Tonari no Totoro (1988)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writer:

Hayao Miyazaki (written by)

Release Date:

16 April 1988 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Girl | Mother | Spirit | Forest Spirit | Father

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Noriko Hidaka	...	Satsuki (voice)
Chika Sakamoto	...	Mei (voice)
Shigesato Itoi	...	Tatsuo Kusakabe (voice)
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Yasuko Kusakabe (voice)
Tanie Kitabayashi	...	Kanta no obâsan (voice)
Hitoshi Takagi	...	Totoro (voice)
Yûko Maruyama	...	Kanta no okâsan (voice)
Machiko Washio	...	Teacher (voice)
Reiko Suzuki	...	Furoi on'na no hito (voice)
Masashi Hirose	...	Kanta no otôsan (voice)
Toshiyuki Amagasa	...	Kanta (voice)
Shigeru Chiba	...	Kusakari-Otoko (voice)
Naoki Tatsuta	...	(voice)
Tarako	...	(voice)
Tomohiro Nishimura	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

My Neighbor Totoro (USA)
My Neighbour Totoro (UK)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | South Korea:All | Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | France:U | Hong Kong:I | UK:U | USA:G | Singapore:G

Company:

Tokuma Japan Communications Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

King Totoro is the mascot for Miyazaki's studio, Studio Ghibli.

Goofs:

Continuity: Some of the whiskers on Mei's drawing of Totoro vanish in a wide view.

Quotes:

Satsuki, Mei Kusakabe: Come out, come out, whereever you are!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gake no ue no Ponyo (2008)

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.