Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 03:44, 28 November 2024

My Neighbor Totoro
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kana	となりのトトロ
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Tonari no Totoro
Directed by	Hayao Miyazaki
Written by	Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by	Toru Hara
Starring	Chika Sakamoto Noriko Hidaka Hitoshi Takagi
Cinematography	Hisao Shirai
Edited by	Takeshi Seyama
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Production company	Studio Ghibli
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	April 16, 1988 (1988-04-16)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	$41 million

My Neighbor Totoro (Japanese: となりのトトロ, Hepburn: Tonari no Totoro) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. It stars the voices of Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto and Hitoshi Takagi, and focuses on two young sisters and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan.

The film explores themes such as animism, Shinto symbology, environmentalism and the joys of rural living. My Neighbor Totoro received worldwide critical acclaim, and has grossed over $41 million worldwide at the box office as of September 2019; the film also grossed significantly more from home video sales and merchandise.

My Neighbor Totoro received numerous awards, including the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize, the Mainichi Film Award, and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film in 1988. It also received the Special Award at the Blue Ribbon Awards in the same year. The film is considered as one of the top animation films, ranking 41st in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010 and the number-one animated film on the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of all-time greatest films. The film and its titular character have become cultural icons, and made multiple cameo appearances in other films. Totoro also serves as the mascot for Studio Ghibli and is recognized as one of the most popular characters in Japanese animation.

Plot

In 1950s Japan, university professor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his daughters Satsuki and Mei (approximately ten and four years old, respectively) move into an old house close to the hospital where the girls' mother, Yasuko, is recovering from a long-term illness. The house is inhabited by small, dark, dust-like house spirits called susuwatari, that can be seen when moving from bright places to dark ones. The susuwatari leave to find another empty house. Mei discovers two small spirits that lead her into the hollow of a large camphor tree. She befriends a larger spirit, which identifies itself using a series of roars that she interprets as "Totoro". Mei thinks Totoro is the troll from her illustrated book Three Billy Goats Gruff. She falls asleep atop Totoro but when Satsuki finds her, she is on the ground. Despite many attempts, Mei cannot show her family Totoro's tree. Tatsuo comforts her, saying Totoro will reveal himself when he wants to.

The girls wait for Tatsuo's bus, which is late. Mei falls asleep on Satsuki's back and Totoro appears beside them, allowing Satsuki to see him for the first time. Totoro has only a leaf on his head for protection against the rain, prompting Satsuki to offer her umbrella to him. Delighted, he gives her a bundle of nuts and seeds in return. A giant, bus-shaped cat arrives; Totoro boards it and leaves. A few days after planting the seeds, the girls awaken at midnight to find Totoro and his fellow spirits engaged in a ceremonial dance around the planted seeds. They join in, causing the seeds to grow into an enormous tree. Totoro takes the girls for a ride on a magical flying top. In the morning, the tree is gone but the seeds have sprouted.

The girls discover that a planned visit by their mother has been postponed because of a setback in her treatment. Mei is upset and argues with Satsuki. She leaves for the hospital to take fresh corn to their mother, but gets lost on the way. Mei's disappearance prompts Satsuki and the neighbors to search for her, thinking that Mei has died. In desperation, Satsuki pleads for Totoro's help. Totoro summons the Catbus, which carries Satsuki to Mei's location, and the sisters reunite. The bus then takes them to the hospital, where the girls learn that their mother has been kept in the hospital by a minor cold but is otherwise recovering well. The girls secretly leave the ear of corn on the windowsill, where their parents discover it.

Eventually, their mother returns home and the girls play with other children while Totoro and his friends watch from afar.

Themes

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2023)

Animism is a major theme in My Neighbor Totoro, according to Eriko Ogihara-Schuck. Totoro has animistic traits and has kami status because he lives in a camphor tree in a Shinto shrine surrounded by a Shinto rope, and he is referred to as mori no nushi (master of the forest). Ogihara-Schuck writes that when Mei returns from her encounter with Totoro, her father takes Mei and her sister to the shrine to greet and thank Totoro. This is a common practice in the Shinto tradition following an encounter with a kami. According to Phillip E. Wegner, the film is an example of alternative history, citing the utopian-like setting of the anime.

