A Beautiful Family Film that is Profound and Intelligent.

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 2000)

Why. Oh, why must Disney be so... I don't know... predictable or formulaic. This is why I love this children's anime film so much!
"My Neighbor Totoro" is about two girls whom move out to the country in Japan. Soon they meet a forest sprit named Totoro. Now Totoro is responsible for the growth of the trees, the flow of the wind, and the nature's actions in general. He looks like a huge cute creature across from a cat, a bear, and most of all-an owl. Every once in a while he is accompanied by smaller versions of himself and a twelve-legged cat that acts as a bus. Together they go on small adventures flying through the woods and making plants grow. However, this is only is a backdrop to the movie as Totoro does not hog the plot.
Truthful, this film is looked in the girls' perspective as they experience their joyful youth and fears like dealing with their mother's absence-whom is ill and at hospital. It makes me wonder if the adventures with Totoro are partly imaginary. Mmm... does it matter? No. This is just a perfect flick that proves that children films can be intelligent while being fully entertaining.
"Totoro" is drawn beautifully with vivid colours and photo-realistic scenes. This film is a directed by Hayao Miyazaki who is huge in Japan. Disney has recently picked up some his movies to be distributed here in the States like "Kiki Delivery Service" and "Princess Mononoke" (this is not one of them; this is from Fox-Video). Therefore, Disney might be on the way of doing more profound films and stripping away the tired formula. Amen.