Tonari no Totoro
Tags: cute, fantasy, magical realism, boring, feel-good

Plot synopsis:
On a warm, sunny day, 10-year-old Satsuki (English: Dakota Fanning; Japanese: Noriko Hidaka) and 4-year-old Mei (English: Elle Fanning; Japanese: Chika Sakamoto) Kusakabe drive with their father, Tatsuo (English: Tim Daly; Japanese: Shigesato Itoi), along a rural road towards their new home. The girls are excited about the move since it will bring them closer to their mother, Yasuko (English: Lea Salonga; Japanese: Sumi Shimamoto), who is ill in hospital (it is implied that she has tuberculosis).Their house is old and falling apart in places, but the girls find it charming and set out immediately to explore. They open all the windows and doors before daring to venture up the stairs into the attic. Faint rustling is heard in the darkness above before an acorn falls down the steps. Intrigued, the girls go up and yell at the darkness. When nothing responds, Satsuki runs to the opposite end of the attic to open the window as Mei notices dark, fuzzy things in the wall, staring at them intently. Satsuki goes back downstairs but Mei's curiosity is piqued. She reaches a tentative finger into a crack in the wall and startles a mess of black sootballs, one of which she is able to capture between her hands. Back downstairs, she runs into Granny (English: Pat Carroll; Japanese: Tanie Kitabayashi), an elderly next-door neighbor who's been watching over the house. Granny notices Mei's and Satsuki's hands and feet covered in soot and exclaims that they must have stumbled upon susuwatari, or soot sprites, which will most likely leave soon now that people are in the house. Her grandson, Kanta (English: Paul Butcher; Japanese: Toshiyuki Amagasa), emerges outside and shouts that the house is haunted. Granny scolds him and he runs off.That night, the family enjoys a bath together while the house moans and creaks from the wind. The girls become anxious, but their father encourages them to laugh, saying that their laughter will encourage any spirits in the house to disperse. Sure enough, as they laugh together, the clan of susuwatari leaves the house through the roof and drifts away on the wind.The next morning, Satsuki cooks and assembles lunch for her family. She places Mei's lunch in a bento box and says farewell as she heads off for school. Tatsuo, a professor at a local university, works from home while Mei plays outside. As she plays, she notices two white, rabbit-like ears poking out of the grass. She watches as the figure, a small, semi-transparent creature, walks past her towards the house. She follows it until it runs off and hides under the porch. It emerges with a larger, blue companion carrying a bag full of acorns, and they attempt to sneak past Mei. However, she quickly notices them and chases them to the edge of the woods. She follows them up a path through the shrubbery, losing her hat in the process, to a large camphor tree where they disappear into a hole beneath the roots. Mei falls into it and lands in a mossy hollow where she meets a large, slumbering version of the creatures she followed. It identifies itself with a series of roars that Mei interprets as Totoro (a mispronunciation on her part of tororu, the Japanese word for troll). Mei falls asleep on Totoro's furry belly. (Mei's adventure -- following rabbit-like creatures and falling down a hole, like Lewis Carroll's Alice -- is one of several references the movie makes to older children's stories.)Satsuki arrives home from school to find Mei missing. She and her father search for her until Satsuki finds Mei's hat near the edge of the woods. Following the same path Mei took, Satsuki and her father find her sleeping in a clearing within the bushes. Confused, Mei tries to retrace her steps back to the tree where she found Totoro. When she becomes upset that she can't find it again, Tatsuo explains that she must have come into contact with a spirit of the forest who probably doesn't want to be found right now. They walk together around the property to the large camphor tree that Mei fell into and offer their respects to the spirits for watching over Mei.That afternoon, the family takes a bike ride further into town to see the girls' mother. They pass Granny and Kanta working in rice paddies, and Kanta and Satsuki exchange raspberries. Arriving at the hospital, the girls tell their mother how wonderful the new house is, and Mei brags that when Yasuko is well enough to come home she will sleep with her in her bed. The family enjoys their time together and Yasuko brushes Satsuki's hair.One day while at school, Satsuki is surprised to see Mei and Granny waiting for her outside. Although Mei was given into Granny's care that day while Tatsuo went to university, she wants to be with no one but Satsuki. Satsuki agrees to let Mei stay in school with her, with the teacher's permission. As they walk home that afternoon, a rainstorm comes upon them unexpectedly. Satsuki and Mei take shelter under the roof of a small shrine until Kanta approaches them and silently offers his umbrella to them, though he does so with a little abrasiveness to hide his