Voice cast

Production

Development

After working on 3000 Miles in Search of a Mother, Miyazaki wanted to make a "delightful, wonderful film" that would be set in Japan with the idea to "entertain and touch its viewers, but stay with them long after they have left the theaters". Initially, Miyazaki had the main characters Totoro, Mei, Tatsuo, and Kanta. The director based Mei on his niece, and Totoros as "serene, carefree creatures" that were "supposedly the forest keeper, but that's only a half-baked idea, a rough approximation".

Art director Kazuo Oga was drawn to the film when Hayao Miyazaki showed him an original image of Totoro standing in a satoyama. Miyazaki challenged Oga to raise his standards, and Oga's experience with My Neighbor Totoro began Oga's career. Oga and Miyazaki debated the film's color palette; Oga wanted to paint black soil from Akita Prefecture and Miyazaki preferred the color of red soil from Kantō region. The finished film was described by Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki; "It was nature painted with translucent colors".

Oga's conscientious approach to My Neighbor Totoro was a style the International Herald Tribune recognized as " the traditional Japanese animist sense of a natural world that is fully, spiritually alive". The newspaper said of the film:

Set in a period that is both modern and nostalgic, the film creates a fantastic, yet strangely believable universe of supernatural creatures coexisting with modernity. A great part of this sense comes from Oga's evocative backgrounds, which give each tree, hedge and twist in the road an indefinable feeling of warmth that seems ready to spring into sentient life.

Oga's work on My Neighbor Totoro led to his continued involvement with Studio Ghibli, which assigned him jobs that would play to his strengths, and Oga's style became a trademark style of Studio Ghibli.

Only one young girl, rather than two sisters, is depicted in several of Miyazaki's initial conceptual watercolor paintings, as well as on the theatrical release poster and on later home-video releases. According to Miyazaki; "If she was a little girl who plays around in the yard, she wouldn't be meeting her father at a bus stop, so we had to come up with two girls instead. And that was difficult." Miyazaki said the film's opening sequence was not storyboarded; "The sequence was determined through permutations and combinations determined by the time sheets. Each element was made individually and combined in the time sheets ..." The ending sequence depicts the mother's return home and the signs of her return to good health by playing with Satsuki and Mei outside.

Miyazaki stated that the story was initially intended to be set in 1955, however, the team was not thorough in the research and instead worked on a setting "in the recent past". The film was originally set to be an hour long but during production it grew to respond to the social context, including the reason for the move and the father's occupation. Eight animators worked on the film, which was completed in eight months.

Tetsuya Endo noted numerous animation techniques were used in the film. For example, ripples were designed with "two colors of high-lighting and shading" and the rain for My Neighbor Totoro was "scratched in the cels" and superimposed for it to convey a soft feel. The animators stated one month was taken to create the tadpoles, which included four colors; the water for it was also blurred.

Music

The music for My Neighbor Totoro was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who previously collaborated with Miyazaki on the movies Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky. Hisaishi was inspired by the contemporary composers Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and John Cage, and described Miyazaki's films as "rich and personally compeling". He hired an orchestra for the soundtrack and primarily used a Fairlight instrument.

The soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro was first released in Japan on May 1, 1988, by Tokuma Shoten, and includes the musical score used in the film, except for five vocal pieces that were performed by Azumi Inoue, including "Stroll", "A Lost Child", and "My Neighbor Totoro". It had previously been released as an Image Song CD in 1987 that contains some songs that were not included in the film.

Release

After writing and filming Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Castle in the Sky (1986), Hayao Miyazaki began directing My Neighbor Totoro for Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki's production paralleled his colleague Isao Takahata's production of Grave of the Fireflies. Miyazaki's film was financed by executive producer Yasuyoshi Tokuma, and both My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies were released on the same bill in 1988. The dual billing was considered "one of the most moving and remarkable double bills ever offered to a cinema audience".

Box office

In Japan, My Neighbor Totoro initially sold 801,680 tickets and earned a distribution rental income of ¥588 million in 1988. According to the animation scholar Seiji Kano, by 2005, the film's box-office gross receipts in Japan totalled ¥1.17 billion ($10.6 million). In France, the film has sold 429,822 tickets since 1999. The film has been internationally released several times since 2002. The film has grossed $30,476,708 worldwide since 2002. A South China Morning Post article in 2021 reported that the film has grossed more than $41 million in total.

