In the land of the rising fun, there are certain names in cinema that are instant assurances of quality, that you can go into the theater blind and have a great movie. Akira Kurasawa, Leji Matsomoto, Rintaro (or at least he used to be) and the one name that stands out of the pack: Hayao Miyazaki, the subject of today's review.
My Neighbor Totoro is the story of a university professor and his two daughters as they move into an old house in rural Japan in an effort to be closer to their mother as she recovers from an illness. While playing outside, the youngest of the two girls finds a hole in a tree at the center of a batch of thick brush, and meets a huge (and yet amazingly cuddly) creature called a Totoro - the spirit of the forest. Over the course of the next few weeks, the girls have adventures with Totoro, a giant Catbus and other assorted woodland creatures - before the mother's condition worsens, and the youngest sets off on foot to the hospital and gets lost. Desperate to find her sister, Satsuki returns to the tree and pleads for Totoro's help. Delighted to be of assistance, he summons the Catbus, which rescues Mei and whisks her and Satsuki over the countryside to see their mother in the hospital.
The closing credits feature scenes of the two playing with other neighbors, with Totoro and his friends nearby, unseen. Miyazaki has said that the girls would never see Totoro again, but that the spirits would always be watching over them.
My Neighbor Totoro was released by Studio Ghibli as a double feature with Isao Takahata's
Grave of the Fireflies in August, 1988 - which must have been a stunning rollercoaster of emotions - heartbreaking sorrow and charming innocence all in one bill. Both are fantastic, must see movies, but they're so diametrically opposite in the emotional spectrum, it's ludicrous to think of seeing them back to back. And yet, somehow - Totoro has that charm, that perfect antidote to the heavy sorrowful war film.
Despite the potential for shmaltz and talking down to the kids, Miyazaki deftly avoids that trap. Totoro never crosses the line from cute and charming into saccharine overload, standing strong as a true family movie, in the sense that everyone will enjoy it on some level or another. It's not condescending or forced, never talking down to children. There are no scary bad guys, goofy sidekicks or other trite characters that populate most mainstream children's film.
In short, this is the kind of kids movie that Disney wishes it made. Children will eat it up, and it's got the power to win over adults. I'm 30-ish, have no children and I still love Totoro, and it's probably my second favorite Miyazki film ever, next to the
Castle of Cagliostro.
THE DVD -
There are several versions floating around, a VHS from Fox, a DVD from Disney that came out a couple of years go, and the version I have, the region 2 Ghibli release. As I understand it, the R1 release is the exact same as the R2 version, with English localization and a new dub. The Region 2 DVD sports the original Japanese soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0, an English dub (in 2.0) English dubtitles, and Japanese Subtitles.
The print looks fantastic - far superior to the domestic release VHS in every way. Colors are vivid and bold, there was no bleeding I could spot. The contrast was spot on. Great stuff!
THE EXTRAS -
The two disc set sports a pretty wide selection of extras. First we get a handful of theatrical trailers for the film and some TV spots. There's a "making of" feature (sadly my version is Japanese audio only, no subs), a 'clean' opening and closeing sequence, and a handful of trailers for some other Ghibli films like
Panda Ko Panda,
Princess Mononoke and the
Great Detective Holmes. The second disc has the best stuff on it - a tour of the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Also included is a secondary print of the film, with storyboards instead of the finished animation. It's kind of cool to see the rough draft of the movie like this.
MPAA RATING -
While not formaly rated, I would easily guess that this would be a G rated movie. Perhaps a bit intense when Mei gets lost, but nothing a reassuring hug from Mom wont cure.
IF SOMEONE STOLE IT, WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN?
In a hot second.
THE BOTTOM LINE -
Like I said, this film works on every level for all age groups. Everyone I've shown this to has yet to fail to succumb to its magic. This film shows off Miyazaki's style and is well worth your time and trouble to track down (or import from Japan).
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Australia
USA