kindness. Later on, Satsuki and Mei return the umbrella to Kanta's mother (who had not known about Kanta's kind act, though he was pleased with himself) before walking to the bus station to wait for their father.While waiting in their rain gear, with an extra umbrella, Mei grows tired and Satsuki places her on her back to sleep. As she waits, Satsuki suddenly sees two clawed feet stand next to her. She looks up to see none other than Totoro waiting beside her. When she sees that he has nothing to shelter him from the rain besides a large leaf, she offers him the extra umbrella. Pleased with the shelter and the noise the raindrops make on the umbrella, Totoro roars with joy as headlights appear down the dark road. Satsuki becomes puzzled, however, when the headlights start to bounce. A bus does appear, but one that is mainly a large cat. Catbus grins widely at them as Totoro hands Satsuki a leaf-wrapped package before getting on and departing. (With its wide mouth and face, striped body, and ability to disappear, Catbus bears more than a passing resemblance to Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat.) Tatsuo arrives on the regular bus, apologizing that he ran late. The girls walk home with him and open their package to find that it is filled with acorns. They go outside to the garden and plant them.That night, Satsuki and Mei are awakened by sounds outside and discover Totoro (who has Tatsuo's umbrella) and his company of smaller totoros walking around the garden in a procession. They join them outside and mimic their dancing to encourage the acorns to grow. Saplings spring and quickly grow larger before merging into one giant tree (à la Jack and the Beanstalk). As the girls cheer, Totoro pulls out a large, spinning top and stands on it. The girls cling to the fur on his belly and he flies into the air (still carrying the umbrella, like Mary Poppins), up the trunk of the tree. They sit on the high branches together, making music with hollow gourds.The next morning, the girls wake up to find the tree gone. However, they notice that the seeds they planted have already started to sprout.During one afternoon, the girls enjoy a picnic with Granny, who has prepared a fresh meal of vegetables grown from her garden. She tells them that fresh vegetables will help their mother get better. A telegram arrives for Tatsuo from the hospital. Worried for her mother, Satsuki rushes to Kanta's house to phone her father. He calls her back after contacting the hospital to tell them that their mother is fine, but won't be able to come home that weekend due to a set-back in her treatment. Despite his assurances, Satsuki takes the news hard and yells at Mei when she fails to understand why their mother can't come home. Granny explains to Satsuki that their mother should be fine but Satsuki begins to cry and fears that her mother will die. Mei sees this and decides to go to the hospital to give her mother an ear of corn so that she will feel better. No one sees her go.By the time Satsuki notices that Mei is missing, she is long gone. The entire neighborhood pitches in to search for her while Satsuki runs everywhere, remorseful for having yelled at her. One tense moment yields to relief when Satsuki identifies a shoe found in a nearby pond as not belonging to Mei. Still desperate to find Mei, Satsuki runs home and asks permission to enter Totoro's realm. She finds the hole in the roots where Mei fell in and stumbles upon Totoro. She tearfully begs him to help her find Mei. Happy to be of assistance, Totoro takes Satsuki to the top of his tree and summons Catbus, who takes her straight to Mei, sitting alone by the side of the road. After hearing that Mei got lost on the way to the hospital, Catbus offers to take them there.Perched in a tree outside their mother's window, the girls see their father visiting. They leave Mei's corn on the windowsill and write a get-well message on the husk. Catbus takes them homeThe end credits show Mei's and Satsuki's mother finally coming home, with scenes of the children playing with friends while Totoro and the other spirits watch them, unseen.

Review: There are points that it is hilarious, a few points where it makes one slightly nervous, the animation is outstanding (as with all Miyazaki films), and aside from lacking a little bit in plot (what movie doesn't nowadays?), the story is wonderful.One of the things that makes this film shine, at least for me, is that there is absolutely no antagonist role.
We learn to love children's world.Every one of us will have a smile on this face, from the beginning to the end of this movie.My favorite scene is the first encounter between Mei and Totoro.
Featuring stunning animation, endearing personable characters, and a heart-tugging storyline that's simple, enchanting, and even dramatic.Sometimes you feel like you're not watching an animated children's movie, because the characters (particularly the children) and the storyline seem so realistic.
Mei and Satsuki act like little girls, not like kids who are smarter than adults (a routine toons today are guilty of).I loved Totoro when I was a small child and I always will.
