My Neighbor Totoro
From Conservapedia
| My Neighbor Totoro | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Hayao Miyazaki |
| Produced by | Toru Hara |
| Written by | Hayao Miyazaki |
| Music by | Joe Hisaishi |
| Cinematography | Yoshiharu Sato |
| Editing by | Takeshi Seyama |
| Distributed by | Studio Ghibli; Disney |
| Release date(s) | 1988; 1998 |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ tonari no totoro) is a Japanese animated film, produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It's an idyllic view of countryside village life, with two little girls, Satsuki and her little sister Mei, joining their academic father in a ramshackle old house while their mother recuperates in a nearby sanatorium.[1] The film was originally double featured with Grave of the Fireflies which is set in post WWII Japan.
Totoro is depicted as a big furry placid monster with two smaller cohorts. Big Totoro and the Cat Bus repeatedly take the sisters on night time adventures.
Satsuki and Mei arrive in their new house with their father, a university professor who has moved from the city to be closer to his ailing wife. While exploring, little sister Mei meets two tiny creatures (small totoro) and follows them deep into the forest. There, she meets a huge, slumbering, peaceful and slightly bewildered creature (big totoro). She lands on his stomach, much like any little girl jumping on her father on a weekend morning when he's trying to sleep late. Totoro is a bit puzzled at this new arrival, but he seems to accept her and goes back to sleep; the two nap together, but after Mei wakes up and goes home, she is unable to find Totoro's den again.
Her father believes her story and says Totoro is probably the guardian spirit of the forest.
The girls both see dark dust bunnies or "soot sprites", which they chase up into the attic. They perform a ritual to expel them from the house. (They are never seen again until their appearance in Spirited Away (2001), where they are doing slave labor in a hotel for mythological creatures.)
Satsuki meets Totoro one day at her father's bus stop, where she had gone to meet him with an an umbrella. Totoro accepts the umbrella as a replacement for a large leaf he had been trying to use to keep off the rain. The Cat Bus, with a grin like Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, picks up Totoro and his new umbrella.
When the grandmotherly caretaker of the house drops by with some vegetables, she tells Mei that the corn would be very good for her mother's health. Four-year-old Mei decides to bring her an ear of corn, but she sets off on this journey without telling anyone.
The movie ends just before the mother leaves the sanatorium. The end credits feature still images depicting a joyful return home.
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References
- ↑ Her condition, though not mentioned by name, may be assumed to be tuberculosis (TB). Shichikokuyama Hospital, where she was staying, had a good reputation for treating TB. In addition, there could be an autobiographical element to this part of the story, as Miyazaki's own mother suffered from spinal TB for many years, and she was away from home for long periods of time. Miyazaki FAQ
