My Neighbour Totoro Double Play (Blu-ray + DVD) [Region B]

Ok, this is a Japanese animation for young children, but I defy anyone to watch My Neighbour Totoro and not fall in love with it. Watching this movie instantly transports you back to the magic and innocence of childhood. If I ever feel sad or ill, this film just fills me full of joy. I really can't recommend it enough. With no violence or conflict, the plot of My Neighbour Totoro is very slight, but its beauty is in its simplicity. Two young girls, the tomboy-ish, sensible Satsuki, and her inquisitive younger sister Mei, move into a new house in the country with their father, while their mother is in hospital. As they explore their new surroundings, they come into contact with a variety of magical creatures, including Totoro himself, who is a guardian spirit of the forest. Totoro is an enchanting creature - child-like, wise and cuddly all at once - but what really makes this film for me is the characters of the children. This may be a simple 2D animation, but you forget all that, as the children are just so true to life. The film really captures the spirit of childhood in every frame, from curious Mei toddling about delightedly after the forest spirits; to the boy in Satsuki's class who will only talk to her in grunts or by pulling rude faces, but who gives her his umbrella in the rain. So, if you are thinking about buying this DVD, I can only say DO IT NOW! This really is a timeless classic, suitable for children (and inner-children!) of all ages, and there really isn't anything else like it that I've ever seen - in fact, this film should come with a guarantee of a warm and fuzzy feeling every time you watch it.

I must start by saying that I am a big Anime fan generally and have been for over 15 years. That and having lived in Japan for a couple of years. I have seen all the Ghibli Studio movies, apart from the most recent - Ponyo. If you are new to Anime, and you are after something for the whole family, with a great storyline, moral and something that can be re-watched over and over again, then Ghibli Studio Animes are for you. Totoro is one of the best to start with and whatever your age, is enjoyable and will leave you with a warm feeling. The characters develop well, there is the mysetry surrounding it, the fantasy involved and the massive imagination. PLUS, the animation is superb. I was lucky enough to catch the animated short of "Mei to KoNeko Basu" (Mei and the baby Cat bus) at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan earlier in the year, and it was amazing the number of people who welled up with tears during the short - based on their fond memories from the original and the wonderful continuation of this short. Although this short is never likely to be released onto DVD in the foreseeable future, as it is a museum exclusive. If you like Totoro when you watch it, and you really should watch it, then I recommend you follow it up with Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service and Pom Poko (probably, IMHO, the most under-rated Ghibli movie). On the more edgy side (with a little war, blood and guts thrown in) are Laputa, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa, Grave of the Fireflies. Porco Rosso is a little oddball and difficult to categorise, but still good. The next release Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea will probably fall into the family, innocence, warm feeling category. So, it depends which side of the Ghibli Studio movies you want to go for first - but either way, you'll enjoy the films for their quality of story, direction, animation and feeling.

Great movie for any Miyazaki. Visual quality is tremendous - it's something about the studio Ghibli art style which manages to pack soooo much detail into the animated media format which makes it special. As always with Miyazaki movies the Japanese culture is apparent throughout, whether it is with their storytelling tropes, or the their ancient ability to be able to tell a story within a story. As far as the visuals go for the bluray version I was entirely satisfied - no visual artifacts, no banding, no stuttering, the only thing at a stretch I could even count as a "flaw" is the variable framerate - that is, some character movement is as low as 8 frames a second, and other things like pans are a standard 24 frames a second - but this isn't actually a flaw in the technical side of things, it is just going along with the art style. The story itself also strongly hints at some slightly risqué metaphors - (SPOILER) such as the suggested theory that Totoro (the big fluffy bear), is a physical manifestation of death itself, which is suggestion based on later plot points in the movie (END SPOILER), and so on. This makes it very enjoyable for adult viewing while the whole story is light enough to be viewed as a family/children's movie overall.

