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A.O. Scott, New York Times: Its visual magic lies in painterly compositions of foliage, clouds, architecture and water, and its emotional impact comes from the way everyday life is washed in the colors of memory. Read more
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: A film about many things-so many that the magic of Studio Ghibli's past has been displaced by exposition and earnest discussion. Read more
Noel Murray, AV Club: While this story might've been just as engaging in live action, Miyazaki's animation does clear away the extraneous detail, re-creating the world of 50 years ago and instilling it with the poignancy of a family snapshot. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The film's perfectly fine, but it's not a patch on "Spirited Away," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Princess Mononoke," and other Studio Ghibli classics. Read more
Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The film maintains an optimistic tone without succumbing to nostalgia, and as always with Studio Ghibli, the company Miyazaki cofounded in the 80s, the hand-drawn animation is gorgeous. Read more
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Your kids may well fall in love with it, if you help them find it. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Although simpler and less mysterious than the great Hayao Miyazaki movies, the gently melancholic From Up on Poppy Hill is still a must see at a time when family entertainment is too often synonymous with blandness. Read more
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: Goro Miyazaki has made a sweetly old-fashioned anime with fine painterly compositions. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: "From Up on Poppy Hill" is frankly stunning, as beautiful a hand-drawn animated feature as you are likely to see. Read more
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: A departure for Studio Ghibli - an emotionally nuanced, nostalgic look at the past that is grounded in everyday reality but retains the humor and delight that are part of the studio's trademark. Read more
Scott Tobias, NPR: Those gorgeous, hand-drawn images bring lightness and grace to a story that might seem drab and pedestrian in the real world. Read more
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Even with no wood sprites, witches or spells, there's plenty of magic in this coming-of-age charmer. Read more
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: It's the sort of movie that can prompt daydreams about inhabiting its world of flowers and hills, passing ships and harbor lights, where there's no Internet and romance happens face to face. Read more
Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: From Up On Poppy Hill is at once old-fashioned and innovative, an exquisite evocation of Yokohama in 1963 that dares to treat teenagers with both gravity and grace. Read more
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: In the wisdom of this artfully rendered film, Umi and Shun - and the viewer - come to learn that the past and the future should go hand in hand, that the best way to move forward is to reflect, and respect, what came before. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The artistry is peaceful and comforting to the eyes but not especially stirring. Given the pictorial extremes that Studio Ghibli has gone to in the past, "Up on Poppy Hill" is weak tea. Read more
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: This is a gentle film, hand-drawn with irresistible colors, that exudes nostalgia in a lovely way. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Is there a Japanese word that combines "pretty," "demure" and "boring"? Read more
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Goro Miyazaki has a style that's both more painterly and more cinematic than the cartoonish norm, while his father's screenplay is a classic coming-of-age story that seems suited for a live-action remake. Read more
Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Likely to appeal to young audiences - especially teenagers - and possibly even to jaded adults, who may look back on their own first yearnings of puppy love with nostalgia and affection. Read more
Catherine Bray, Time Out: The gorgeous score and subtle visual craft save this entry in the Ghibli canon from mediocrity. But given what the studio is capable of, it's not everything fans will be hoping for. Read more
Sam Adams, Time Out: Shows a different side of the Japanese animation house, one that finds equal wonder in comparatively mundane affairs. Read more
Peter Debruge, Variety: The jury's still out on whether Goro Miyazaki can sustain his father's legacy as storyteller, though with its beautiful visuals and songs, Poppy Hill finds a deserving, if modest, place among its Studio Ghibli peers. Read more
Zachary Wigon, Village Voice: Some third-act revelations may really test the scales of plausibility, but Poppy Hill ultimately is not about its story as much as the emotional states it probes. Read more
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The story of a girl grappling with first love, the absence of her parents and the anxieties of an on-rushing future in 1963 Yokohama has all the earmarks of a Miyazaki classic. Read more