MotW: My Neighbour Totoro

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So far, this movie and Spirited Away are my daughter's favorites. I like this one a lot too. As usual, the animation is great, but it is the story that really sticks out in this one. A father and his two daughters move to the countryside, because their mother is in the hospital. She apparently needs to live where the stress levels are much lower. However, she isn't able to live with the family, until she is cleared by the doctors. Even after she has been cleared, she can only live their for a weekend at a time to acclimatize herself.

I don't know what kind of illness this is, but the family moves to a rural area in an abandoned house that may or may not be haunted. The girls, four-year-old Mei and 11-year-old Satsuki, love the new home, but they are the first to see strange living fuzz balls, known as Susuwatari,

 when exploring the house.  An old lady, who is helping them settle in, says that they will move out after they realize that people have moved in, and convene for a meeting.  None of the adults see the Susuwarti, but they don't stop the girls from having an imagination.  They leave as the old lady said, and they move to the giant forest behind their house. 


Satsuki begins her studies at the local school, so Mei and her father remain at home.  Her Dad is a professor, but he is working at home, unless he has to lecture at the university.  While he is in his study, Mei plays out in the yard.  She finds an opening in the forest, and she does a bit of exploring to find a giant Totoro sleeping.   A Totoro is a giant fuzzy magical forest spirit.  To avoid spoilers, all I'll say is as the movie moves on, you get to see the adventures both Mei and Satsuki have with Totoro. 



Now, here is the key to the movie:  Mom is supposed to come home for her first weekend, but the doctors deny her departure over an illness.  Both girls are very scared about their mother dying, so Satsuki decides to get a hold of her father, who is at the university, by calling him at a neighbor's house, who has a telephone.  Naturally, Mei feels betrayed by what life has handed to her, and she disappears.  No one can find her, and the village is worried that she may have drowned in a rice patty.  Satsuki has no one to turn to, so she seeks out Totoro's help...

I won't say much more, but as we discussed the movie after watching it multiple times with my kids, we wondered if Totoro was real.  Of course, my kindergartner said, Yes, and he has magic!"  My 12 year old son said, "Maybe, in their heads."  And that is the wonderful part of the story.  The girls' father doesn't deny the existence of Totoro.  He has the children thank the spirits for looking after them.  However, the adults never see the spirits.  It is most likely that the girls were trying to cope with whatever issue their mother was having, so they invented Totoro and his friends in order to overcome their anguish.  But, it can be possible that the spirits are looking over them, and the innocence of a child is the only reason why they can see them, and that is why the adults know of their existence, but they cannot see them now.  

Either way, I found this movie wonderful.  I recommend it to adults and children alike.  This is one of the best movies Studio Ghibli has to offer.