An enchanting story for all ages

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2008)

My Neighbour Totoro is one of the most enchanting films that I've seen. As one would expect from a film made by Hayao Miyazaki the animation is beautiful and detailed and the story engrossing.
The film start with a man and his two young daughters, Satsuki and Mei moving to a house in the country. When the girls explore the house they find strange creatures that look like tiny black fur balls which scurry away as soon as anybody enter the room. While Satsuki is at school Mei sees a strange little creature, about the size of a rabbit, in the garden and chases it into the forest, here she finds a similar creature which is much larger. She names them "Totoro", which I believe is a slight mispronunciation of the Japanese word for a troll.
When here father and Satsuki find her sleeping in the woods we are left unsure whether it was real or whether Mei had dreamt it. Not long after while waiting at the bus stop in the rain Satsuki also sees Totoro as he is waiting for his bus... not just any bus though, he rides in the Cat-bus, a wonderful eight legged creature who's eyes are its headlights.
This film is suitable for people of all ages, there is no antagonist and the only slight worries are when Mei gets lots while trying to walk to see her mother who is in hospital.
This comment was based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles, I've only seen a little bit of it in English but what I saw gave me no cause for complaint.