My Neighbor Totoro (Japanese: となりのトトロ, Hepburn: Tonari no Totoro) is a Japanese animated picture produced in 1988, which drew the attention of art lovers, since it was co-authored by Hayao Miyazaki, created at Studio Ghibli. The movie has gained esteem around the globe thanks to its compelling plot, lovely characters, and the forest spirit character, Totoro, who became a household name.
Synopsis
In late 1950s the central characters are prof. Tatsuo Kusakabe with his two little daughters, Satsuki and Mei. They all move on to the countryside as their mother Yasuko is sick and in the hospital. Their new house is ancient and somewhat broken down which the girls find enticing and odd. The family shifts them from one location to another to explore Totoro’s new house.
As they discover their new house, Satsuki and Mei discover these tiny black spheres that look like bugs, called susuwatari or soot sprites, that reside in dark places inside the house. Then the family covers them and these spirits leave the place so the family can come in.
One fair day, four-year-old Mei sees small strange spirits in the yard resembling rabbits. She follows them into the woods and finds a gigantic camphor tree, where a bigger creature asleep called ‘Totoro’ is also found. Totoro looks and acts like a kind bear; he possesses a wide angle smile, and has a grunt-like voice. It seems in this scene, Mei seems to drift into slumber on Totoro’s belly and later when Satsuki and Tatsuo look for her, she is seen sleeping by herself in the middle of the woods. Sensing the children’s hesitance, Tatsuo is of the opinion that, Totoro is a protective spirit of the woodland and will show himself when ready to do so.
The elder sister – Satsuki – at first laughed off Nanny’s absurd powers of imagination, imbibed as she is with the spirit of adulthood. However, one stormy night, when she and her brother are standing at the bus stop to meet mother who is away, it is Satsuki who comes into contact with the creature. He was standing with a green leaf over his head as an umbrella. Isabella hands over to him their dad’s umbrella, which he was so pleased to take. In exchange, Totoro gave the girls packets of seeds and takes off in a huge cat shaped bus called Catbus that can take him across the hills in a matter of no time.
The seeds that are given to the girls by Totoro suddenly grow into a giant tree and Totoro flies into the sky with the girls on a top that spins. But in the morning, the tree is no longer there but the seeds have germinated, making the girls question whether what happened is real or fantasy.
Eventually, as time goes, the girls receive a telegram from the hospital that informs them that the mother has deteriorated. Concerned and in distress, Mei attempts to see her mother by herself and takes a corn with her thinking she will make her better. When Satsuki figures out that Mei is gone, she sets out with villagers in search of her. Desperate to find her sister, Satsuki seeks the help of Totoro. Totoro calls the cat bus which takes Satsuki to Mei, and the two sisters meet. They go to see their mother in the hospital and leave the corn in the window. The mother can feel the presence of the daughters and it calms her.
At the end of the film, we see Yasuko recovering from the illness and she is able to go back home. The girls are back with their family and are once again inspired to go on adventures with Totoro and other spirits as well to the magic of the countryside.
Cast and Crew
Director/Writer: Hayao Miyazaki, a co-founder in Studio Ghibli, recognized for his unique storytelling, and immense detailed animation as well.
Producer: Toru Hara, who was working in some of the first films of Studio Ghibli.
Music: Joe Hisaishi, his songs immensely contributed to the emotional and whimsical aspect of the film.
Voice Cast:
Satsuki Kusakabe: Initially voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the original Japanese version, seems to be portraying Satsuki Kusakabe.
Mei Kusakabe: Chika Sakamoto has performed Mei in Japanese.
Totoro: This character seems to be voiced by Hitoshi Takagi in Japanese as well.
Tatsuo Kusakabe: He has also been voiced by Shigesato Itoi in Japanese.
Yasuko Kusakabe: Sumi Shimamoto has performed this character in Japanese too.
In the English dub produced by Disney, cast was Dakota Fanning as Satsuki mother, Elle Fanning as Mei, Tim Daly as Tatsuo husband, and Lea Salonga as Yasuko.
Critical Reception
‘My Neighbor Totoro’ also has a reasonably good IMDb Voting Rating Score as well of 8.1 out of ten and the rating is based on around 384 000 users.
IMDB
The film is acclaimed for being simple in the greatest sense of the term, with regard to the touching story, outstanding characters, and a universe in which the normal and the fairy tale ingredients live side by side. Other film reviews and its viewers describe the film as having a good representation of pure childhood and love relationship of human beings with nature.
The popularity of the film has certainly enshrined Totoro into a cultural figure that stands for the purity of childhood wonder. She has evolved to become the official mascot of Studio Ghibli who has featured in various media and merchandise thereby remaining embedded in pop culture.
Themes and Legacy
In ‘My Neighbor Totoro,’ the overarching themes revolve around the family unit, the essence of a child’s perspective and the ideal co-existence of mankind and the ecosystem. The film also integrates aspects of Shinto culture in anarchic fashion – tools for negotiating and supernatural creatures dot the hinterland and should be taken care of.
The film is one of the many whose adaptations and other portrayals have remained in culture. In 2022, a stage version of the movie ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London successfully enabling the presentation of the story yet again to new audiences.
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