My Neighbor Totoro: Movie Analysis

Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, is one of the most widely acclaimed animation directors of all time. While Studio Ghibli is often nicknamed, “The Disney of Japan”, it more than stands on its own and, in my opinion, is superior in terms of storytelling and visuals. He is most known for his movie, My Neighbor Totoro, whose titular creature has become the mascot for the studio and an icon in Japanese media. While most reviews you would find for this movie are overwhelmingly positive, there are always a few rotten tomatoes in the basket. A reviewer from The New York Times, Stephen Holden, wrote that he thought the movie was without any real conflicts and, “crosses the line from sweet to saccharine”(Holden). He fails to realize, …show more content…
While Satsuke and Mei are exploring their new home they find mysterious creatures known as “soot sprites”. Their neighbor, who they call Nanny, tells them that these creatures inhabit houses that have been empty and now that the family has moved in, they will leave to go live in another building. Satsuke begins school in their new town, while Mei, who is too young to go to school, is either watched by her father or Nanny. One day while the dad is working on something inside the house, Mei is busy outside working on the garden when she sees a mysterious white spirit. Being a curious child she follows it down into a hole where she comes in contact with two other spirits. One is a slightly larger blue version, and the other is a massive gray being, whom Mei names “Totoro”. Satsuke does not believe Mei when she tells her about this, but when they are waiting for their dad to come back from work one evening, they meet Totoro again as he is boarding the cat-bus hybrid. We learn that the reason their family moved to this place is so they can be closer to their sick mother in the hospital. Totoro has a few more appearances throughout the film, helping the girls when needed and showing them the wonders of the forest and the nature around