Tonari no Totoro, better known as My Neighbour Totoro is a magical movie. I’ve been a big fan of the Studio Ghibli cartoons for some years. Examples are Spirited Away, Howl’s moving castle and Ponyo. If i would need to choose between a Disney movie or a studio Ghibli film, i will pick the last one without thinking about it. Hayao Miyazaki surely know how to create magical world every time in which you will lose yourself. My neighbour Totoro is no exception.
Satsuki and Mei are two girls that move out of the city while their morther is ill in the hospital, recovering from a disease. Entering a new house for the first can be very exciting for kids andn this movie shows that big change in their lives from their point of view. The discovery of new spots in the house is an adventure, as is exploring all the places around the house. The fact that they meet some ghosts living around and in the house results in very endearing situations. The youngest sister is very funny and Totoro, with his slow movements and low sound, is a joy to behold.
Studio Ghibli know how, just like Pixar, how to put grown up subject in their movies without kids thinking about them af frightening. They are thought how to handle them normally. Whether it’s exploring on your own or losing someone and trying to find them has been translated very well into various scenes. You feel like being a kid when watching this movie. The amount of detail in every shot is amazing, animating every leaf in a tree or having a complete tree to grow in a couple of seconds, it’s all seems easy to do. You will not see that amount of detail in the average Disney movie. The superior animation and not working according to a formula makes every Ghibli movie feel fresh.
If you have never seen any Ghibli movies, this is a good one to start with.
Score: 9
I am with you 100%!! For me, I would even choose Ghibli over Pixar and all other US animation studios. Ghibli has certain depth that those animation studio don’t have.
Totoro is one of my favorite tho I haven’t reviewed it yet. soon I hope.
Nice review.
Cool, I would have a hard item choosing between Pixar and Ghibli though as they can both make movies with a little more depth. Although I don’t see Pixar doing something like The Grave of the Fireflies though….