Mei and Satsuki's father demonstrates both typical and atypical characteristics of a traditional Japanese father. According to Peter Tasker, “Japanese children are accustomed to never seeing their father on the weekdays, and only for short periods at weekends. A husband’s proper field of endeavor is the company” (101). This is only somewhat accurate in Mei and Satsuki's relationship with their father. Although their father is often away working at the university or visiting their mother in the hospital, he is by no means an absentee father. He is seen working at a desk while Mei plays outside and spending time with his daughters before their bedtime. Many scholarly critiques of Japanese culture would lead one to believe that this is not the norm.
"My Neighbor Totoro" exhibits several important cultural points through the setting and passive details.
The house into which the Kusakabe family moves is an accurate portrayal of a typical, rural, Japanese home. The sliding doors that the father opens when they first move into the house are common architectural features. These doors are meant to be opened during the day, weather permitting, and closed at night. Another feature to point out about the house itself is the way the foundation is constructed. “Japanese houses do not have cellars but are built with a foundation of shallow concrete, or a single row of cement blocks. On top of this type of foundation is placed a row of heavy timbers” (33). This can be seen clearly when Mei crawls under the house in pursuit of one of the smaller totoros.
As for Totoro, he lives in a tree demarcated by a shimenawa (braided straw rope for shinto). The tree is called shinboku (sacred tree). Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan and some consider many of Hayao Miyazaki's movies—including Totoro—to have Shintoist themes. and interpret Totoro as a kami spirit of the Shinto religion. But Miyazaki says "this movie [Totoro] has nothing to do with that [Shinto] or any other religion."
The community in which Satsuki and her family have moved is a typical agricultural town. The rice paddies are visible throughout the movie. Rice cultivation is one of the most important industries in Japan, as rice is a staple of the Japanese diet. The home that Satsuki and Mei live in is more spacious than what would be available in a city. Also, the scene where Nanny, Mei, and Satsuki are washing vegetables shows the near self-sufficiency of these farming communities.
The bath scene is also demonstrative of archetypal Japanese life. “The bathtub is more like a small swimming pool than a tub” (38). As seen in the movie, several people bathe together at once. It is considered rude to enter the tub without first washing, as shown by Satsuki before she enters the tub with her father and Mei. These bathtubs are heated usually by small, well-tended coal burners under the tub.
Another cultural manifestation is the scene that shows the family sleeping. Often, the living room is converted into a bedroom where the whole family sleeps together on mats called futon. This sleeping arrangement is space-efficient and accommodates for smaller housing in a country where living space is severely limited. Mei is sleeping between Satsuki and her father, which is the usual arrangement—with the youngest in the middle.
In one scene, Satsuki is shown preparing the family's lunch in traditional bento style. A bento is a compartmentalized lunch box usually with only one or two tiers. Food is arranged to be aesthetically pleasing. Bentos are extremely common as lunch boxes for children, adults, and even those who stay at home, as Mei does when Satsuki goes to school.
Other passive cultural references include:
"My Neighbor Totoro" was released by Studio Ghibli as a double feature with Isao Takahata's "Grave of the Fireflies" in August 1988. There are two theories for this: one was that "Totoro" would not be successful. Another theory is that "Grave of the Fireflies" was believed to be too depressing for audiences by itself, and thus needed a lighter animation to accompany it. The late Yoshifumi Kondo provided character designs for both movies.
In 1993, Fox released the first English-language version of "My Neighbor Totoro", produced by John Daly and Derek Gibson (the producers of "The Terminator") with co-producer Jerry Beck. Fox and Troma's rights to the movie expired in 2004. Disney's English language version premiered on October 23, 2005; it then appeared at the 2005 Hollywood Film Festival. The Turner Classic Movies cable television network held the television premiere of Disney's new English dub on January 19, 2006, as part of the network's salute to Hayao Miyazaki. (TCM aired the dub as well as the original Japanese with English subtitles.) The Disney version was released on DVD on March 7, 2006.
As is the case with Disney's other English dubs of Miyazaki movies, the Disney version of "Totoro" features a star-heavy cast, including Dakota and Elle Fanning as Satsuki and Mei, Timothy Daly as Mr. Kusakabe, Pat Carroll as Granny, Lea Salonga as Mrs. Kusakabe, and Frank Welker as Totoro and Catbus. The songs for the new dub retained the same translation as the previous dub, but were sung by Sonya Isaacs.
The movie stars the following voice actors:
The movie has an 8.1 rating on IMDb,and a 94% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.com. Reviews were very positive.
Mnemonic (disambiguation)
A mnemonic is a memory aid.
Mnemonic may also refer to:
Mnemonic
A mnemonic is a way for people to remember things more easily. For example the treble clef lines on a music staff are for the notes E G B D and F. Music students are taught to remember this with a mnemonic - Every Good Boy Does Fine. The first known mnemonics were used by the Ancient Greeks. Cicero said the poet Simonides (c.556-c.468 B.C) discovered the power of mnemonics to help him make visual images so he could remember things. The word "mnemonic" comes from the Greek words "mnene", meaning memory and "mnemon", meaning mindful.
Northrop Frye
'Herman Northrop Frye, CC, FRSC, usually called Northrop or Norrie, (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist. This means he wrote about books to help people understand them. He is often said to be one of the most influential critics and theorists of the 20th century.
His most famous book is "The Anatomy of Criticism" (1957).
Throwback uniform
Throwback uniforms and jerseys are one-time or limited-time types of a sports team's uniforms that look the same way as uniforms from that team's past. Throwbacks are popular in Major League Baseball. Often, teams will wear throwbacks on "Turn Back The Clock Nights".
Backlash (2009)
Backlash (2009) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view show made by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held on April 26, 2009 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. It was the eleventh and last event with the "Backlash" name. Backlash would later be replaced by Extreme Rules in 2010.
Down with Love
Down with Love is a 2003 American romantic comedy movie set in New York City in the early 1960s. It stars Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger. It was inspired by "Pillow Talk" (1959) and "Lover Come Back" (1961).
Catcher Block (McGregor) is a very proud man. He has sex a lot of women and does not respect them very much. When author Barbara Novak (Zellweger) gets an interview with Block about her newest book, he keeps being busy and never actually interviews with her. Novak has written a feminist novel in which she says that women should take more power and have a bigger voice in things and to eat chocolate to reduce their need to be with men. However, when Novak's book becomes very popular, Block wants to know more about Novak.