My Neighbour Totoro (1988) - When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wonderous forest spirits who live nearby.
*************************************************************************************************
Reviewed by Mark Walker. Please check out his blog:
Follow him on twitter @MarkusMarakai
*************************************************************************************************
Top 250 #166
Year of Release: 1988
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Voices of: Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, Pat Carroll, Paul Butcher, Lea Salonga, Frank Welker.
Anyone familiar with the animated works of Hayao Miyazaki will be aware that he takes you into a fantasy world full of imagination and delight. I’ve managed to work my way through a lot of his film’s but this one had always eluded me. However, maybe it was my anticipation for this that left me feeling more underwhelmed than I normally am with his films.
Satsuki (Dakota Fanning) and Mei Kusakabe (Elle Fanning) are two young sisters who move to a rural house in Japan to be closer to their ailing mother in hospital. Upon their arrival, they begin to explore their new surroundings and find that there are strange little creatures who inhabit the old building and further exploration into the forest brings them closer to a giant furry sprite named Totoro, who they go magical adventures with.
Miyazaki’s film takes it’s time to get going. It starts off positively and there is an early introduction to his fantastical nature but he never fully explores it. It was more of a human drama than it was a fantasy adventure. However, no-one does it quite like Miyazaki and his film’s always possess a refreshing vitality. This still delivers on that front but isn’t as accomplished as “Spirited Away” for example. I think the main problem rests in the pace of the film; it too lethargic for children and a little too heavy on the drama. The fantasy element is wonderful when it gets going but it’s not explored as in-depth as I would have liked, leaving my concentration to wander.
The fact that this is included in the IMDb top 250 is high praise indeed but it shouldn’t be held any higher than “Howl’s Moving Castle“. I also found the English language version a little off-putting. I mean, how hard can it be to add dubbing over hand drawn animation? It’s not as if there should be a problem with lip-syncing but for some reason, this didn’t seem to fit. Speaking of the animation though, it is quite exquisitely crafted and proof that Miyazaki has been at the forefront of hand drawn material for quite some time now.
Not as entertaining as I would expect from Miyazaki but still a wonderfully endearing and affectionate tale from the hand-drawn Sensei.
Thanks again for doing this Mark, great write up as always.
Hope you like the new ‘bio’ with your little picture. Should make it even more obvious who the guests are doing the review!
Sorry I’m so late to drop by man.
You’re more than welcome for this, as always an the new bio deal with pics is a nice little touch. Cheers bro.
No worries mate. Thanks again!
Excellent review – I’m in total agreement. It’s fun but not as magical as I found others of his to be.
Glad to hear you’re in agreement misty. It was good but not as good as Spirited Away for example.
Mark lays down another solid review. Great stuff man.
Thanks Ryan. Much appreciated man.
Greatness!!
One needs a sense of subtly to understand & be entertained by anything done by the Miyazaki family. Totoro is one of his most appreciated works. Enjoyed by those of us that understand Japanese anime’.
I don’t think I lack the subtlety or understanding to appreciate his work Marc. I think Mayazaki is a master of his craft but this was a little too lethargic for me. Normally I’m swept away with his stuff.
Good review! Totoro is one of my favorites. I know that a lot of people don’t enjoy it as much. For me, this one holds a lot of nostalgia and it remains one of my most treasured. I love all of Miyazaki’s work but to me this one is magical maybe because of how I saw it when I was younger.
Thanks Kim. I did enjoy this but much preferred his darker approach in Spirited Away.
My Neighbour Totoro is definitely one of the slower paced Ghibli movies but I still think it’s wonderful. The scene with Totoro in the rain waiting for the bus is just beautiful…although that catbus is freaky as fuck.
That scene you speak of is certainly a beauty. One of the films real highlights.
I hate the Disney English dub of this film, the Fanning sisters are annoying. I always watch Totoro in its Japanese track. Totoro might be slow, but not as slow as Grave of the Fireflies.
I haven’t seen Grave of the Fireflies but it’s certainly on my list. Glad to hear that I’m not the only one who had a problem with the English dubbing
This is my go-to “fluffy,fuzzy feelings” movie. I adore it.
I can understand you’re feelings here. It does have a fuzzy appeal.
So much love for this film. It’s definitely better if you watch the Japanese version with subtitles. The English over-dubbing is really off-putting!
When I get the chance I’ll revisit it with Japanese subtitles. The dubbing was definitely an issue.
Totoro is one of my fav. Ghibli films but I would have to agree with you on a lot of the points. The pacing is reletively slow and there really isn’t a consistant conundrum waiting to be solved like in his other films. This one is geared more towards kids who enjoy more visual stimulation then anything else. It’s more of a fantastical situation like thinking there’s a monster under your bed but its not a monster, its Totoro! Good review, very much enjoyed it
Nice review. This is one of my fave children’s films- it’s beautiful. I agree that the dubbing can be a little off-putting, I found this was the case in Grave of the Fireflies more than any other.
Thanks for this review Mark – I tend to agree that this doesn’t have the energy of SPIRITED, but still, even the most mundane of Miyazaki is preferable to so very much of Disney’s sausage factory output…