Hayao Miyazaki’s moving tale about sisterhood and the forest spirit Totoro, the most famous character created by Studio Ghibli.
In a postwar rural Japan, Little Mei and her older sister Satsuki move with their father into an old dusty house to be closer to their mom: she’s in hospital and the girls are worried about her health. Near their new home, Mei and Satsuki find magical creatures. They meet an extraordinary furry friend—Totoro, the guardian of the forest.
Totoro is a creature that resembles an owl, a cat, and a panda. His name is derived from a distorted word for «troll.» In the film we see him in three guises: a tiny Totoro, a medium-sized Totoro, and a big Totoro, the most powerful of them all and with funny habits— he has a deep growl and covers his head with a leaf when it rains. Totoro flies on a toy top and rides the Catbus. Catbus (a bakeneko shapeshifting cat in the shape of a bus with a Cheshire Cat smile) takes Mei and Satsuki to the hospital to see that their mom is okay.
There are no negative characters in Miyazaki’s film, and even the creepy-looking magical creatures help the protagonists, enchanted by the sisters' sincere and kind attitude. The scene at the bus stop, where Satsuki holds the sleeping Mei and offers Totoro, who is standing in the rain, an umbrella may be the most recognizable in Miyazaki’s legacy. Totoro has become the mascot of the animation studio Ghibli, which Miyazaki co-founded, and is part of its logo.
The film will be shown in Japanese with Russian subtitles.
My Neighbor Totoro
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Japan, 1988. 86 min. 6+
