Thursday, June 9, 2011

My Neighbor Totoro

I wrote a lot about how I never really watched animated films in my post about Grave of the Fireflies. I don't want to restate that, but I feel like it needs to be said, because I am really starting to become a convert. I am so happy that Ebert picks such a wide variety of films, and I'm able to see such different and new genres. I probably would have never rented today's movie on my own, but I am in awe.

Today I watched My Neighbor Totoro, directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 1988. After I saw the whole movie, I was upset that I never saw it as a kid. I hoped that it had been directed when I was "older". Nope. The year I was born, of course. This is the kind of movie I would have loved when I was little. It is also still an incredible movie, and by far, more than any other film that tends to make people nostalgic for childhood, made me nostalgic. I loved the beautiful animation in this film, the plot, the characters, and the whole tone of it. I feel like every (American) animated film I've seen, I write about how scary it is and awful for children. Not this. This is a children's movie I would actually show to kids...and to all adults that I know.


I feel like I always talk about how scared I was (as a kid) by all movies geared towards children. I didn't like E.T. because I thought it was too scary (even now, haha!). I didn't like pretty much any Disney movie, because there was always a traumatic death or loss, and it was too much for me when I was a kid. In my post on Pinocchio, I wrote about how my mom still seems to be upset by the movie Bambi, and never let me see it growing up as a result. I just was so affected by how sad or frightening movies were to watch that I never feel nostalgic for them - I just remember how scared I was during them.

However, Totoro is so different. It's about Satsuki and Mei, two young sisters, and their father, as they move to the country to be closer to their mother. Their mother is ill and in the hospital, but she is recovering and hopes to be home with them soon. Their new house is old and sort of creepy, and a young boy runs by and tells them that it's haunted. They meet some soot sprites, but those aren't mean and scatter in light or when they hear laughing. Mei is only four, and she plays outside while Satsuki is at school. One day, she notices some odd creatures in the grass, and she runs after them. Suddenly, she falls down part of a tree and lands near a snoring, fat, totoro (he's cute, as you can see in the poster). He seems soft and cuddly, and when he roars at her, she roars back, unafraid. They nap together. When Mei tells her father and sister that she saw a totoro, and they all believe her, which I didn't expect! The totoro is a friend and guardian to them, helping them during any times of trouble in their lives.

There are so many things that this movie gets right. I loved the relationship between Satsuki and Mei. Mei usually does and says exactly what her sister does and says, which is often how siblings are. It made me think of myself and my younger cousin, although we only had a two year age difference. As an only child, I was always shocked and annoyed when she would "copy" me, but now, I was delighted to remember those days. I really loved that the movie included something so realistic. I also really liked the relationship that the father had to his daughters. As I said, I was surprised when he believed them, because it seems so rare that adults react in that way to their children. He both trusted them and encouraged their imagination at the same time.

I also really enjoyed the fact that the movie was not an action-packed or scary film. There were not villains or monsters. There were tense moments, and there were realistic parts that made me nervous. I liked that there was always something to help them through these moments, though. Satsuki, during the film, is learning what an adult concept of death is. She worries about her mother, and worries that the adults in her life aren't telling her the truth. But she has people there to support her as she goes through this, and if the adults around her cannot help, she has totoro.

More than anything, the film reminded me of how I felt when I was a child. Mei really made me nostalgic. I remember being a really curious and nature-loving child. I would go for walks and spend more time picking up stones, sticks, and acorns, than actually putting one foot in front of the other. Mei seems fascinated by the huge, beautiful, natural world around her, and I remember feeling that way. Where simple things are magical, and everything feels so big and you have the opportunity to explore it. I guess I was lucky in the fact that my childhood was not full of Disney-caliber fears or scary moments (that I can remember). At the very least, I liked to watch things that made me feel better about life. I liked that this shows kids that they aren't alone when they go through struggles. Maybe that isn't always realistic, but I thought it was a good message. Instead of "you'll be scared on on your own in foreign territory", there was an message of "you might be scared, but in the people around you or inside yourself, you can find strength." At least that's what I took away from the more tense parts of the film.

I don't know what else I can say without starting to repeat myself. Ebert brings up how so many American films have a kids-versus-adults vibe that is wonderfully absent here. It seems like the best family film ever, really. I love how realistic and beautiful the relationships between the characters are portrayed. I really was in awe of the animation - it is all hand drawn and looks incredible. I loved the story, how it was not scary but optimistic and charming.  I liked the message of the film, and how nostalgic it made me. I hope that you'll give this movie the chance that I gave it. Also, there is a cat bus. I always had a hard time seeing animated films as "legit", and couldn't see how they could be realistic, but I've really changed my mind since then. Let me know if you check this movie out!

Links:
Ebert's Great Movie Essay on My Neighbor Totoro
Buy it on Amazon

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I hoped. If I had to describe it in one word it would be innocence. Don't you wish you lived in a world like that?

    I strongly recommend all Studio Ghibli films; particularly if they are written and directed by Miyazaki. Only two are available in the US on Blu-ray right now, but they are gradually seeing releases.

    Totoro and Fireflies are two of the best and I know that you like those. Also try:

    NausicaƤ of the Valley of the Wind (on Blu-ray)

    Kiki's Delivery Service (the main character is 13)

    Ponyo (the closest to Totoro in feel and already out on Blu-ray)

    Spirited Away (won the Oscar)

    I gave all of those my highest rating along with Totoro and Fireflies. Just below that level are several more:

    Castle in the Sky (Blu-ray due in the US soon)

    Princess Mononoke

    Howl's Moving Castle

    Whisper of the Heart (Blu-ray due in the US soon)

    Porco Rosso

    I'm looking forward to your reviews of Cuckoo's Nest and Paris, Texas.

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  3. Did you see in Ebert's essay he writes: "The movie requires no villains. I am reminded that ''Winnie the Pooh'' also originally had no evil characters--but that in its new American version evil weasels have been written into A. A. Milne's benign world."

    Why do American children's movies feel they must interject evil? Do they do it because they feel the adults won't take their children to a movie without some big 'adult' conflict or parallel in it? This is so frustrating to me and seem unfair to young children.

    Evil Weasels!!! What was the other children's movie that had evil weasels in it...I know there was one because my daughter had nightmares of evil weasels for a long time after it.

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  4. Thanks for all the movie recommendations, Steven! I'll have to check those out.

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  5. My Neighbor Totoro is such a cute movie. Miyazaki is brilliant!

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  6. I have never seen this but I bought it for my 6-year-old nephew and 3-year-old niece for xmas (they're siblings) and my nephew, especially, absolutely loved it and has watched it several times.

    After reading your wonderful review, I'm going to watch it myself.

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  7. We will have to try this for our two. We really limit media and the few movies we've tried have not gone so well.
    I loved princess mononoke which we own and I saw spirited away. But my memory of both makes me feel they would not like it. Jess

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  8. Wow. I had totally forgotten about this movie. I worked in a video store from 1994 - 1996 and we used to put this movie on the tv in the store all the time. Even as a 17, 18, & 19 year old who desperately wanted to be more adult, I loved it. I've been trying to get my four year old to watch something that doesn't involve superheroes. Maybe this is the answer.

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