Kaguyahime No Monogatari (aka Tale Of The Princess Kaguya) (2013)

In medieval Japan, a woodcutter (Takeo Chil) discovers a doll like child in a bamboo stalk. He takes her home where he and his wife (Nobuko Miyamoto) raise the girl as their own. But the woodcutter becomes ambitious and decides to raise the child as a noble woman and uses the gold he finds in the same bamboo grove where he found his daughter (Aki Asakura) to take her to the capital to be raised as a Princess. Based on the Japanese folktale TALE OF THE BAMBOO CUTTER, this jewel from Studio Ghibli is one of the most beautiful animated films I've ever seen. The artistry in its simplicity is stunning and it's like watching a series of pastel watercolors in motion. Directed by Isao Takahata, the film is more than just a visual treat however. It's a bittersweet rumination on dreams, ambition and lost opportunity. I watched the Japanese language version but the voice cast of the English dubbed version includes James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Chloe Grace Moretz, Beau Bridges, Lucy Liu, George Segal, Oliver Platt, Dean Cain and James Marsden.