Thirty years after its original release in Japan, My Neighbor Totoro received a Chinese theatrical release in December 2018. The delay was due to long-standing political tensions between China and Japan but many Chinese people had become familiar with Miyazaki's films due to rampant video piracy. In its opening weekend, ending December 16, 2018, My Neighbor Totoro grossed $13 million, entering the box-office charts at number two behind Hollywood film Aquaman and ahead of Bollywood film Padman at number three. By its second weekend, My Neighbor Totoro had grossed $20 million in China. As of February 2019, it had grossed $25,798,550 in China.

English dubs

In 1989, US-based company Streamline Pictures produced an exclusive English language dub of My Neighbor Totoro for use as an in-flight movie on Japan Airlines flights. In April 1993, Troma Films, under its label 50th St. Films, distributed the dub of the film as a theatrical release. The songs for the Streamline version of My Neighbor Totoro were sung by Cassie Byram.

In 2004, Walt Disney Pictures produced a new English dub of My Neighbor Totoro to be released after the rights to the Streamline dub had expired. As is the case with Disney's other English dubs of Miyazaki films, the Disney version of My Neighbor Totoro has a star-heavy cast, including Dakota and Elle Fanning as Satsuki and Mei, Timothy Daly as Mr. Kusakabe, Pat Carroll as Granny, Lea Salonga as Mrs. Kusakabe, and Frank Welker as Totoro and Catbus. The songs for the new dub retain the translation as the earlier dub but are sung by Sonya Isaacs. The Disney dub was directed by Rick Dempsey, a Disney executive in charge of the company's dubbing services, and was written by Don and Cindy Hewitt, who had written other dubs for Studio Ghibli.

Disney's English-language dub premiered on October 23, 2005; it was screened at the 2005 Hollywood Film Festival. The cable television network Turner Classic Movies (TCM) held the television premiere of Disney's new English dub in January 2006, as part of the network's tribute to Hayao Miyazaki. TCM aired the dub and the original Japanese film with English subtitles. The Disney version was released on DVD in the United States on March 7, 2006. In Australia, an English dub was also released by Madman Entertainment on March 15, 2006.

In 2023, the film was re-released in 970 United States locations as part of celebrations to mark the 35th anniversary of its first theatrical release, with showings in both Japanese with English subtitles and with the English dub.

Home media

Tokuma Shoten released My Neighbor Totoro on VHS and LaserDisc in August 1988. Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan (now Walt Disney Japan) reissued the VHS on June 27, 1997, as part of their series Ghibli ga Ippai. Disney released the film on Blu-ray in Japan on 2012.

After the rights to the Streamline dub expired in 2004, Walt Disney Home Entertainment re-released the movie on DVD on March 7, 2006, with Disney's newly produced English dub and the original Japanese version. The company reissued My Neighbor Totoro, as well as Castle in the Sky, and Kiki's Delivery Service, with updated cover art highlighting its Studio Ghibli origins, on March 2, 2010, coinciding with the US DVD and Blu-ray debut of Ponyo. My Neighbor Totoro was re-released by Disney on Blu-Ray on May 21, 2013. GKIDS re-issued the film on Blu-ray and DVD on October 17, 2017.

In Japan, My Neighbor Totoro had sold 3.5 million VHS and DVD units as of April 2012, equivalent to approximately ¥16,100 million ($202 million) at an average retail price of ¥4,600 (¥4,700 on DVD and ¥4,500 on VHS). In the United States, the film sold over 500,000 VHS units by 1996, with the later 2010 DVD release selling a further 3.8 million units and grossing $64.5 million in the United States as of October 2018.

In the UK, the film's Studio Ghibli anniversary release appeared on the annual lists of ten-best-selling foreign language films on home video for five consecutive years, ranking number seven in 2015, number six in 2016 and 2017, number one in 2018, and number two in 2019 below Spirited Away.

Reception

My Neighbor Totoro received widespread acclaim from film critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 59 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "My Neighbor Totoro is a heartwarming, sentimental masterpiece that captures the simple grace of childhood." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

In 2001, Japanese magazine Animage ranked My Neighbor Totoro 45th in its list of 100 Best Anime Productions of All Time. My Neighbor Totoro was voted the highest-ranking animated film on Sight & Sound's critics' poll of all-time greatest films, and joint 154th overall. In 2022, the magazine ranked the film as the joint-72nd-greatest film overall, being one of two animated films included in the list. My Neighbor Totoro was ranked third on the list of "Greatest Japanese Animated Films of All Time" by film magazine Kinema Junpo in 2009, 41st in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010, second on a similar Empire list of best children's films, and number one in the greatest animated films in Time Out; a similar list by the editors ranked the film in third place.

