I would definitely second Cowboy Bebop, the rest of your list (other than the Miyazaki) is stuff I've never seen or stuff I only watched a few episodes of (FMA, Mushishi). I will observe that I had to stop Mushishi because it got too close to horror for my tastes (it was an episode about somebody with predictive dreams).

I agree with you about El Hazard, I loved it but it is too fanservicey.

Spirited Away is a very weird movie, so you have to be careful with it. It also takes a little while to get moving. (It's one of my favourite movies, but looking at it from an outsider's point of view...)

Do you think Princess Tutu is too weird/shoujo for the intended audience? It's been gaining quite the following around Perth recently.