My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro
Original Title; Tonari no Totoro
Directed by; Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 1988
Asian / Anime / Family, 86min
Distributed by: Zoke Movies

Story;
Two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, move with their father to the countryside so they can be closer to their ill mother, who is in hospital. One day Mei stumbles into gentle giant furry creature Totoro deep in the woods.

Me;
Movie magic from Anime master Hayao Miyazaki's studio Ghibli, Kicki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and many more. This has been my son's favourite movie for a few years, well most of his life actually. Since the first time he saw it up till now, he'll still watch Totoro and enjoy it, he even talks along to the Japanese dialogue [Dongiri!]. It's not at all strange that he likes this film; it's amazingly cute and works on so many levels, that even I can endure watching it again and again. Like so many of Miyazaki's movies it's based on Japanese folklore interwoven with European tales and legends. There's nothing in this movie that I fell should be different, it's all just perfect. The mysticism of the Totoro figure, most likely a forest spirit and his small helpers. The girls who first joke about him until Mei finally finds him sleeping inside a secret forest hideaway. The sadness of their mother’s illness and how this affects the two sisters, the amazing and always hilarious cat buss that helps Satsuki search for Mei when she goes missing; it's all part of this brilliant tale which is one of my definitive Ghibli favourites too. This is definitely a movie that you should have and watch over and over again. You'll love it.

Image:
Full frame 4:3 cropped to 16:9, Traditional or simplified Chinese and English subtitles are optional.

Audio:
Unfortunately being an early release of Totoro, this DVD only has Dolby Digital 2.0

Extras:
Not a lot at all. Just a few trailers of other movies from Zoke Movies.