Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro, STUDIO GHIBLI's timeless hallmark of family films helped to make master storyteller Hayao Miyazaki and premiere animation studio Studio Ghibli into household names. Almost 20 years later, with Totoro dolls continuing to sell out in most of Asia and other parts of the world faster then stores can stock them, a protected forest in Japan, pushed for by Miyazaki, called the Totoro Forest, and the character of Totoro himself the symbol of STUDIO GHIBLI, My Neighbor Totoro is ensued immortality.

Even as his 18th birthday approaches, Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro, continues to weave it's magical timeless story, filled with stunning animation and characters, who each come alive with real pasts, real problems and concerns for the future and about the present. This depth of characters is a hallmark of all Studio Ghibli films, and helps keep My Neighbor Totoro timeless.

As with all STUDIO GHIBLI films, for those not familiar with them, My Neighbor Totoro has numerouse small subtle details. Ones that might not normally nor perhaps should normally be noticed on a conscious level. They are ones that would be missed if not present but also oddly ones often not noticed when present. Within Kiki's Delivery Service, these were often seen with objects in the background, people moving within cafes and the marketplace Kiki was flying over, within My Neighbor Totoro these details are also everywhere though perhaps most easily noticed within the famous rain scene. Within this scene watch the rain closely, watch the reflects off the puddles, watch how the rain rolls off various objects and drips, these are all subtle details that in another form of animation could be done in a simple manner; yet doing them this way makes what is being seen, makes the world, so much more real and alive.

These subtle details help make each of the worlds found within Studio Ghibli movies come alive, but they are not alone. A common theme that will be mentioned throughout all blog updates featuring these wonderful movies will note different ways in which the characters are brought to live that help bring life to the world. Each world is indeed it's own unique place but each world is also special in having characters you might expect to meet on the street someday filling them.

For My Neighbor Totoro the best way to discussion part of the depth to these characters is first to provide a summary of the movie.

Eleven-year-old Satsuki and four-year-old Mei Kusakabe in rural 1950's Tokyo are moving along with their father who is professor of anthropology at a Tokyo university to their new home in the country, which is close to where their mother is recovering in the hospital. One of the first things Satsuki and Mei notice when they arrive at their new home is a massive camphor tree towering in the sky.

When exploring their new home and the massive acreage it comes with, Satsuki finds one acorn after another dropping from above, which leads her to think they are sharing a house with squirrels. Mei not to be left out quickly joins in the search for acorns as they run around opening the shutters of the house to start allowing in fresh air. When they find the bath tubs a cloud of cinder creatures scatter into the various cracks and crevices of the room. Scared and unsure of what they just saw Mei and Satuski run to tell their father what they saw and ask him about the creatures. He tells them they must be creatures that always hide in rooms and old houses dashing from the light into the shadows when people enter rooms. Liking this idea the girls start yelling for the creatures to appear but none show up.

Opening the upstairs rooms Satsuki and Mei discover even more of the cinder creatures and quickly want to tell their fathe that the house is haunted, which he just laughs about as Satsuki runs downstairs. Mei though is determined to capture one of these creatures and does so running downstairs to show her find to Satsuki and her father. Arriving downstairs though she runs into one of their neighbors who had watched over the house when it was empty, an old woman that asks them to call her "granny".

Seeing the soot that both girls tracked, the soot on Mei's hands from the one she thought she caught and hearing their story "granny" at once knows the creatures to harmless spirits that only fill empty houses.

The next morning, the girls visit their mother in the hospital and are relieved to hear she doesn't mind living in a haunted house. The following morning as Satsuki makes lunch for everyone one of her classmates calls for her warning her she will be late for class. Mei goes out exploring as Satsuki is off at school and her father is busy with work. Working her way around the house playing she finds a small Totoro (Chibi Toroto) creature. Chibi Totoro is a small translucent creature that she starts to follow. Seeing he is being followed Chibi Totoro does his best to run and hide from her but Mei doesn't give up easily and starts to follow the creature finding a slightly larger Totoro carrying a bag of acrons. Following the trail of acorns that comes out of the ripped bag Mei finds a tunnel under the camphor tree which she follows, losing her hat in the process, to find a massive Totoro sleeping amongst the trees roots.