Some parts are reminiscent of Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away (and Alice in Wonderland by extension), but Totoro stands out as probably the most unique of them all.The premise is nice and simple, which works brilliantly because the plot is established as a foundation without hindering the experience of the movie itself.
From community building to the love of a family to sibling relationships to facing the unknown; everyone can take away something personal from this movie.Perhaps the most sacred aspect of the film, however, is that it reminds us that life is magical.
I first saw "My Neighbor Totoro" when I was maybe seven.At the time, I thought that it was really boring(that was still when I liked Disney movies).
The best example IMO is the scene where Mei falls asleep on Totoro's stomach.It's fruitless to try and describe it;you have to see it for yourself.In closing, I would just like to say that I can't wait for a decent DVD to arrive so I can view this quiet masterpiece in widescreen in Japanese with subtitles..
Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro is a film that should be able to put a smile on any viewers face, and without a doubt, it'll take you on one of the most whimsical and fantastic journey's ever.My Neighbor Totoro is a story that definitely something children can relate with, as i watched this with someone, they immediately paused the film and asked if this reminded me of being 4 years old again.
But it's far from a quality nostalgia piece, it's well animated, beautiful, avoids cliché stereotypes (from both typical of the Anime genre and Children's Fantasy films), and is beautifully filmed (see scenes such as the girls waiting for the bus with Totoro and the scene where the magic nuts and seeds grow with the help of Totoro).Even the English dub done by Fox isn't as bad everyone states.
Disney is said to be releasing a re-dub in mid-to-late 2005, so perhaps that will even out the controversy.This film may not reach the heights of other Anime classics (mainly it's double bill with Grave of the Fireflies, or Miyazaki's other masterpieces Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away), however this will definitely be high on any film lovers list, and is definitely a high water mark of it's genre.A solid 9/10, This film is next to impossible to watch without it pushing a smile out of your face..
So, after watching it again as an adult I realized why this movie stay within me: Totoro is a rare film that manages to capture the essence of a child's emotions and vision without being filtered through the adult's tendency to editorialize it, to insert a moral judgment, or to sugar coat it.
This effect cannot be described during a script meeting with a committee of marketing execs.A typical American studio would be worried about presenting its main character as frightening, would redesign Totoro as a "cuter" character as a safe strategy, and would certainly make the father more of a one-dimensional, stereotypical "adult" character for dramatic purposes.But in this movie, we see the background story of the characters by deceptively simple closeup shot of the pebbles in the stream, or the details of the bathtub.But the most telling moment of the movie is actually early on: when the girls tried to push down the rotting wooden support of the house.
This movie, set in Japan in the early fifties, is director Miyazaki's tribute to his mother (who suffered from tuberculosis, just like Satsuki and Mei's mother), his childhood home, and childhood innocence.
Although some people who watch this movie wonder where the Americans are (this is post-WWII Japan, after all) and why so little screen time is spent on the girls' mother, but that may be partly due to the dubbing.Americans: First of all, the house the girls move into is rather European in design (with doorknobs, and an attic, and a front porch) despite the Japanese style bath and occasional sliding door.
This is why an accurate dubbed version is nearly impossible (like any little girl, Mei mispronounces a lot of words).The Mother: I think this movie is entirely about the mother.
There's a little bit of both in the culturally-shocking--though completely innocent--bath scene (both girls take a bath with their father during a wind storm).Really, though, My Neighbor Totoro is less about story than it is about the imagination of children.Although the animation is a little dated and a bit jerky at times, the direction is absolutely top notch.
How much happier we all are knowing that Hayao Miyazaki exists and makes his amazing films at the Studio Ghibli for which King Totoro is the mascot..
Miyazaki has refused to follow in the footsteps of other Japanese film-makers and do those awful anime movies that are, unfortunately, popular among many of my friends.
I love how he did the fantasy element in this movie, with the totoros flying and doing magical wonders and Satsuki and Mei looking like they're having the time of their life.
Exciting and rather good film set in the fifities about a Japanese family moves to country , being formed by the University professor father and his children : Salsaki and her younger sister Lucy whose new house in the country is filled with magic , including strange creatures as some black dusty balls and especially by Tororo .
I've watched it every year since i was 4 and it's the kind of movie that just puts this massive smile on your face.The protagonists are sisters Satsuki and Mei. They have just moved from the city with their father into the countryside while he writes a book and their mother is suffering from an unknown disease in a hospital nearby.