Film critic Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times identified My Neighbor Totoro as one of his "Great Movies", calling it "one of the lovingly hand-crafted works of Hayao Miyazaki". In his review, Ebert said the film "is based on experience, situation and exploration—not on conflict and threat", and added:

it would never have won its worldwide audience just because of its warm heart. It is also rich with human comedy in the way it observes the two remarkably convincing, lifelike little girls ... It is a little sad, a little scary, a little surprising and a little informative, just like life itself. It depends on a situation instead of a plot, and suggests that the wonder of life and the resources of imagination supply all the adventure you need.

Steve Rose from The Guardian gave the film five stars, praising Miyazaki's "rich, bright, hand-drawn" animation and describing it as "full of benign spirituality, prelapsarian innocence and joyous discovery, all rooted in a carefully detailed reality". Trevor Johnston from Time Out also awarded the film five stars, commenting on its "delicate rendering of the atmosphere" and its first half that "delicately captures both mystery and quietness". Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited My Neighbor Totoro as one of his favorite films. Writing for the London Evening Standard, Charlotte O'Sullivan praised the charm of the film but said it lacks complexity in comparison with Spirited Away. Jordan Cronk from Slant awarded the film three-and-a-half stars but said it is "devoid of much of the fantasia of Miyazaki's more outwardly visionary work". In the 1996 movie guide "Seen That, Now What?", My Neighbor Totoro was given the rating of "A". The guide stated that the film is an "enchanting, lushly animated view of the natural world with child's sense of wonder", and noting its suitability for young children while being "a perennial favorite among ".

The 1993 translation was not as well-received as the 2006 translation; Leonard Klady of Variety wrote the 1993 translation demonstrates "adequate television technical craft" that is characterized by "muted pastels, homogenized pictorial style and vapid storyline". Klady described the film's environment as "obviously aimed at an international audience" but "evinces a disorienting combination of cultures that produces a nowhere land more confused than fascinating". Stephen Holden of The New York Times described the 1993 translation as "very visually handsome", and said the film is "very charming" when "dispensing enchantment". Despite the highlights, Holden wrote "too much of the film, however, is taken up with stiff, mechanical chitchat".

Matthew Leyland of Sight & Sound reviewed the DVD released in 2006, commenting; "Miyazaki's family fable is remarkably light on tension, conflict and plot twists, yet it beguiles from beginning to end ... what sticks with the viewer is the every-kid credibility of the girls' actions as they work, play and settle into their new surroundings". Leyland praised the DVD transfer of the film but noted the disc lacks a look at the film's production, instead being overabundant with storyboards. Writing in Joe Hisaishi's Soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro, Kunio Hara praised the soundtrack, describing the song "My Neighbor Totoro" as a "sonic icon" of the film. Hara also commented the music "arouse a similar sentiment of yearning for the past".

Awards and nominations

Legacy

My Neighbor Totoro was considered a milestone for writer-director Hayao Miyazaki. The popularity of the film's central character Totoro among Japanese children has been likened to that of Winnie-the-Pooh in Britain. The Independent said Totoro is one of the greatest cartoon characters, describing the creature; "At once innocent and awe-inspiring, King Totoro captures the innocence and magic of childhood more than any of Miyazaki's other magical creations". The Financial Times recognized the character's appeal, commenting Totoro "is more genuinely loved than Mickey Mouse could hope to be in his wildest—not nearly so beautifully illustrated—fantasies". Empire also commented on Totoro's appeal, ranking him at number 18 on a list of the greatest animated characters of all time.

The character of Totoro later became a mascot and official logo for Studio Ghibli.

According to the environmental journal Ambio, My Neighbor Totoro "has served as a powerful force to focus the positive feelings that the Japanese people have for satoyama and traditional village life". The film's central character Totoro was used as a mascot by the Japanese campaign "Totoro Hometown Fund Campaign", which aimed to preserve areas of satoyama in Saitama Prefecture. The fund, started in 1990 after the film's release, held an auction in August 2008 at Pixar Animation Studios to sell over 210 original paintings, illustrations, and sculptures inspired by My Neighbor Totoro.

