Sweet natured Miyazaki

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2011)

We all know Hayao Miyazaki is an anime genius, creating stories focusing on character, story and fantasy, letting his imagine run wild. He has created great films like Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. My Neighbour Totoro is considered one of his first great works.
Mr. Kusakabe (Shigesato Itoi) and his two daughters Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka) and Mei (Chika Sakamoto) move to a new home in rural Japan so they could be close to their sick mother (Sumi Shimamoto). They new home is run down and filled with soot spirits, but the family soon settle in. One day Mei meets a strange giant creature called Totoro, a large furry animal who has two minions. No one believes Mei at first but after Mei disappears Satsuki has to call Totoro for help.
My Neighbour Totoro is a strange little film, but Miyazaki does have an understanding of a child's imagine (either that or he takes a lot powerful narcotics). There is a certain Alice in Wonderland feel about the film, with Mei going down a hole and Totoro and the Catbus (one of the weirdest ideas ever) looking like the Chester Cat. But the main focus of the film is the relationship between the young girls and the their father who is obviously overwhelmed with his caring for the girls, having a wife in hospital and continuing with his job. The children are energetic and believable and the film is about the wonders of a child's imagination. Only the children can see the creatures and it is almost dream like. But the girls are also dealing with a proper issues, particularly Satsuki who has to act as Mei's guardian and tries to be strong because Mei does not truly understand what's happening to their mum. What surprised me was that My Neighbour Totoro was very grounded, focusing on the girls: I would have liked to have seen more interaction with the creatures, especially because Miyazaki is so great at creating worlds and a great fantasy storytelling.
The animation is great, as is expected from a Miyazaki film and there are some very surreal moments. The film is fast paced as hoped for in a children's animated film. But the film is so fast that some things are not explained, like a young boy, Kanta (Toshiyuki Amagasa)'s animosity towards Satsuki. He said that its because that there house is haunted, but surely there was more, maybe he was hurt by Totoro or the house or maybe it is something more basic, like he finds girls inky or fancies Satsuki and he does not know what to do about it.
My Neighbour Totoro does have a very sweet nature about it, about how characters interact and the way Totoro and his friends reaction to humans, the small creatures being like normal animals with mystical powers. Totoro is a curious creature who is interested by the children's kindness and the gift of a umbrella, leading to the simple wonders of a big water drops hitting the umbrella. There is also the great Miyazaki trait of silence, letting scenes and actions play out without much sound or dialogue. It plays a universal audience. It was a charming atmosphere.