Everyone has their good and bad points and Hayao miyazaki does a great job of showing them.Though the movie is about the imagination of little kids, it has this incredible sense of reality.
I just hate kids, but every single time after watching this movie, I just feel like hugging every little girl I see.
The otherworldly in this film, comes in the form of Totoro, an animal spirit who is the guardian of the forest near the girls home.
The lethargic pace, along with Miyazakis expressive camera pans and attention to detail lend the girls discovery of their home/the forest, the famous cat bus scene, and every moment with Totoro a very 360 degree, hypnotic feel.
Although this could just be a story about kids meeting the magical residents of their rural community, the story deals a lot with the relationship between the two young sisters and their parents as well.One thing that's absolutely charming about this film is the realness of the relationship between the sisters, with the younger Mei commonly copying her older sister Satsuki, getting upset and bratty and unreasonable in addition to being ridiculously cute at times, while Satsuki gets worried and dutiful.
As a fan, it is IMO a must to see all of his films.My Neighbor Totoro (1988) is one of his most beautiful and charming works, and I recommend this particular piece to first-time Miyazaki-viewers as an introduction to one of the greatest storytellers in the history of cinema.While this story is simple and not as wildly imaginative as some of Miyazaki's recent works, the storyline has a slightly more emotional touch.The story is about two sisters who are moving to the country side with their father  the mother being permanently in the hospital.
This is also most certainly the case with My Neighbor Totoro.I give this movie 9/10, as it is one of the best family films ever made..
The drawings of the landscape are fantastic and are alone worth watching this movie: the reflection of the sun on the leaves of the trees, the reflection of the sky in the rice paddies, the high summer clouds, the flowers detailed and colorful.Two girls, maybe four and ten, move with their father into their new house in this landscape.
I have never sat through a complete Hayao Miyazaki animated movie despite all the good vibes, reviews, recommendations I got from friends.
Well, a good friend from up north passed me THREE Miyazaki DVDs, and given I'm going to where he is tomorrow visiting someone who mentioned during a visit to the previous movie set, how the scene was reminiscent of My Neighbor Totoro, I thought I'll pop that DVD and give it a watch.I was blown away.
It's not just Totoro itself which is out of this world, but I totally like that grinning cat-bus.This is the kind of animated movie that our local animation production houses should be looking at.
While it doesn't contain huge battle sequences, complex or multiple characters for the sake of stuffing the movie, it goes to show that the story matters, in its ability to touch and resonate with audiences young and old (while the young ones go to the cinemas, don't forget the adults have to bring them too, and somehow you have to entertain them as well without being too complex for the little ones to understand).The character designs are also kept simple, but nonetheless effective.
You can be sure however, I will be back and complete watching them all real soon!I like Tonari no Totoro, certainly one of the best movies I've seen!.
I took my six-year-old son to see "My Neighbour Totoro" at a film festival recently and about halfway through he loudly announced to the full house that "This is a GREAT movie".
The scenes are magnificently detailed, and the action portrays real humans of the kind we all know and love, seamlessly moving into the fantastic realms that we would all _like_ to know and love.Aside from the beautiful artwork, the music supports the action all the way through, and there are several good stories woven into the movie as well.The copy I saw was subtitled in excellent English and some of the younger audience may have trouble with that, although they would probably still find the movie very enjoyable..
Hands down, 'My Neighbour Totoro' is far superior to any film ever produced by Disney and that's including my personal favourites 'The Lion King' and 'Hercules'.It revolves around two young girls Satsuki (aged around eight) and Mei (aged around three) who move to a new house while also coping with their mother's illness in the resilient, sweet way young children have in dealing with problems.
They then discover these furry totoro creatures only ever seen by children and through their new friends, they are able to face their fears.You can actually feel the magic when you watch this.
They are drawn a frame at a time, the time-honored way, with the master himself providing tens of thousands of the frames.Miyazaki's films are in particular viscerally entrancing, using a watercolor look for the backgrounds and working within the unique anime tradition of characters with big round eyes and mouths that can be as minute as a fleck or as enormous as a cave.
It is a beacon of great hope and pleasure to me that family films are the rudimentary place where cultural difference is easiest to discern in the movies.My Neighbor Totoro is made of existence, location and expedition, not on rivalry and danger.