Miyazaki additionally uses Totoro as a part of his logo for Studio Ghibli. Totoro also makes a cameo appearance in the Pixar film Toy Story 3 (2010) but was not included in Toy Story 4 due to licensing problems. Toy Story 3's art director Daisuke Tsutsumi is married to Miyazaki's niece, who inspired the character Mei in My Neighbor Totoro.

A main-belt asteroid that was discovered on December 31, 1994, was named 10160 Totoro. In 2013, Eoperipatus totoro, a species of velvet worm that was discovered in Vietnam, was named after Totoro. Following the request of the paper's authors, the species was named for the character because he "uses a many-legged animal as a vehicle, which according to the collectors resembles a velvet worm".

Media

Books

In Japan in May 1988, Tokuma published a four-volume series of ani-manga books, which use color images and lines directly from My Neighbor Totoro. The series was licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media, which released the books from November 10, 2004, through February 15, 2005. A 111-page picture book based on the film and aimed at young children was released by Tokuma on June 28, 1988, and, in a 112-page English translation, by Viz on November 8, 2005. Tokuma later released another 176-page art book containing conceptual art from the film and interviews with production staff on July 15, 1988, and, in English translation, by Viz on November 8, 2005. In 2013, Viz released a hardcover light novel that was written by Tsugiko Kubo and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki.

Sequel

Mei and the Kittenbus (めいとこねこバス, Mei to Konekobasu) is a thirteen-minute sequel to My Neighbor Totoro that was written and directed by Miyazaki. Chika Sakamoto, who voiced Mei in Totoro, returned to voice Mei in this short. Hayao Miyazaki voiced Granny Cat (Neko Baa-chan) and Totoro. The sequel focuses on the character Mei Kusakabe from the original film and her one-night adventures with Kittenbus, the offspring of Catbus, and other cat-oriented vehicles. The sequel was first released in Japan in 2003 and is regularly shown at Ghibli Museum but has not been released on home video.

Merchandise

Licensed My Neighbor Totoro merchandise of Totoro has been sold in Japan for decades after the film's release. Sales of the film's licensed merchandise in Japan grossed ¥10.97 billion in 1999, ¥56.08 billion during 2003–2007, at least ¥4.1 billion in 2008, and ¥19.96 billion during 2010–2012.

Stage adaptation

In May 2022, the Royal Shakespeare Company and composer Joe Hisaishi announced that a stage adaptation of the film titled My Neighbor Totoro would run from 8 October 2022 to 21 January 2023 at the Barbican Centre in London. It was adapted by British playwright Tom Morton-Smith and directed by Improbable's Phelim McDermott. Tickets went on sale on 19 May 2022, breaking the theater's box-office record for sales in one day which was previously held by the 2015 production of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The show won six Olivier Awards.

On 30 March 2023, it was announced that the production will return to the Barbican for another season, which began on 21 November 2023 and ran until 23 March 2024.

See also

• Japan, Our Homeland and Mai Mai Miracle (also depicting Japan in the 1950s)
• Enchanted forest

