My Neighbor Totoro: DVD Review
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Page 1 of 3 Buena Vista / 1988 / 88 Minutes / Rated G / Street Date: March 2, 2010 
My Neighbor Totoro isn’t just a movie – it created a cultural icon in Japan and that mystical creature is a combination bear/raccoon/cat. He’s the king of the forest and only appears to young children. You can find Totoro’s face on anything you want now. I have him on a baseball hat and a bento box, and playing cards. This movie is my favorite Miyazaki film (Spirited Away is a close second). It sets the stage when two young girls and their father move into a house in the Japanese countryside. The magic builds as they discover “soot gremlins” in their house and then they meet Totoro and Catbus. Later in the film when Mei, the youngest girl, goes missing the film builds real tension, but what the film does best is show the magic in the ordinary. Totoro discovering the sound of rain on an umbrella with childlike glee is an enchanting scene that I could watch over and over.
The art and animation in this movie are, as all Miyazaki films, incredible, especially the attention to detail in the backgrounds. There’s something of a watercolor style background with details that aren’t given to most other animated films. The setting of this film is really a magical thing as well. It’s a place out of time, and well removed from industry and what we consider the “civilized” world. The animation here is also fantastic. Characters don’t even have to speak to express their feelings, which helps a great deal when listening to the Japanese with English subtitles, but don’t worry there’s an English track.
I can’t express here how much I love this film. This was the second or third Miyazaki film I ever saw. It blew me away a decade ago and I can watch it over and over today. While it’s angled toward children there’s a universal magic to the story that even adults can enjoy. If you can find the seven-year-old within that you will love this film too.
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