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:

Mother | Spirit | Father | Forest Spirit | Sick Mother

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:

Miyazaki originally conceived the characters Satsuki and Mei as a single girl. He wanted to add suspense to the latter half of the film, and he felt it wouldn't work with just a single girl, so he split her into two separate girls. The original girl had features of both Satsuki and Mei, and was halfway between the ages of Satsuki (8) and Mei (4).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mei and Satsuki are running back home from school because of the rain, Mei trips and there is mud on her skirt. After a few scenes, her skirt does not have the mud.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Imaginationland (#11.10)" (2007)

This movie is incredibly cute

I'm a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki's work and was rather disappointed that this movie did not have the Japanese language/English subtitles option. But, I've finally seen it and must admit that it is incredibly cute. One does NOT have to be a child to enjoy this movie or any of Miyazaki's movies. The story line was good and and the characters were really touching. The totoros were so adorable that I want a plushie of one. I also loved the artwork. I finally know what some of the scenes are from in the AMVs that I've seen. I would definitely recommend this to families as well as to those who are Miyazaki fans. A definite thumbs up. Though I do wonder where Miyazaki gets some of the ideas for his characters such as that cat bus.