Notes

1. The spirits are called "black soots" in early subtitles and "soot sprites" in the later English-dubbed versions.

References

1. ^ "The greatest animated films of all time?". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
2. ^ "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 41. My Neighbor Totoro". Empire. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
3. ^ Ogihara-Schuck, Eriko (2014). Miyazaki's Animism Abroad: The Reception of Japanese Religious Themes by American and German Audiences. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 81–83. ISBN 978-1-4766-1395-6.
4. Phillip E. Wegner (March 14, 2010). "An Unfinished Project that was Also a Missed Opportunity: Utopia and Alternate History in Hayao Miyazakis My Neighbor Totoro". English.ufl.edu. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
5. ^ Watsuki, Nobuhiro (2005). The Art of My Neighbor Totoro: A Film by Hayao Miyazaki. VIZ Media LLC. ISBN 978-1-59116-698-6.
6. ^ "My Neighbor Totoro". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
7. ^ "Toy Story 3 Art Director Married to Hayao Miyazaki's Niece – Interest". Anime News Network. October 18, 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
8. Kikuchi, Yoshiaki (August 4, 2007). "Totoro's set decorator". Daily Yomiuri.
9. ^ "When Studio Ghibli is mentioned, usually the name of its co-founder and chief director Hayao Miyazaki springs to mind. But anyone with an awareness of the labor-intensive animation process knows that such masterpieces as Tonari no Totoro...". International Herald Tribune-Asahi Shimbun. August 24, 2007.
10. "Studio Ghibli co-founder teases Hayao Miyazaki's next 'big, fantastical' film". Entertainment Weekly. May 15, 2020. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
11. "Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) Soundtracks". CD Japan. Neowing. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
12. Joe Hisaishi's Soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro. Bloomsbury. February 6, 2020. ISBN 978-1-5013-4512-8. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
13. My Neighbor Totoro (Original Soundtrack) by Joe Hisaishi, May 1, 1988, archived from the original on March 4, 2022, retrieved March 4, 2022
14. McCarthy, Helen (1999). Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. Stone Bridge Press. pp. 43, 120–121. ISBN 978-1-880656-41-9.
15. Kanō, Seiji (March 1, 2006). 宮崎駿全書 (Complete Miyazaki Hayao) (Shohan ed.). フィルムアート社 (Film Art Company). p. 124. ISBN 978-4-8459-0687-1.
16. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". World Bank. 2005. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
17. "Tonari no Totoro (1999)". JP's Box Office (in French). Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
18. "Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 26, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
19. "My Neighbor Totoro". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 26, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
20. "How did the beloved Studio Ghibli begin to dominate the animation business?". South China Morning Post. March 14, 2021. Archived from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
21. "These five Studio Ghibli films really should be released in China". South China Morning Post. December 17, 2018. Archived from the original on June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
22. "China's No. 2 Film This Weekend Was Hayao Miyazaki's 'My Neighbor Totoro'". Variety. December 17, 2018. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
23. Davis, Becky (December 24, 2018). "China Box Office: 'Spider-Verse' Shoots to Opening Weekend Victory". Variety. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
24. "My Neighbor Totoro". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 26, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
25. "A Tale Of Two Totoro". Kotaku. June 4, 2017. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
26. Non, Sergio (January 25, 2005). "My Neighbor Totoro". IGN. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
27. "From "Mere" to "Interesting" | Official: Cassie Byram | The Official Website for Cassie Byram". Official: Cassie Byram. April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
28. "My Neighbor Totoro | Disney Movies". Disney. February 6, 2018. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
29. ^ "'My Neighbor Totoro' debuts in English at U.S. film fest". The Japan Times. October 26, 2005. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
30. Adachi, Reito (2012). A Study of Japanese Animation as Translation: A Descriptive Analysis of Hayao Miyazaki and Other Anime Dubbed Into English. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-61233-948-1. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
31. "My Neighbor Totoro Premiere Screening". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
32. "Turner Movie Classics to Air Nine Miyazaki Films". icv2.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
33. Wilford, Lauren. ""Towards a True Children's Cinema: On 'My Neighbor Totoro'"". Rogerebert.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
34. "My Neighbor Totoro - Studio Ghibli Collection". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
35. "My Neighbor Totoro 35th Anniversary Screenings Earn US$284,122 on Opening Day". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
36. Barder, Ollie. "'My Neighbor Totoro' Is Coming Back To Theaters This March To Celebrate Its 35th Anniversary". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
37. Comments, Jeremy Konrad | (March 16, 2023). "My Neighbor Totoro Returning To Theaters For Anniversary Screenings". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
38. ^ Hara, Kunio (February 6, 2020). Joe Hisaishi's Soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-5013-4513-5. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
39. Denison, Rayna (October 22, 2015). Anime: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4725-7676-7. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
