Synopsis
When two sisters, Satsuki and Elle, move to a new town with their father to be close to their ailing mother, they find adventures with some very playable forest spirits. The spirits help to keep their minds squarely in fun and adventure, while their mom tries to recover.
One thing that Director Hayao Miyazaki is perfect in doing is capturing what everyone’s childhood looks like. While we all might not have ever played with forest spirits, or even met Totoro, we have all been there looking for something beautiful and adventurous to grasp onto and whisk us away in the moment of family crisis. He captures Satsuki and Elle in this world that keeps tugging them back and forth, trying to yank away pieces of their childhood, which should be too sacred to pull apart. The shaky environment they live in is caused by their mom’s uncertain health. To keep them grounded and remind them that such things don’t need to be a part of their childhood, Miyazaki creates this giant forest spirit (half-cat/half-hamster, maybe?) in Totoro that guides them through misadventures while the brunt of their situation is taken on by adults.
Simply put folks, this is a remarkable achievement in animated films, and the beginning of a mainstream love affair with Studio Ghibli’s work.
What I particularly love about My Neighbor Totoro is that no adult in the film discourages the children’s imagination and their connection to Totoro. They let the kids believe what they want to believe, while still maintaining that grounded feel to the movie. Because of this, the movie transcends from just another animated adventure, and pulls in both children and adults to fully enjoy what’s happening onscreen. The story touches everyone, as adults will relate to how a child is reacting in the moment of family crisis, but also how they should react to keep the child from what could potentially be the most horrific moment of life. Kids will love this film because their imaginations like to run wild.
Story aside, per usual, Studio Ghibli finds the right cast to place with these characters. Dakota and Elle Fanning were perfect as Satsuki and Elle. Since they were already sisters, they brought with them that believable bickering and innocent fun that sisters would have in real life. Tim Daly, from Wings — yep, that show you never watched, plays their father in the film and he adds a calming overtone to every moment of tension or anxiety. He was a great choice for this role and made it all work well. All in all, fantastic casting for this film.
In the end, My Neighbor Totoro is a fantastic adventure from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. It’s proof that animation can be more than just cutesy characters; it’s proof that art exists within a very emotional story.
As for the Blu-ray, it’s picture perfect. There is no graininess, no artifacts in this Blu-ray release. The colors are brought out by the HD transfer and digital mastering. What you get is a beautiful HD delivery that brings out the colors quite vividly. There is no compression issues with this, no issues with color banding; absolutely a beautiful transfer to Blu-ray. This will fit nicely with the rest of the Studio Ghibli Blu-ray releases, hopefully Spirited Away is coming up soon.
Finally, as for special features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Original Japanese Storyboards
– Original Japanese Trailer
– Behind the Microphone
– Behind the Studio
– Creating My Neighbor Totoro
– Creating the Characters
– The ‘Totoro’ Experience
– Producer’s Perspective: Creating Ghibli
– The Locations of ‘Totoro’
– Scoring Miyazaki
For fans of Miyazaki and the film, you’re going to love what this Blu-ray release has in store for you. Lots of goodies that open up some new doors of ‘how they did it’ for the film. I particularly like the ‘Behind the Studio’ featurettes, as well as the Japanese storyboards and trailer. They are very solid compliments to an already great film.
