Classic Anime - My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro is a moving picture wrote and directed by Hayao Miyazkai. It was in the first place put out in Japan in August 1988, as part of a double feature with Grave of the Fireflies. The anime 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. Once these companies gave up their rights to the motion picture in 2004, Disney took them over and released a new English dub using different actors voices. The fresh English dub made its debut on October 23, 2005, and then it made an appearance at the Hollywood motion picture Festival. Turner Classic Movies was the first telecasting network to air the movie during a salute to Miyazaki on January 19, 2006. Disney's variation of the anime movie was published on DVD on March 7, 2006.

The My Neighbor Totoro story is set in Japan in the 1950's and leads off with a father and his 2 girls relocating to the countryside. The girls' mother is resting in the hospital due to sickness, so the move was made to be nearer to her. Arriving at their new home, Mei and Satsuki find small creatures identified as Soot Sprites also living in the home. Later On they get comfortable there and are able to jest with their father, the soot sprites go away.

On an occasion when Satsuki is off at school, Mei is playing and discovers an special creature with ears like a rabbits. Mei tracks the exotic creature and finds another similar but larger creature as well.She is led by the funny creatures past a briar patch upto the hollow of a enormous tree.Mei meets and befriends a bigger version of these spirits. The big spirit identifies itself through a series of yowls, which Met interprets as "Totoro." Later On, Satsuki meets Totoro. At the same time, Satsuki and Mei also meet the Catbus (a large bus-shaped cat) for the initial time.

One day, after thinking her mother's condition has exacerbated, 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 contains one DVD of the picture and several extras along with a second which features a storyboard rendering of the movie. 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 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 below an hr and a half, it's still an pleasurable picture. It is quite possible that if the picture had been made to last any farther the story may have suffered. The look of the animation is perfect to accompany the story of the motion picture. This is definitely a very family-friendly anime movie, and I would highly commend it.