My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

I absolutely agree with Roger Ebert who called "My Neighbor Totoro", "One of the most beloved of all family films". Its colorfully bright and sparkling animation is enchanting. It is incredibly realistic and at the same time makes us along with two main characters, the young sisters ready for a miracle to happen any minute. The gentle story is touching, uplifting, funny, and tender without being overly sentimental or didactic. The film takes place in the early 50s, when 10-year-old Satsuki and her baby sister, curious and energetic 4-year-old Mei spend one summer in an old house in the country side with their University professor father while their mother recovers from a serious illness in the nearby hospital. The great master Hayao Miyazaki remembers well what it is like to be a child, to see magic in the everyday life and be always ready to encounter it. This ability usually disappears as the child becomes adult but it stays forever in a few chosen, and they become the visionary Artists - just like Miyazaki himself. The film is partially autobiographical for the writer/director/storyboard artist. "When Miyazaki and his brothers were children, his mother suffered from spinal tuberculosis for nine years, and spent much of her time hospitalized. It is implied, yet never revealed in the film, that Satsuki and Mei's mother also suffers from tuberculosis. He once said the film would have been too painful for him to make if the two protagonists were boys instead of girls." (From the IMDb film trivia)

Totoro of the title is an adorable funny blue forest spirit who lives in the nest beneath a huge tree and makes the trees grow and the winds blow. Totoro becomes the friend and protector of the sisters and one day he sends them on the bus journey that is like nothing they and the viewers could ever imagine. I wish I could ride that cat bus. What a wild and kind imagination an artist should have to create it. How much happier we all are knowing that Hayao Miyazaki exists and makes his amazing films at the Studio Ghibli for which King Totoro is the mascot.

Fmovies: I watched this movie when I was a kid, and while it never caught my attention as I do other commercial movies, I think it had a quiet and subtle effect on me over the years. Sometimes I think about that film, but I never knew why. So, after watching it again as an adult I realized why this movie stay within me: Totoro is a rare film that manages to capture the essence of a child's emotions and vision without being filtered through the adult's tendency to editorialize it, to insert a moral judgment, or to sugar coat it. Mei's behavior is naked, showing raw happiness as well as anger. Her movements are strong and her voice fierce, she thinks she lives in a world without limitations and not binded by adult's notion of etiquette. Satsuki is at a crossroads between adulthood and what remains of her innocence, we see her anxieties and we identify the world of the movie through her eyes. Totoro's physical characteristic is actually menacing and otherworldly, and our first impression of him (through the girls' eyes) is a natural mix of fear and amazement... the same reaction any human would have when confronting something foreign. But then something magical happens: Totoro moves and behaves just like Mei. We identify with this raw, pure energy of joy and imagination. That Studio Ghibli managed to express this idea visually, through character design, storytelling, and animation, is a rare and special accomplishment. This effect cannot be described during a script meeting with a committee of marketing execs.

A typical American studio would be worried about presenting its main character as frightening, would redesign Totoro as a "cuter" character as a safe strategy, and would certainly make the father more of a one-dimensional, stereotypical "adult" character for dramatic purposes.

But in this movie, we see the background story of the characters by deceptively simple closeup shot of the pebbles in the stream, or the details of the bathtub.

But the most telling moment of the movie is actually early on: when the girls tried to push down the rotting wooden support of the house. At first only playing around, they then gave a serious effort to try to bring it down. But it doesn't fall. Seeing that the support stays, they simply move on. That establishes the tone and the world they inhabit: Life is unpredictable. Adults must learn to expect the worst to happen in order to deal daily with the real world. But the child has not yet fully learned this skill, so through their eyes, we see what we were, and what was important to us, long buried but not forgotten.

Kids should see this movie as an alternative to the shallow mainstream entertainment. Whether they like it or not is irrelevant; its lasting impact is worth more that the toy of the month. Adults should see this movie to re-look at themselves and what they were, who they are now, and what they want to become. It doesn't preach anything, it's a simple story that you will enjoy when you can stop and have time for yourself and for the people you care about.

This movie, set in Japan in the early fifties, is director Miyazaki's tribute to his mother (who suffered from tuberculosis, just like Satsuki and Mei's mother), his childhood home, and childhood innocence. Although some people who watch this movie wonder where the Americans are (this is post-WWII Japan, after all) and why so little screen time is spent on the girls' mother, but that may be partly due to the dubbing.

