The Red Turtle [La Tortue rouge] DVD A Studio Ghibli Collection (Japanese Ver.)

The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.

A nameless man set adrift by a storm wakes up on a deserted island. Finding fresh fruit and water, as well as a large variety of animals and a sweeping forest of bamboo, the man decides to leave the island. The man builds a raft from bamboo, and attempts to sail away. However, an unseen animal destroys the raft, forcing the man back to the island. Attempting to escape with another raft, his plan fails again from the unseen animal. Trying a third time, he finds that the animal is in fact a red turtle. His raft being destroyed again, the man retreats back to the island.

That evening, the man sees the red turtle crawling on the shore, attempting to go inland. In revenge, he hits the red turtle on the head with a bamboo stick, and pushes it over on its back. After halfway through building another raft, the man starts to feel guilty about leaving the turtle upside down, so he catches a fish and tries to feed it to the turtle, but finds that it has died. The turtle's shell splits down the middle during the night, and to the man's surprise, the turtle turns into a woman. The man tries to revive her, making a shelter over her to protect her from the sun. When rain hits the island, the woman wakes up. The man notices she has gone, and searches the island for her, finally seeing that she is in the coastline. Giving her his shirt, he eventually sees the woman dragging the now empty turtle shell into the sea. The man does the same with his half-built raft. The pair eventually form a relationship.

Some years later, the couple have a son, who finds a bottle washed up on shore. After accidentally falling into a small cavern, the son forms a peculiar relationship with other turtles in the ocean. Growing up, the son grows to be accustomed to the island. When he goes into the island for fresh water with his bottle, a tsunami hits the island. Though no one is severely hurt, the island's forest is near completely demolished by it. After burning the remains of bamboo, the son finds his bottle in an oasis in the island. Deciding to leave the island, the son bids his parents farewell, and swims away with a trio of turtles.

Growing old together, the man and the woman spend the rest of their lives on the island. The man dies peacefully one night, while looking at the moon. The woman, holding the man's hand one more time, transforms back into the red turtle, and crawls back to the ocean.