My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. It follows the story of two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. Films has World Premiere on Japan 16 July 1988 same day as Grave of the Fireflies. The Disney dubbing was released on 23 October 2005.
Plot
In 1958 Japan, university professor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move into an old house to be closer to the hospital where their mother Yasuko is recovering from a long-term illness. Satsuki and Mei find that the house is inhabited by tiny animated dust creatures called Sootballs - small, dark, dust-like house spirits seen when moving from light to dark places. When the girls become comfortable in their new house and laugh with their father, the soot spirits leave the house to drift away on the wind. It is implied that they are going to find another empty house- their natural habitat.
Mei follow a Little totoro
One day, Mei sees two white, rabbit-like ears in the grass and follows the ears under the house. She discovers two small magical creatures who lead her through a briar patch and into the hollow of a large camphor tree. She meets and befriends a larger version of the same kind of spirit, which identifies itself by a series of roars that she interprets as Totoro. She falls asleep atop the large totoro, but when Satsuki finds her, she is on the ground in a dense briar clearing. Despite her many attempts, Mei is unable to show her family Totoro's tree. Her father comforts her by telling her that this is the keeper of the forest, and that Totoro will reveal himself when he wants to.
The Girls waiting their father along with Totoro
One rainy day, the girls are waiting for father's bus and grow worried when he does not arrive on the bus they expect him on. As they wait, Mei eventually falls asleep on Satsuki's back and Totoro appears beside them, allowing Satsuki to see him for the first time. He only has a leaf on his head for protection against the rain, so Satsuki offers him the umbrella she had taken along for the father. Totoro is delighted as both the shelter and the sounds made upon it by falling raindrops. In return, he gives her a bundle of nuts and seeds. A bus-shaped giant cat halts at the stop, and Totoro boards it, taking the umbrella. Shortly after, their father's bus arrives.
The girls plant the seeds. A few days later, they awaken at midnight to find Totoro and his two miniature colleagues engaged in a ceremonial dance around the planted nuts and seeds. The girls join in, whereupon the seeds sprout and then grow and combine into an enormous tree. Totoro takes his colleagues and the girls for a ride on a magical flying top. In the morning, the tree is gone, but the seeds have indeed sprouted.
The girls find out that a planned visit by Yasuko has to be postponed because of a setback in her treatment. Satsuki' disappointed and worries tells Mei the bad news, which Mei does not take well. This leads into an argument between the two, ending in Satsuki angrily yelling at Mei and stomping off. Mei decides to walk to the hospital to bring some fresh corn to her mother.
Mei's disappearance prompts Satsuki and the neighbors to search for her. Eventually, Satsuki returns in desperation to the camphor tree and pleads for Totoro's help. Delighted to be of assistance, he summons the Catbus, which carries her to where the lost Mei sits. Having rescued her, the Catbus then whisks her and Satsuki over the countryside to see their mother in the hospital. The girls perch in a tree outside of the hospital, overhearing a conversation between their parents and discovering that she has been kept in hospital by a minor cold and is otherwise doing well. They secretly leave the ear of corn on the windowsill, where it is discovered by the parents, and return home on the Catbus. When the Catbus departs, it disappears from the girls' sight
In the end credits, Mei and Satsuki's mother returns home, and the sisters play with other children, with Totoro and his friends as unseen observers.
Cast
| Character name | Japanese voice actor | English voice actor (Tokuma/Streamline/Fox/50th Street Films, 1989/1993) |
English voice actor (Disney, 2005) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satsuki Kusakabe | Noriko Hidaka | Lisa Michelson | Dakota Fanning |
| Mei Kusakabe | Chika Sakamoto | Cheryl Chase | Elle Fanning |
| Tatsuo Kusakabe | Shigesato Itoi | Greg Snegoff | Tim Daly |
| Yasuko Kusakabe | Sumi Shimamoto | Alexandra Kenworthy | Lea Salonga |
| Totoro | Hitoshi Takagi | Unknown | Frank Welker |
| Catbus | Naoko Tatsuka | Carl Macek | |
| Granny/Nanny | Tanie Kitabayashi | Natalie Core | Pat Carroll |
| Kanta Okagi | Toshiyuki Amagasa | Kenneth Hartman | Paul Butcher |
| Michiko | Chie Kojiro | Brianne Siddall | Unknown |
| Kanta's Mother | Yuko Maruyama | Melanie MacQueen | Kath Soucie |
| Kanta's Father | Masashi Hirose | Steve Kramer | Unknown |
| Otoko | Daiki Nakamura | Kerrigan Mahan | |
| Ryouko | Yuko Mizutani | Lara Cody | Bridget Hoffman |
Additional Voices
- Japanese: Shigeru Chiba, Naoko Tatsuka, Tarako, Tomohiro Nishimura, Mitsuko Ishida, Chie Kojiro, Akiko Hiramatsu, Ikue Otani
- Streamline: Greg Snegoff, Steve Kramer, Lara Cody
- Disney: Matt Adler, Newell Alexander, David Midthunder, Kristin Klabunde, J.P. Manoux, Evan Sabara, Kath Soucie, Yvonne Russo, Russi Taylor, Toochis Morin, Peter Renaday, Robert Clotworthy, Kimberly Guererro, Zahn McClarnon, Katelin Petersen, Ashley Rose Orr
Uncredited
- Tress MacNeille - Satsuki's Teacher (Disney dub)
- Kerrigan Mahan - Searcher 2 (Streamline dub)
- Edie Mirman - Teacher, Old Woman (Streamline dub)
- Doug Stone - Mailman, Searcher 1 (Streamline dub)
Sequel
Mei and the Kittenbus (Mei to Konekobasu) is a thirteen minute sequel to My Neighbor Totoro which is shown exclusively at the Ghibli Museum. It focuses on Mei and her adventure with the Kittenbus.
Animation Book
Main arcticles:The Art of My Neighbor Totoro
Release
- 16 April 1988 Original is released in Japanese theatres alongside with Grave of the Fireflies
- 3 August 1988 Original VHS release
- Spring 1993 The English dub from Streamline Pictures is released in theatres.
- Summer 1994 The Streamline Pictures dub is released on VHS by Fox Video.
- 27 June 1997 Newer VHS release
- Autumn 2001 DVD release
- 2002 The Streamline Pictures dub is released on DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
- 2005 Fox's rights to the English dub expire, with Disney taking the rights.
- 2006 The Disney dub is released on DVD.
- 2013 The Disney Dub is released on Blu-ray.
- Summer 2014 DVD release by Japan
Gallery
- See also My Neighbor Totoro/Gallery
Trivia
- My Neighbor Totoro has release on cinema as same day as Grave of the Fireflies.
- Both of the actresses for the sisters (Cheryl Chase as Mei and the late Lisa Michelson as Satsuki) in the Streamline version (And in the japanse version which Chika Sakamoto as Mei) were born in 1958, when the film takes place.
- Speaking of the Streamline version, Greg Snegnoff (Dad) was married to (and left by) Lisa Michelson (Satsuki).
- In the Disney dub, the sisters were voiced by real-life sisters.
- This is the only Studio Ghibli film that used Hanna-Barbera sound effects.