Americans: First of all, the house the girls move into is rather European in design (with doorknobs, and an attic, and a front porch) despite the Japanese style bath and occasional sliding door. Secondly, Mei and Satsuki are really into Western fairy tales (the are brief glimpses of Japanese translations of The Three Billy Goats Gruff and other stories, along with Mei inadvertently re-enacting scenes from Alice in Wonderland and Chronicles of Narnia). On top of that, according to Helen McCarthy and other Miyazaki experts, the name "Totoro" is little Mei's mispronunciation of the Japanese transliteration of the English word "troll" ("tororo," which the Japanese would pronounce like "tololo" because they do not distinguish between r's and l's). This is why an accurate dubbed version is nearly impossible (like any little girl, Mei mispronounces a lot of words).

The Mother: I think this movie is entirely about the mother. Throughout, you see them subtly (almost too subtly at times) change from completely carefree to terrified with each scene involving the mother. This parallels Satsuki's coming of age subplot (she's ten and like anyone that age she is self-conscious about believing in Santa, or in this case Totoro). There's a little bit of both in the culturally-shocking--though completely innocent--bath scene (both girls take a bath with their father during a wind storm).

Really, though, My Neighbor Totoro is less about story than it is about the imagination of children.

Although the animation is a little dated and a bit jerky at times, the direction is absolutely top notch. There is enough visual creativity to rival an average Hitchcock film (Miyazaki's a huge fan of Hitch: check out the long wait at the bus stop, which is reminiscent of North by Northwest). Highlights include a Mary Poppins-esque ride on an Oriental top, a beautifully animated storm, Mei's nap on the slowly rising and falling chest of the giant totoro, and a cat-bus complete with headlight eyes.

My Neighbor Totoro fmovies. I'm a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki's work and was rather disappointed that this movie did not have the Japanese language/English subtitles option. But, I've finally seen it and must admit that it is incredibly cute. One does NOT have to be a child to enjoy this movie or any of Miyazaki's movies. The story line was good and and the characters were really touching. The totoros were so adorable that I want a plushie of one. I also loved the artwork. I finally know what some of the scenes are from in the AMVs that I've seen. I would definitely recommend this to families as well as to those who are Miyazaki fans. A definite thumbs up. Though I do wonder where Miyazaki gets some of the ideas for his characters such as that cat bus.

Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro is a film that should be able to put a smile on any viewers face, and without a doubt, it'll take you on one of the most whimsical and fantastic journey's ever.

My Neighbor Totoro is a story that definitely something children can relate with, as i watched this with someone, they immediately paused the film and asked if this reminded me of being 4 years old again. This film really connects with people. But it's far from a quality nostalgia piece, it's well animated, beautiful, avoids cliché stereotypes (from both typical of the Anime genre and Children's Fantasy films), and is beautifully filmed (see scenes such as the girls waiting for the bus with Totoro and the scene where the magic nuts and seeds grow with the help of Totoro).

Even the English dub done by Fox isn't as bad everyone states. I've seen the Japanese version, and i'd have to say it's a mixed-bag between having Mei's voice sounds a bit too bratty for the English version, or having the Father's voice sound a bit awkward and perhaps not as caring in the Japanese version. Disney is said to be releasing a re-dub in mid-to-late 2005, so perhaps that will even out the controversy.

This film may not reach the heights of other Anime classics (mainly it's double bill with Grave of the Fireflies, or Miyazaki's other masterpieces Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away), however this will definitely be high on any film lovers list, and is definitely a high water mark of it's genre.

A solid 9/10, This film is next to impossible to watch without it pushing a smile out of your face.

I first saw "My Neighbor Totoro" when I was maybe seven.At the time, I thought that it was really boring(that was still when I liked Disney movies). Years later, when I discovered "Princess Mononoke" I learned that MNT was by the same director and watched it again. And I find that I appreciate this film a whole lot more now then I did when I was seven.

The animation is absolutely stunning(as with all Miyazaki films)and the story is deceptively simple, told with patient, subtle attention to detail. The best example IMO is the scene where Mei falls asleep on Totoro's stomach.It's fruitless to try and describe it;you have to see it for yourself.

In closing, I would just like to say that I can't wait for a decent DVD to arrive so I can view this quiet masterpiece in widescreen in Japanese with subtitles.