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The Cat Returns
“You shouldn’t set foot in there unless you believe in yourself.” Once again emphasizing the importance of knowing and believing in oneself is The Cat Returns, a beautiful animated film from Studio...
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Glup
Glup is an animated Spanish children’s movie – not the best animation or writing I’ve ever seen, but definitely a solid Girls Underground story. Alicia (a deliberate nod, perhaps, to Alice?) is a...
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Spirited Away
Chihiro: “I can’t believe I forgot my name. She almost took it from me.” Haku: “If you completely forget it, you’ll never find your way home.” Spirited Away is not the first Studio Ghibli and/or Hiyao...
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The Last Unicorn
I think this is the first Girls Underground example I’ve covered where the girl is (originally) an animal. Sometimes Girls Underground get transformed (like in The Cat Returns) but they usually start...
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Chi Rho: The Secret
I stumbled upon this terrible children’s religious cartoon on Netflix – it doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else. Much as it seems to fit the GU archetype, I couldn’t bring myself to watch more...
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InuYasha
InuYasha is a manga series and anime television series. I have only seen the first part of the tv show, which is what I’m discussing here. On her 15th birthday, Kagome falls down a well and comes out...
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The Little Mermaid
“Wandering free, wish I could be, part of that world.” Unlike the original Hans Christian Anderson story, Disney’s 1989 animated movie The Little Mermaid appears to be a Girls Underground story, of the...
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Kiki’s Delivery Service
I’ve mentioned the Miyazaki film Kiki’s Delivery Service a couple of times already on this blog, as an example of what I call “reverse Girls Underground” – that is, when the protagonist starts out in...
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Ava & Lala
“Welcome to your new home. Tomorrow you will become one of us. Until then, stay safe.” The animated film Ava & Lala turns out to follow the GU archetype fairly closely, although I wasn’t sure at...
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