaki's films, such as Porco Rosso. In Castle in the Sky, the working class is portrayed in idealized terms. Though he abandoned Marxism while creating his manga Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, he states he "stopped seeing things by class, as it's a lie that one is right just because he/she is a laborer."[1] However, Miyazaki still holds some socialist ideas and is critical of capitalism, globalization and their impacts on modern life.[1]
Feminism
There's no doubt that Hayao Miyazaki is a femenist. In nearly all of his movies women play the role of the protagonist, are and strong and aspiring individuals. Which goes against common gender roles in many other japanese animations.
Childhood
Many of Miyazaki's works deal with childhood. For example, My Neighbor Totoro has two young girls who, unlike adults, can see the spirit world, and in Ponyo on the Cliff a boy befriends a magic creature from the sea. Both Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away deal with the struggle of growing up.
Miyazaki has expressed strong feelings about childhood, saying that it's a paradisical time when "you're protected by your parents and unaware of the problems around you"[1]. His views of children in the modern world are a bit worried, though, as he wonders about their dependence on the "virtual world" and the lack of contact with the natural world. Because of this, he creates his films inspired by children near himself, with an aim to "understand their world"[1].
Miyazaki creates his films with the intention of them being watched by children, despite more adult themes, and by building it from their perspective, it allows him to reach them better.
Water
Water is a recurring theme in opposition to the ascension symbolism of flight, this conflict between the two themes of flight and watery dissolution is best embodied in the sea-planes of Porco Rosso; the heroes being able to navigate through both worlds. Water symbolically represents the contradictions of entrapment and freedom, life and death.[citation needed]
Miyazaki has stated his warm appreciation for Shinto water purification rituals, and it has been cited as the inspiration for the role of water in Spirited Away wtih the characters of Haku the river dragon, the polluted river spirit and the setting and function of the bathhouse itself. Rain as an element is also a key plot device in both Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbour Totoro.