He loves the music, the tree, the baby girl Mei, the Dad, the catbus, and especially the totoro (although this is also the scariest part for him).I would highly recommend this film for anyone except adolescents, who might find it sort of dull and goody-goody..
Unfortunately that was not the case and I was left wondering when the movie was going to climax or what adversity the characters are going to face.I was left disappointed that the characters that i started to like during the beginning of the film never really changed or learned some sort of lesson.
There is no set plot, structure, nor is there much conflict; the film simply follows the lives of two little girls that meet the King of the Forest, Totoro.
Hayao Miyazaki is really, truly in touch with these feelings that go about with kids like these.If anything might be lacking in the film it's a 'plot' or sorts, as there really isn't any- a story it does have, however loose with what goes on.
It's a pure kind of feel-good story about two young girls who have moved into a new house with their father so they can be closer to their mother who's at a hospital.
If some American kids might not get it or latch on to it like the homegrown animation of late, it might still work for their parents probably watching it with them.And this message I mentioned- which is also connected with Winnie the Pooh on some fundamental level- is that its essential to have this kind of lively dream-life for children, to have a section of the world just for them where nothing bad or upsetting can protrude through.
The movie is a simple story with normal circumstances of daily life, about a family with 4 members, the father is a university professor, the mother is in hospital because of suffering from a disease unknown and the two children of 10 and 4 years old are still very innocent.
In a nearby forest, they find a large, somewhat pear-shaped, friendly magical forest creature they name Totoro and two much smaller similar creatures.The movie deals with their adventures in their new home, with Satseki's school, with adventures while waiting for their mother to recover, etc.Lovely to watch.
he hasn't lost touch with the innocence and wonder of being a child, which is why he's so perfectly able to represent Mei and Satsuki's emotions and draw you into their world in this movie.It isn't action packed or epic, but it doesn't need to be because it is far more special, individual and unique than any "children's" movie created in the last twenty years.
Bland, boring, predictable animated pseudo fairytale of two Japanese girls and their father who move to the country to be nearer to their ailing mother's hospital.One day, they meet a forest spirit whom they call Totoro.Looking like an overweight rabbit with short prick erect ears, this non-threatening harmless character leads them through a series of bland, Disney like adventures that makes even "Dora the Explorer" look like Shakespeare's " Mac Beth"-and we don't even get to see Totoro until a half hour into the movie!
I felt it needed to be longer (which would take away from the appeal to children), or have a sequal, which i dont see any reason for it not to.I did enjoy a film on a certain level, but would not recomend it to an adult unless they were a fan of animation or Miyazaki's work.
The original American version of the film done by Fox, I would rate it a 10/10 as a movie your children can enjoy and love.
Second,all the characters are attractive.In particulars,TOTORO is so cute!When Iwas a child I really wanted to meet them.And it also has wonderful pictures and music.I like the scene they fly in the blue sky together.I can recommend this movie to everyone of all ages.I rate this movie at 9/10.
I think,Tonari no Totoro's theme is "importance of Family and nature." I love the scene Mei goes to deliver corn for mother,and I also like the one.
I like Disney movies, too, but when I watched Lilo & Stitch ,I thought that it is somewhat different from My Neighbor Totoro.
My neighbor Totoro is one of the best movies among Hayao Miyazaki's film.
"My Neighbor Totoro" movie of 1988, directed by "Hayao Miyazaki" and produced by "Studio Ghibli"; as well as a symbol of the aforementioned animation studio.
Tonari no Totoro is an animated film which tells the story of Satsuki, Mei and their father Tatsuo who just moved into a new place, a little house in the Japanese countryside, so that the girls are closer to their mother's hospital.
Yes I've been engaged again and invested in the story with its plot because I cared about every single character, but it took me a little time, and I really felt disturbed and annoyed with this inconsistency.Overall, I can say that My Neighbor Totoro is an imaginative tale that every parent should take his child and watch it with him or her.
Even after 25 years, My Neighbor Totoro remains an instantly watchable animated masterpiece that holds new surprises from every time I watch it.Satsuki and Mei are sisters who move to the Japanese countryside with their father.
The anime movie My Neighbor Totoro is cute and funny, yet somehow still realistic.
I saw My Neighbor Totoro for the first time yesterday and loved everything about the movie.
The movie truly captures what it means to be happy, adventurous, and a kid again, which is how I felt while watching My Neighbor Totoro.Totoro, Satsuki, Mei and the other characters have a special place in my heart now and I love them all.Thank you Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli..