A masterpiece of animation. Evokes feelings which I thought I had lost with childhood.

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2001)

The things which children must cope with are immense and overwhelming. I think myself lucky to have been safely steered away from such issues as death and loss at an early age, but now that I have seen Tonari no Totoro, I realize that a child's ability to overcome, and the power of the imagination in order to overcome would have helped me through the trauma.
Tonari no Totoro deals with such issues when it takes the story of two young sisters, moving to the country with their father as they wait for their mother to recover from some debilitating illness. But it is not as depressing as it sounds. In fact, it has to be one of the most uplifting and life affirming movies I have ever seen. Why? Because animator Hayao Miyazaki has such an acute understanding of the mindset -- and the imagination -- of children. Children deal with emotions they can't understand by creating worlds. By diving into their imagination, they are able to express these emotions in a positive, uplifting way.

And this is how the two sisters of this story deal with the potential loss of their mother. Projecting their problems through a hole they encounter in the forest, they create an imaginary world of forest beasts which act as playmates and protectors. And the power of their beliefs then make these creatures real.
I gave this video to my niece and nephew before they moved into a new house in a new town. And although their experience didn't exactly parallel the trauma that the characters in the film experienced, the similarities were sufficient enough so that as soon as they had moved into the new house, and were trying to deal with the unfamiliar surroundings, they had discovered a hole in a hedge, which they subsequently named the "Totoro hole", where they could crawl into and find a world all their own, amongst a world they were completely unfamiliar with. Within weeks, they had introduced all the neighborhood children (their new friends) to the hole, as well as to the film. Totoro had taken over their new neighborhood!
As an adult, you might find yourself sinking into feelings much like this. A sadness for the loss of the ability to tap into our imaginations in order to overcome all obstacles. But it also will open things up inside you that you thought were long buried over. Disney could never achieve such a complex mix of emotions.