I love Miyazaki, but because I always thought this specific movie was more child oriented, I never really felt the desire to watch it. Now that I have, it's my favorite Ghibli movie yet. I found 'My Neighbor Totoro' a bit "lighter" than most of Miyazaki's movies, which in no way makes it less fantastic. The story is quite simple, it follows the lives of two girls, Satsuki and Mei, who move to a small house in a rural area, together with their father, so as to be closer to the hospital where their sick mother is recovering. While playing and exploring the new area, Mei comes across very mysterious creatures, and ends up meeting Totoro. The movie is mostly about their friendship. I have to say it's one of the sweetest and most beautiful movies I've ever watched. It made me giggle like a little girl and although it might first seem primarily aimed at children (like I thought before I watched it), I really think it's good for all ages. Very magical, and still strange enough that it can hold your attention and interest (a "catbus"?). Needless to say, I really, really recommend this movie. *** DVD: SOUND: Original Japanese, dubbed English. SUBTITLES: Japanese and English. EXTRAS: Complete storyboards - Get an insider look at the film's artistry; Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer; Textless Opening and Closing Credits; Studio Ghibli Trailer Reel.

I bought this copy of 'My Neighbour Totoro' to give to a friend; I thought she ought to be able to share it with her grandchildren. This appears to have been all the success I could have hoped for; everybody liked it. There are only two things wrong with the film to my eyes - it isn't long enough, and I think the music behind the titles is a bit too hearty. Otherwise it's the best anime cartoon I've ever seen, with unbelievably beautiful background art and funny, believable, human characters. The cat bus always makes me laugh, and the dream sequence with Totoro and his minions making the acorns grow like rockets says so much about childhood, Japan, and folk belief - I love the end of it, where they all finish up right at the top of the tree, playing ocarinas! Immediately afterwards the children wake in the morning; the seeds have sprouted, and they ecstatically echo the dance they performed in the dream with Totoro. It's an unusual film as it presents so much of the action in a dual way - you can believe everything from the children's viewpoint, and you can also see the real threat to their mother's health as a continuous presence; sun and shade, often in the same scene. The continued presence of the villagers, merging in and out of the background, serves to root the story very much in felt reality. Like all Miyazaki's anime, atmosphere is there to be experienced almost at first hand; was there ever such a wet wait for a bus in the gathering gloom of night?

My Neighbour Totoro is widely, and rightly, seen as a bright, delightful and gentle adventure. The thing is, I never see Totoro as *just* a "cutsey" film. The sun-strewn idyll of the country life and the girl's freindship with the mysterious, cute, furry creatures is always off-set with the underlying story of the hospitalised mother - potentially dying, with the possibility of the girls becoming motherless. Throughout the film this grave possibility always hangs over the girls' happiness, giving the film a tense undercurrent. There are other things too: the girls standing in the rain awaiting the return of their father - who then doesn't show when they expect him to. Helpless, the girls can only stand and wait, and hope. And the real sense of growing, gnawing panic over Mai's disappearance (the sandal in the pond, the gran's slump to the ground etc). The sense that human tragedy and loss is potentially never far off and can intrude even the tweeist and seemingly perfect of environments gives Totoro a weight that the fantastical battles of, say, Mononoke - superb as they of course are - can't quite compete with. Totoro is a charming film that is both heart-warming and heart-rending. It is a superb study of childhood, fantasy, family and loss.

Another fine release from Studio Ghibli. This one leans heavily on the cuteness aspect to win points from younger fans. But even if you're an older anime fan, you will end up watching it more than once just to appreciate the quality art work and animation. The film is rather short but that is probably a good thing for a young mind that can't sit still for hours at a time :) There's not a massive amount of story in here, but you can overlook that in this Ghibli film. Recommended.

I've wanted to watch this film for ages, having read all the adoring reviews and seen the cute Totoro merchandise everywhere. Finally got to see it last weekend and was dismayed to find the dubbed voices are American, the little girls shrill voices are like scratching on a blackboard to my ears. Also some inappropriate Americanisms have crept in. For example, Mai says "wait up" when IMO she should just say "wait" or even "wait for me". Her pronounciation of Tortoro's name sounds like "Toad a Row" - with the emphasis on Toad - truly horrible. I'd have loved to have english-speaking japanese actors doing the voices. Just my personal opinion, of course. Having said that, the story and the animation are enchanting and it deserves all the praise it receives. I watched it a second time and this time I played it in Japanese with english sub-titles and it was perfect. I just wish I'd done that first because those awful squeaky voices spoiled it slightly for me. I still gave it five stars because everything else about this film is charming and I'll watch it again (and again), just not the dubbed version.