After Satsuki returns and cannot find Mei she and her father search, finding the tunnel Mei did, but instead of Totoro's tree they find a small enclave within the branches that deadends and Mei sound asleep in her little "hide out". Mei tries in vain to find where Totoro might in fact be and the way back to his tree until her father mentions that sometimes the forest spirits do not wish to be found. When Tototo wants to be found again he will allow Mei to find him.

After a rainsquall breaks out the next day, the girls go to the bus stop to give their father his umbrella. Mei begins to get tired and sleep, so Satsuki puts Mei on her back and soon noticed a large shadow standing next to her.

Surprised she looks and sees it is Totoro, who is wearing a large leaf on his head. Seeing Totoro's attempts to keep the rain off of him, Satsuki gives Totoro the umbrella they had brought with him. Totoro becomes enchanted by how this is keeping the rain from falling on him much better then the leaf and jumps up and down a few times to cause the rain to cascade down from the trees hitting the umbrella. Mei soon wakes up just in time to see the arrival of the catbus, which Totoro boards handing the girls a package as thanks for the umbrella.

After they get home the girls quickly open the package to find it full of acorns.

Satsuki for the second time since finding Totoro writes to her mother updating her on the events and telling ther mother that her garden will be full of acorn trees because of all the seeds they planted there thanks to Totoro.

.Awaking that night to noise outside the girls see three Totoros dancing around the patch in the garden where they planted the seeds This dance causes the seedlings to start to sprout. Rushing out to join them all five now start the dance and watch in awe as the acorn forest grows and grows forming a massive tree.

Waking the next morning Satsuki and Mei rush outside to find acorn tree sprouts in place of the giant tree and unsure if they dreamed last night of if it actually happened.

Shortly after though, while the girls are helping out granny at her garden patch, a mailman arrives. Satsuki is happily telling granny that her mother will be coming home for the weekend to get use to her new home. At that moment, Kanta granny's grandson, brings the telegram to them which was given to him since no one was at Satsuki's home.

Satsuki panics as the letter says to call the hospital at once. Rushing to Kanta's uncle's house she calls her father who later calls her back saying that their mother is not feeling and will not be coming home this weekend. Mei starts to cry loudly that it isn't fair, and Satsuki who is trying hard to put on a brave face grows upset at Mei asking Mei if she would rather their mother came home and died, which causes the girls to go their own ways.

Mei tries to take the corn she is convienced will make her mother well to the hospital and it is only later that Satsuki realizes Mei is missing and starts a rushing to the hopsital herself thinking Mei would have gone that way. Kanta , granny and the rest of the town start a search for Mei but no one can seem to find her.

Near tears and almost out of hope Satsuki heads for the tunnel to Totoro’s lair and begs for his help finding Mei. Totoro takes her to the top of the camphor tree and calls out for the catbus, which bounds across the countryside and jumps to the top of the tree.

As it moves along the countryside Satsuki is stunned to find out that no one else can see the catbus. Finding Mei safe and sound the catbus then offers to take the girls to the hospital their mother is located in, which is when Satsuki asks if tthe catbus will really take them to their mother, the catbus just smiles.

At the hospital, they learn their mother is fine, and though shocked their father thinks he sees them sitting in the tree and soon finds the ear of corn with "To Mommy" written on it.

As the summary hints the girls are very worried about their mother's health throughout the movie which is the main reason they moved to their new home. As the story progresses it is obvious they are very worried not sure if she will live of die. On top of which they have to deal with being in a new place and the troubles that come along with such a move. These are real problems and how they are dealt with leads to these girls having a realism that is hard to find in movies, especially animated ones.

This is again one I highly recommend and think deserves a place on everyone's movie shelf, both for being a great family classic and being a film that is just fun for people of all ages to watch. Enjoy this one and make sure not to overlook it or other Studio Ghibli movies for seemingly being "childish" , "simple" or "animated". The last one it is, but the first two none of these moves are in the least.

MOVIE DETAILS
Format: DVD (NTSC, Region 1)
Publisher: Studio Ghibli US release through Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime : ~ 86 minutes

Cast, Disney Version
Satsuki: Dakota Fanning
Mei: Elle Fanning
Father:Timothy Daly
Mother: Lea Salonga
Granny: Pat Carroll
Totoro/Catbus: Frank Welker