A Captivating Fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (8 August 2017)

My Neighbor Totoro was the first anime that I saw. It was also the first time I saw writing other than English. I found it so captivating that it fixed my impression on Japanese animation for many years.
Two girls and their father move to the country side in rural Japan, while the mother is in the hospital for tuberculosis (Drafts for the film place the setting in 1958).The girls encounter what their father identifies as spirits, which only children can see. The girls call them Totoros. As far is plot and story, there isn't a lot that goes on. Most of the scenes involve the girls interacting with the spirits. On paper that may not sound like an interesting film, but like Disney, Miyazaki really knows how to make sequences like this very engaging and captivating.
There isn't any significant plot until towards the end, where the girls are told, through a poorly worded telegram, that their mother is sick. The youngest one attempts to walk to the hospital herself to see her (a two hour walk through dense farmland) and loses her way. Ultimately, Totoro and the other spirits save the day in a thrilling and captivating climactic sequence.
My Neighbor Totoro was released on the same bill as another Ghibli film "Grave of the Fireflys". No two films can be more opposite. Since the latter was about two orphaned children at the end of WWII, thus making it a depressing film, it was decided to produce a more lighthearted film to release alongside it. But ultimately, Totoro became the mascot of Studio Ghibli and has gained iconic status in popular Japanese culture and later American culture.
Totoro is a film that ranks alongside the greatest Disney films. It's a film that can be enjoyed by the entire family.