40. Lambie, Ryan (November 9, 2012). "Looking back at My Neighbor Totoro". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
41. Ogihara-Schuck, Eriko (October 16, 2014). Miyazaki's Animism Abroad: The Reception of Japanese Religious Themes by American and German Audiences. McFarland. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7864-7262-8. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
42. Carolyn Giardina (July 17, 2017). "Gkids, Studio Ghibli Ink Home Entertainment Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
43. "「となりのトトロ」ついにブルーレイ発売". MSN エンタメ. MSN. May 2, 2012. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012.
44. "My Neighbor Totoro: Video List". Nausicaa.net. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
45. Furniss, Maureen (2009). Animation: Art and Industry. Indiana University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-86196-904-3. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
46. "Tonari no Totoro (1996) - Video Sales". The Numbers. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
47. Statistical Yearbook 2016 (PDF). United Kingdom: British Film Institute (BFI). 2016. p. 144. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
48. Statistical Yearbook 2017 (PDF). United Kingdom: British Film Institute (BFI). 2017. pp. 140–1. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
49. Statistical Yearbook 2018 (PDF). United Kingdom: British Film Institute (BFI). 2018. pp. 97–8. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
50. Statistical Yearbook 2019 (PDF). United Kingdom: British Film Institute (BFI). 2019. pp. 103–4. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
51. BFI Statistical Yearbook 2020. United Kingdom: British Film Institute (BFI). 2020. p. 94. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
52. Zipes, Jack; Greenhill, Pauline; Magnus-Johnston, Kendra (September 16, 2015). Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-62820-9. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
53. Merskin, Debra L. (November 12, 2019). The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-4833-7554-0. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
54. "My Neighbor Totoro (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
55. "My Neighbor Totoro Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
56. "Animage Top-100 Anime Listing". Anime News Network. January 15, 2001. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
57. "The Greatest Films of All Time". BFI. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
58. Ugwu, Reggie (December 1, 2022). "Chantal Akerman's 'Jeanne Dielman' Named Greatest Film of All Time in Sight and Sound Poll". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
59. Time Out's 50 greatest animated films, with added commentary by Terry Gilliam. Archived from the original October 9, 2009
60. "Kinema Junpo Top 10 Animated Films". Nishikata Film Review. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
61. "The 50 best kids' movies". Empire. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
62. Ebert, Roger (December 23, 2001). "My Neighbor Totoro (1993)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
63. "My Neighbour Totoro – review". The Guardian. May 23, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
64. Johnston, Trevor (May 21, 2013). "My Neighbour Totoro". Time Out Worldwide. Archived from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
65. Lee Thomas-Mason (January 12, 2021). "From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira Kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time". Far Out. Far Out Magazine. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
66. "My Neighbour Totoro - film review". www.standard.co.uk. May 24, 2013. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
67. Cronk, Jordan (May 31, 2013). "Review: Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro on Disney Blu-ray". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
68. Shaw, Andrea (1996). Seen That, Now What?: The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Video You Really Want to Watch. Simon and Schuster. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-684-80011-0. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
69. Klady, Leonard (May 6, 1993). "My Neighbor Totoro". Variety. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
70. Holden, Stephen (June 14, 1993). "Review/Film; Even a Beast Is Sweet as Can Be". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017.
71. Leyland, Matthew (June 2006). "My Neighbour Totoro". Sight & Sound. 16 (6): 89.
72. ^ Chua, Dennis (September 10, 2016). "An other-worldly neighbour". The New Straits Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
73. "映画鑑賞記録サービス KINENOTE｜キネマ旬報社". www.kinenote.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
74. "毎日映画コンクール". Manichi Film Awards (in Japanese). March 4, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
75. "月刊アニメージュ【公式サイト】". Animage. October 19, 2010. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
76. ^ Pilling, David (September 15, 2007). "Defining Moment: My Neighbour Totoro, 1988, directed by Hayao Miyazaki". Financial Times.
77. Forbes, Dee (November 7, 2005). "Analysis Cartoons: Toontown's greatest characters". The Independent.
78. "The Best Animated Film Characters - 18. Totoro". Empire. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
79. Vincent, Alice (February 20, 2020). "What on earth is a Totoro? The Japanese folklore behind Studio Ghibli's most magical movies". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
80. "What Kind of Animal Is Totoro?". Sideshow Collectibles. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
81. "Jim Hensons Creature Shop creates My Neighbour Totoro puppets". Royal Shakespeare Company. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
82. "Jim Henson's Creature Shop Creating Life-Sized Totoro for London Play". Anime News Network. August 25, 2023. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
83. Kobori, Hiromi; Richard B. Primack (June 2003). "Participatory Conservation Approaches for Satoyama, the Traditional Forest and Agricultural Landscape of Japan". Ambio. 32 (4): 307–311. doi:10.1639/0044-7447(2003)032[0307:pcafst]2.0.co;2. PMID 12956598.
