All About My Neighbor Totoro

Hayao Miyazkai both wrote and directed the moving picture My Neighbor Totoro. The film was first launched during August 1988 in Japan alongside some other feature called Grave Of The Fireflies. The movie won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1988.

In 1993, 50th Street Films produced a dub of the movie, which was published on VHS and DVD by Fox Video. Both of these entities lost their rights to the moving picture in 2004, and Disney produced a new English dub with new voice actors. The new English dub made its debut on October 23, 2005, and then it made an appearance at the Hollywood moving picture Festival. Turner Classic Movies was the first telecasting network to air the anime movie during a salute to Miyazaki on January 19, 2006. Disney's edition of the motion picture was put out on DVD on March 7, 2006.

My Neighbor Totoro takes place during the 1950's, and unfolds with a Tokyo university professor and his 2 daughters (Satsuki and Mei) moving into an historic home in rustic Japan. The girls' mother is staying in the hospital due to illness, so the move was made to be nearer to her. When they get there, the girls learn the household is inhabited by tiny creatures named soot sprites, which represent the girls' apprehension of moving into a new home. Later they become comfortable there and are able to jest with their father, the soot sprites leave.

One day while Satsuki is at schooling, Mei plays outside and discovers a creature with two white, rabbit-like ears. She traces the creature below the home, and discovers two magical creatures. The creatures take her through a briar patch and into the hollow of a big tree. Mei meets and befriends a bigger version of these spirits. The giant spirit identifies itself through a series of hollers, which Met construes as "Totoro." Afterwards, Satsuki meets Totoro. At the same time, Satsuki and Mei likewise meet the Catbus (a large bus-shaped cat) for the 1st time.

One day, after conceiving her mother's condition has worsened, Mei heads out on foot to the hospital. Satsuki launches a frantic search, and ends up enlisting the help of Totoro and the Catbus.
My Neighbor Totoro is available in a two disk DVD set which carries one DVD of the picture and several extras along with a second which holds a storyboard variation of the picture. On the first disk, there's a five-and-a-half minute documentary called, "Behind the Microphone," which features interviews and footage from recording sessions with several of the voice actors (Dakota and Elle Fanning, Lea Salogna, Pat Carroll, and Tim Daly). There's also textless versions of the opening and ending credits, as well as the original Japanese theatrical trailer. In the extras menu, you can also register your DVD. While there may not be a lot of extras, this has been the case with every Miyazaki motion picture that Disney has released on DVD. So while it's a little disappointing, it's not entirely unexpected.

While My Neighbor Totoro clocks in at under an hr and a half, it's still an pleasurable motion picture. It is quite possible that if the movie had been made to last any the story may have suffered. The look of the animation is perfect to accompany the story of the anime movie. The My Neighbor Totoro story is perfect watching for all the family unit and I suspect that anybody who has experienced it would recommend it.