My Neighbour Totoro Highly recommended

Director
Hayao Miyazaki
Production
Studio Ghibli
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Film
Running time
86 mins
Year
1988

My Neighbour Totoro

By Adam Cook
20th May 04

My Neighbor Totoro is Studio Ghibli's equivalent to Disney's Mickey Mouse. Totoro has become part of the studios logo and the merchandise from the film still regularly outsells all of its other film licenses well over a decade since its original release in 1988. My Neighbor Totoro is written and directed by the legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki, along with the production company he founded with Isao Takahata (director of Grave of the Fireflies), Studio Ghibli are two of the most recognisable names and brands in Japanese animation, both in Japan and here in the West. My Neighbor Totoro whilst firmly set in a fantasy land, also has many autobiographical elements for Miyazaki that I shall explore later on in the review.

My Neighbor Totoro follows our two protagonists and sisters Satsuki and Mei. Satsuki is ten, and Mei is around four years old, and they move to a tiny rural community with their father to be closer to their hospital-ridden mother. My Neighbor Totoro follows the two girl's adventures as they meet up with bizarre and wonderful creatures of different shapes and sizes known as Totoro's. A Totoro is a forest spirit that can only be seen by children and is best described as a mixture of a cat, owl and racoon in its appearance.

It is funny that a film that has had such huge merchandise success would take almost a decade to receive funding from film executives. Many executives were worried about the popularity of the Totoro characters and were wary of funding a project that did not offer guaranteed instant returns on their investment. Of course with hindsight these executives appear to be rather stupid, but thankfully it was picked up, as it would have been a crime for such a film to never have reached an audience, and without it Studio Ghibli's fate would no doubt be quite different.

The major thing that distinguishes My Neighbor Totoro from other anime (and especially Western animation) is that there is no real story, or message overriding the film. Instead the movie is more a reflection of tiny events that envelope the audience into the wonderful world of a child's imagination and the world of the Totoro's. In fact on the films release the major criticisms of the film were that it didn't have a compelling enough story and that it's pacing was too slow. Whilst these criticisms are valid to a degree, I would say these are the films greatest assets and helped distinguish the film from other anime at the time. If you were to break the film down into each of its major moments the movie would appear to be very shallow and dull. However like so many of Studio Ghibli's output, the real enjoyment from the film comes from the tiny and seemingly inconsequential events that regularly punctuate the key moments in the film. Many of these smaller moments feature Mei as she plays by herself in the countryside by her house. She may try and catch tadpoles in a stream or watch a toad walking across a road. Neither of the scenes is integral to the telling of the story, but the audience becomes more immersed into the world on screen, and begins to view the world as a child, just as Mei, and to a lesser degree Satsuki, sees it.

Satsuki and Mei's mother is hospitalised throughout the entire duration of the movie, yet the audience is never aware of her illness. In Tsuguko Kubo's novelisation of the film, her illness is revealed to be tuberculosis. As mentioned earlier, My Neighbor Totoro has many autobiographical elements, and the hospitalisation and illness of the children's mother is the most prominent. At a similar age to Mei in the film, Miyazaki's mother also suffered from tuberculosis, and the uncertainty and unawareness to the severity of the illness are direct parallels to Miyazaki's own life. My Neighbor Totoro can be quite a different viewing experience when you watch the film as having autobiographical elements as the story appears to be more an expression of the director's childhood, and the Totoro's as a way of escaping his reality, than it being a great epic adventure revolving around the two girls. This is my own interpretation of the movie, and many others will probably read entirely different connotations into the actions on screen. This is where one of the great strengths of the film lies. No message is force fed to the audience, and no overarching narrative is explored. The audience is able to interpret what they see on the screen without being led by the hand by the director. Some people may criticise this as lacking focus, yet I say the director is aware the audience can think for themselves and do not need patronising.

As the girl's mother only appears infrequently throughout the film, Satsuki takes over the mothers' role. She cooks food for the family, and acts as Meis' guardian throughout the movie. Satsukis' character throughout the film can be seen to be growing up, but every now and again she slips back into her carefree childhood. This careless abandonment is often brought about by the introduction of the Totoro's and the Cat-bus. One scene where this is evident is where she is hesitant to climb on to the largest Totoro to go flying on a spinning-top however she throws caution to the wind and decides to jump aboard for a very unique voyage.

There are a number of evident influences throughout the film that Miyazaki is careful to respect whilst producing playful homage's too. The most obvious reference is to Lewis Carol's story, Alice In Wonderland. Whilst Cat-bus represents many similarities to Carols Cheshire cat with a large grin and the ability to disappear, it is Satsuki's discovery of the Totoro's home in the Camphor tree that is the most obvious Alice In Wonderland reference and is strikingly similar to Alice's stumble through the rabbit hole.

The Totoro's are some of the most charming and instantly recognisable characters any animated film has produced. The reason for their appeal is the way in which the animators have brought them to life. Firstly their design is very clever, they appear to be an amalgamation of many recognisable and familiar animals, but are also incredibly foreign and unique, just like something that would appear from a child's own drawings. Secondly the animations make these forest spirits alive. The way they breathe, the texture of their fur and the subtle facial expressions help to create a fantastical yet entirely believable creature that any age will find appealing. Whilst the story is about the two sisters, whenever the Totoro's appear on screen they dominate the scenes. There is a great innocence to them, and the fact that only children can see them and communicate with them (even though they do not speak the same languages) further emphasises that you as the audience are viewing the world as a child, and in many ways the Totoro's are a construct of the children's imaginations.

Visually the film is not the flashiest, and it will rarely make you gawp in amazement at the animation, but what it does is make the audience forget about looking for graphical effects and neat animated trickery. Instead it provides the audience with time to appreciate what is on screen and to pull you into the story and the lives of the girl's and the Totoro's. That is not to say that there is not a lot of detail in the animation, as there is, but it is subtly done and only truly becomes noticeable on repeat viewings. The lines of the characters are very clean and often simple (especially with regards to the Totoro's) and it is very enjoyable to watch, as the facial expressions can be much more exaggerated on less realistic characters, further immersing the audience into the lives of the characters on screen.

There is a very eclectic soundtrack for the film My Neighbor Totoro. The score will change from a catchy (and very cheesy) theme tune to a more traditional classical score, and even to jazz. But what really stands out about the audio is its use throughout the movie. The soundtrack is used very sparingly and only when truly necessary. Silence is used just as effectively as the music to build tension, and to create greater audience awareness of the music when it is actually introduced. The sound effects play a much more prominent role and occasionally act as a musical score, such as the loud roars of the Totoro's or when they play their ocarinas on top of the Camphor tree.

So is My Neighbor Totoro perfect? The answer is no, whilst it's pacing is a brave move, on occasions it can be a slight hindrance, but this film still deserves a perfect score and there is one simple reason for this. It is one of the only truly universal movies I have come across. I have watched this film with children as young as three and with adults in their sixties and they have all found elements of the film that appeal to them. This is incredibly rare, and is a credit to the way in which Miyazaki has told the story and created such interesting and loveable characters. Do yourself a favour and try and get hold of this film. Whilst it is firmly aimed at children there is a charm that will warm even the most cynical of hearts (I should know) and I guarantee you will enjoy this animated masterpiece.

-- Adam Cook 20th May 04

My Neighbour Totoro Images