84. Giardina, Carolyn (August 27, 2008). "'Neighbor' inspires artists". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
85. "My Neighbor Totoro". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
86. Campbell, Christopher (February 17, 2010). "Pixar Chief Discusses Totoro Cameo In 'Toy Story 3' Trailer". MTV News. MTV. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
87. Moviefone (May 1, 2019). "'Toy Story 4' Director and Producers on Tinny, Totoro and How Time Works in the Franchise". moviefone. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
88. "10160 Totoro (1994 YQ1)". Solar System Dynamics. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
89. I D S Oliveira; S Schaffer; P V Kvartalnov; E A Galoyan; I V Palko; A Weck-Heimann; P Geissler; H Ruhberg (2013). "A new species of Eoperipatus (Onychophora) from Vietnam reveals novel morphological characters for the South-East Asian Peripatidae". Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology. 252 (4): 495–510. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2013.01.001.
90. Miyazaki, Hayao (May 28, 1988). フィルムコミック となりのトトロ (1) [Film Comic My Neighbour Totoro (1)] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten. ISBN 978-4-19-778561-2. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
91. Miyazaki, Hayao (May 28, 1988). フィルムコミック となりのトトロ (4) [Film Comic My Neighbour Totoro (4)] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten. ISBN 978-4-19-778564-3. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
92. "My Neighbor Totoro Film Comic, Vol. 1". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
93. "My Neighbor Totoro Film Comic, Vol. 2". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
94. "My Neighbor Totoro Film Comic, Vol. 3". Viz Media. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
95. "My Neighbor Totoro Film Comic, Vol. 4". Viz Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
96. Miyazaki, Hayao (June 28, 1988). 徳間アニメ絵本４ となりのトトロ [Tokuma Anime Picture Book 4 My Neighbour Totoro] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten. ISBN 978-4-19-703684-4. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
97. "My Neighbor Totoro Picture Book". Viz Media. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
98. Miyazaki, Hayao (July 15, 1988). ジアート となりのトトロ [The Art of My Neighbor Totoro] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten. ISBN 978-4-19-818580-0. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
99. "The Art of My Neighbor Totoro". Viz Media. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
100. Miyazaki, Hayao; Kubo, Tsugiko (October 1, 2013). My Neighbor Totoro: The Novel. Illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki. Viz Media, Imprint: Studio Ghibli Library. ISBN 978-1-4215-6120-2. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017.
101. "Miyazaki Plans Museum Anime Shorts After Ponyo". Anime News Network. June 20, 2008. Archived from the original on October 1, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
102. "'Mei and the Kittenbus,' the Cutest Miyazaki Sequel No One Has Ever Seen". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
103. "三鷹の森 ジブリ美術館 – 映像展示室 土星座". Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
104. ^ "在日本，地位最高的动漫是哆啦a梦么？". Taojinjubao. Character Databank (CharaBiz). January 6, 2018. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
105. CharaBiz DATA 2009⑧ (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2009. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
106. "'My Neighbor Totoro' gets London stage play adaptation produced by Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi". news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
107. "RSC to adapt My Neighbour Totoro for London stage premiere this autumn | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. April 26, 2022. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
108. Wild, Stephi. "World Premiere of MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO Stage Adaptation Breaks Barbican Box Office Record". Broadway World. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
109. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (November 16, 2023). "'My Neighbor Totoro' Adaptor Unpacks New Season of Hit Olivier-Winning Show: 'It's Got That Beautiful, Timeless Quality' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
110. Wiegand, Chris (March 30, 2023). "My Neighbour Totoro to return to the Barbican". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.

External links

• Official U.S. website
• My Neighbor Totoro (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• My Neighbor Totoro at IMDb
• My Neighbor Totoro at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mei and the Kitten Bus (2002) at IMDb
• Entry Archived April 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
• Joe Hisaishi's Soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro Archived November 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, book by Kunio Hara, 33-1/3 Japan Series Archived February 2, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Bloomsbury, ISBN 9781501345128

• 1988 films
• 1988 anime films
• 1988 children's films
• 1988 fantasy films
• 1980s children's animated films
• 1980s children's fantasy films
• 1980s Japanese-language films
• Animated films about sisters
• Anime films with original screenplays
• Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners
• Drama anime and manga
• Animated films about father–daughter relationships
• Animated films about mother–daughter relationships
• Films about runaways
• Films directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• Films scored by Joe Hisaishi
• Animated films set in forests
• Animated films set in Japan
• Films with screenplays by Hayao Miyazaki
• Japanese animated fantasy films
• Japanese animated feature films
• Japanese children's fantasy films
• Japanese mythology in anime and manga
• Studio Ghibli animated films
• Toho animated films
• Animated films set in the 1950s
• Animated films based on Japanese myths and legends