If only there was more animation like this

Rating: Null/10 (9 December 1999)

Sure, I enjoy hyperviolent John Woo and Brian DePalma-type flicks as much as the next guy, but films such as this one are a nice change of pace. I really wish Hayao Miyazaki's films were more readily avalible in the US, I've yet to see a less than amazing film by this master animator. I really hope the theatrical release of the masterpiece Princess Mononoke (which I've only been able to see on video) causes people to check out this and other Miyazaki films. The film contains some wonderful, hilarious moments like when the Totoro discovers how to use an umbrella, and the "catbus". The score by Joe Hisaishi is very good too, along with Ryuichi Sakamoto (The Last Emperor), Akira Ifukube (Godzilla), Masaru Sato (Yojimbo), and Toru Takemitsu (Ran), Hisaishi is my favorite Japanese film composer.
I highly reccomend this film for both children and adults, if I had children, I would definitely show it to them. I would show them there's more to animation than cheesy 30 minute toy commercials. If we were living in a more perfect world, this is what would be showing instead of Pokemon: The First Movie. And adults, don't feel silly renting this for yourself. Even though i'm an adult, I never for a moment felt silly watching this film. The same goes for other very good animated films that are supposedly for kids, like Toy Story 2 and Nick Park's wonderful Wallace and Gromit shorts. The Fox/Streamline English-dubbed version is very good, way better than most English dubs of anime. This version is good to show to younger kids who may have trouble following subtitles. Still, I really hope this film gets released on DVD someday and has the original Japanese language track. This film will come as a real surprise to anyone who thinks all anime is gory sci-fi, not that there aren't some films in that category I like.