My Neighbor Totoro Turns 25

I am mildly ashamed to admit it, but I was a very late convert to the magic of Studio Ghibli and the genius of Hayao Miyazaki.

My introduction was Spirited Away and only due to the attention it gained post-2003 Oscars at which it won Best Animated Feature. But even then it was a good few years before I ventured into anything else by either the studio or the director.

Made in 1988, My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro - となりのトトロ) only came onto my radar in at least 2007 long after I had first noticed him in those Morning Glory stores filled with brightly coloured Japanese figurines.

Totoro is the story of two young girls who move into a house in the country with their father, which they find is inhabited by small sooty house spirits. The spirits guide the children's discovery of their new home and leave the house once the children become used to their new environment.

Later Mei is led to a tree nearby her home and happens across another spirit, whom she dubs Totoro, and magic ensues.

What I find wonderful about Miyazaki's work is the way that he balances emotions and wonder in his films. In Totoro the children have been uprooted and moved to a new and unfamiliar place because their mother is sick. Moving home and having family members in hospital are generally not easy situations to deal with, however here they are guided through the transition by the house spirits, initially, and the guardian of the forest, Totoro. 

As they wait for their father at the bus stop, the whimsical Totoro appears to Satsuki providing her with a comfort, reassurance, and almost distraction, until her father arrives. In the cold, he brings her warmth and this radiates throughout the film.

Oh, and of course there's a Catbus.

I think there's a special something in Miyazaki's films that is just for grown ups. It's a feeling of nostalgia and an awakening of that long lost sense of whimsy and belief in the unbelievable. For me, this experience is heightened by listening to the characters speak in their native Japanese, a language that is far more expressive, at least in my experience from Miyazaki's movies, than any English dub. I think that's something children miss from these films, but at the same time it is these elements that I hope they too come to appreciate some day.

So as it turns out, My Neighbor Totoro is now 25, and to celebrate the lovely people at Madman have released a special anniversary limited edition box set, which includes a DVD and Blu-Ray as well as an official Art of My Neighbor Totoro book and exclusive art cards. This would make a great gift for anyone passionate about Miyazaki and Ghibli or, alternative, a keepsake for those children in your life who one day you'll be able to share it with.

-Stevie O'C