Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Opportunities don't often just fall from the sky, but sometimes inexplicable events do happen. For Pazu, resident of an elaborately constructed mining town, Sheeta is that event – a young girl with a destiny that Pazu helps shape.
Like in Nausicaä (1984), Miyazaki creates empathy for something that isn't human, a feeling that lingers even when the creature is forced by human ambition to resort to violence. Speaking of which, the different manifestations of greed (riches, militaristic power, ego, etc) are subtly graded in their wickedness but for the most part each one is still presented as destructive.
It's a slow-moving adventure for a long time, but the last thirty minutes have a pace that makes everything prior to them fall nicely into perspective.

3½ deep roots out of 5