My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

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

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writer:

Hayao Miyazaki

Stars:

Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto

Top Rated Movies #146 | 5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Noriko Hidaka	...	Satsuki (voice)
Chika Sakamoto	...	Mei (voice)
Shigesato Itoi	...	Tatsuo Kusakabe (voice)
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Yasuko Kusakabe (voice)
Tanie Kitabayashi	...	Granny (voice)
Hitoshi Takagi	...	Totoro (voice)
Yûko Maruyama	...	Kanta's Mother (voice)
Machiko Washio	...	Sensei (voice)
Reiko Suzuki	...	Rôba (voice)
Masashi Hirose	...	Kanta's Father (voice)
Toshiyuki Amagasa	...	Kanta (voice)
Shigeru Chiba	...	Kusakari-Otoko (voice)
Naoki Tatsuta	...	Cat Bus / Additional Voices (voice)
Tarako	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Tomohiro Nishimura	...	Postal Messanger (voice)

Storyline

Two young girls, 10-year-old Satsuki and her 4-year-old 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:

sister sister relationship | studio ghibli | sick mother | little girl | father daughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The names of the two girls, Satsuki and Mei are a play on the word May. "Satsuki" is an old Japanese word for May, and "Mei" is the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "May".

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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

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

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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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Alternate Versions

In the Disney dub version of the film, instead of using the FOX opening credits that show the crew-member's names, it uses credits that show voice cast then some crew names, and it is also in a different font.

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2018)

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Soundtracks

Sampo
("Hey Let's Go")
Lyrics by Reiko Nakagawa
Composed by Joe Hisaishi

User Reviews

This is the movie I watch to restore my faith in humanity

I first saw "My Neighbor Totoro" when I was maybe seven.At the time, I thought that it was really boring(that was still when I liked Disney movies). Years later, when I discovered "Princess Mononoke" I learned that MNT was by the same director and watched it again. And I find that I appreciate this film a whole lot more now then I did when I was seven.

The animation is absolutely stunning(as with all Miyazaki films)and the story is deceptively simple, told with patient, subtle attention to detail. The best example IMO is the scene where Mei falls asleep on Totoro's stomach.It's fruitless to try and describe it;you have to see it for yourself.

In closing, I would just like to say that I can't wait for a decent DVD to arrive so I can view this quiet masterpiece in widescreen in Japanese with subtitles.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

13 July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Neighbor Totoro

Box Office

Budget:

$3,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$539,245, 30 September 2018

Gross USA:

$2,250,213

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,546,644

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tokuma Japan Communications, Studio Ghibli, Nibariki

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1