My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
"Tonari no Totoro" (original title)

When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wonderous forest spirits who live nearby.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writer:

Hayao Miyazaki

Stars:

Toshiyuki Amagasa, Paul Butcher, Noriko Hidaka

Top 250 #160 | 5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Toshiyuki Amagasa	...	Kanta (voice)
Paul Butcher	...	Kanta (voice)
Pat Carroll	...	Nanny (voice)
Cheryl Chase	...	Mei (Troma version) (voice)
Shigeru Chiba	...	Kusakari-Otoko (voice)
Lara Cody	...	Farm Girl (Troma version) (voice)
Natalie Core	...	Nanny (Troma version) (voice)
Tim Daly	...	Professor Kusakabe (voice) (as Timothy Daly)
Dakota Fanning	...	Satsuki (2005 Disney version) (voice)
Elle Fanning	...	Mei Kusakabe (2005 Disney version) (voice)
Kenneth Hartman	...	Kanta (Troma version) (voice)
Noriko Hidaka	...	Satsuki (voice)
Akiko Hiramatsu	...	(voice)
Masashi Hirose	...	Kanta no otôsan (voice)
Shigesato Itoi	...	Tatsuo Kusakabe (voice)

Storyline

Two young girls, Satsuki and her younger sister Mei, move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother. Satsuki and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros (pronounced toe-toe-ro). They soon befriend these Totoros, and have several magical adventures.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | spirit | forest spirit | japan | bath | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

16 April 1988 (Japan)

Also Known As:

My Neighbor Totoro

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tokuma Japan Communications Co. Ltd., Studio Ghibli, Nibariki

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (Stereo)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie initially did not do well at the box office, and did not break even until about two years after the release when stuffed dolls based on the King Totoro character hit the shelves.

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Goofs

When Satsuki and Mei are waiting for the bus in the rain, the bus stop sign reads 'Maezawa-gyo' in some scenes while in other scenes the sign reads 'Shichikokuyama-gyo'.

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Quotes

Tatsuo Kusakabe: Trees and people used to be good friends. I saw that tree and decided to buy the house. Hope Mom likes it too. Okay, let's pay our respects then get home for lunch.

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Crazy Credits

The ending sequence has animation of Totoro and some of the characters from the film walking.

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Connections

Referenced in Lilo & Stitch (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Tonari no Totoro"
("My Neighbor Totoro")
Lyrics by Hayao Miyazaki
Composed by Joe Hisaishi

User Reviews

A kids movie?

Picture if you will, a 27 year old male, scanning through his dvd collection, trying to figure out what to watch, on a boring night at home. Suddenly, he stops at My Neighbor Totoro and smiles. Well, that's a pretty typical happenning around the house here.

Miyazaki created a true masterpiece with this film. It has everything a person, of any age, could want. There are points that it is hilarious, a few points where it makes one slightly nervous, the animation is outstanding (as with all Miyazaki films), and aside from lacking a little bit in plot (what movie doesn't nowadays?), the story is wonderful.

One of the things that makes this film shine, at least for me, is that there is absolutely no antagonist role. No bad guy whatsoever, and only a genius like Miyazaki could pull that off.

Is this a childrens movie? Yes, of course it is. Is it a movie only for children? Well... maybe for the inner child inside all of us. There's humour in this movie that the young will laugh at, and there's a bit of humour in the movie that only adults will fully catch and appreciate, without it being "adult humour".

I would reccommend, and have reccommended this film to anyone that would listen.

Thank you again Miyazaki Sensei.