I dare your five-year old not to be bored

Rating: 3/10 (21 May 2006)

This is supposedly one of the "Great Movies" according to Roger Ebert...My tone in the previous sentence should suffice for my review, but I feel like more needs to be said. My Neighbor Totoro isn't offensive, obnoxious, disturbing, annoying, or irritating in any way. And as Ebert continually points out in his review, it doesn't fall in line with a lot of clichés that are prevalent in American cartoons in terms of characterization or plot-line. This may all be true; but it doesn't make up for it's fatal flaw...it's boring. It's really really, boring. There is hardly any plot other then these 2 girls hanging around their house out in the country side. The title character makes his first appearance 30 minutes in, and only a couple of times after that. He doesn't do much either. In his debut scene he sleeps and yawns...how appropriate. Later he does some other stuff but it's not too exciting and perhaps only mildly so compared to the doldrum of the girls lives. I wasn't "enchanted", the world didn't seem that magical to me, and with the lack of any compelling plot I couldn't help but once again become baffled by the godly praise for this movie. The animation is OK but don't see why Miyazaki's work is considered to be THAT much better then everyone else's. Perhaps you have to be an anime aficionado to understand why. Perhaps you have to be an anime aficionado to love this movie. I can think of no other reason why. Granted, I'm 23 and cartoons don't hold the same appeal as they did 15 years ago. But that being said, I can't see myself even sitting through this 15 years ago. And as an adult, it doesn't seem to hold much value. There is no plot, the writing is forgettable, and I don't find it's artistic value to be any higher then that of any other anime. Bottom line, if you are an anime fan, you aren't even reading this because you own My Neighboro Totoro on DVD and are probably waiting for the special edition. However, if you are checking up on one of the "Great Movies" or if you a parent and want to show your kid something, I can't recommend it to you on either level.