History Anime / MyNeighborTotoro

'''''My Neighbor Totoro''''' (''Tonari no Totoro''), released in 1988, is StudioGhibli's second feature film and the fourth animated feature directed by HayaoMiyazaki (the first being ''LupinTheThird: TheCastleOfCagliostro'').

* AdultsAreUseless: Totally averted, as in most StudioGhibli {{film}}s.

* BugBuzz: During the night, when Mei and Satsuke helped 'awaken' the acorns.

* CuteButCacophonic: Totoro. Note to those watching the movie on their computers or portable DVD players - please take your headphones off whenever it looks like he's going to roar. Your ears will thank you.

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Averted, though the disease is treated as this trope the girl's mother never coughs even once; thankfully she doesn't actually die from it.
** Considering it was based on Miyazaki's own life, and his mother had tuberculosis, coughing would certainly have been justified.

* RealLifeRelative: Real life siblings Dakota and Elle Fanning voice Satsuki and Mei in the Disney dubs.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Miyazaki's father was an academic and his mother was successfully treated for tuberculosis in a rural sanitarium. In an interview published in ''Starting Point: 1979-1996'' Miyazaki mentioned he made the main characters girls so it wouldn't be too close to his own life.

* ThemeNaming: "Satsuki" is the old Japanese term for the month of May, and "Mei" sounds like the English name for the month. Originally Mei was only going to be the only girl until Miyazaki realized that a four-year old wouldn't have the independence necessary to drive the story.

* ZigZagPaperTassel: The Shinto ropes on Totoro's tree.

* HeyItsThatVoice: The original English dub has [[{{Rugrats}} Angelica Pickles]] as Mei.
** Meanwhile, in the Disney dub, the Catbus and Totoro are freakin' ''[[{{TransformersGeneration1}} Megatron]]'', ''[[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ursula]]'' of all people is Granny, the singing voice of [[{{Disney/Aladdin}} Jasmine]] is Mom, and [[{{SupermanTheAnimatedSeries}} Superman]] is Dad. Oh, and Satsuki and Mei are Dakota and Elle Fanning.
** For the Japanese version, Satsuki and Mei's dad Tatsuo is ShigesatoItoi. Yes, ''[[{{Mother}} that]]'' [[VideoGame/EarthBound Shigesato]] [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} Itoi]]. And the mother is SumiShimamoto. Meanwhile, Satsuki is [[{{Ranma12}} Akane]] [[{{NorikoHidaka}} Tendo]].

'''''My Neighbor Totoro''''' (''Tonari no Totoro''), released in 1988, is StudioGhibli's second feature film and the fouth animated feature directed by HayaoMiyazaki (the first being ''LupinTheThird: TheCastleOfCagliostro'').

** Meanwhile, in the Disney dub, the Catbus and Totoro are freakin' ''[[{{TransformersGeneration1}} Megatron]]'', ''[[{{TheLittleMermaid}} Ursula]]'' of all people is Granny, the singing voice of [[{{Disney/Aladdin}} Jasmine]] is Mom, and [[{{SupermanTheAnimatedSeries}} Superman]] is Dad. Oh, and Satsuki and Mei are Dakota and Elle Fanning.

** Meanwhile, in the Disney dub, the Catbus and Totoro are freakin' ''[[{{TransformersGeneration1}} Megatron]]'', ''[[{{TheLittleMermaid}} Ursula]]'' of all people is Granny, and [[{{SupermanTheAnimatedSeries}} Superman]] is Dad. Oh, and Satsuki and Mei are Dakota and Elle Fanning.
** For the Japanese version, Satsuki and Mei's dad Tatsuo is ShigesatoItoi. Yes, ''[[{{Mother}} that]]'' [[VideoGame/EarthBound Shigesato]] [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} Itoi]]. And the mother is SumiShimamoto.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/myneighbortotoro.jpg
[[caption-width:330:''Look at all my many friends. Ready, set, let's go!'']]

'''''My Neighbor Totoro''''' (''Tonari no Totoro''), released in 1988, is {{StudioGhibli}}'s second feature film and the fouth animated feature directed by HayaoMiyazaki. (The first being 'Lupin the Third: TheCastleOfCagliostro '.)

* HollywoodScribbling: Averted with Satsuki's cute drawing of Mei as the crab who waited over a persimmon seed to grow.

'''''My Neighbor Totoro''''' (''Tonari no Totoro''), released in 1988, is {{StudioGhibli}}'s second feature film and the fouth animated feature directed by HayaoMiyazaki. (The first being Lupin the Third: TheCastleOfCagliostro .)

'''''My Neighbor Totoro''''' (''Tonari no Totoro''), released in 1988, is {{StudioGhibli}}'s second feature film and the third animated feature directed by HayaoMiyazaki.

''Totoro'' is one of Miyazaki's best known films, and it's considered a classic even by western critics (RogerEbert called it "the best family film of all time", and JonathanRoss says it's one of his favourite films). Totoro himself became Ghibli's mascot. Unlike other "family" filmmakers, Miyazaki does not gloss over some of the more frightening aspects of childhood: the girls are terrified of their mother dying, a common goat seems monstrous from little Mei's perspective, and the whole village's fright and anxiety when Mei goes missing is almost palpable. Even Totoro -- with his huge grin, inscrutable expression, and manic eyes -- can be a little scary; Satsuki refers to meeting him as both the funniest and the scariest day of her life.

* ZigZagPaperTassel: The Shinto ropes on Totoro's tree.

* InnocentPanties

''Tonari no Totoro'' (1988)

{{StudioGhibli}}'s second feature film and the third animated feature directed by HayaoMiyazaki,

A little cycle truck putters down a rural road in post-war Japan, carrying four year old Mei, her older sister Satsuki, and their father Professor Kusakabe to a new home in the country close to the rural hospital where the girl's mother is recovering from an unspecified, but potentially deadly, disease. Along with the usual tribulations of moving -- a spooky old house, new neighbors, fitting in at a new school -- Mei encounters an odd little creature in the backyard; while pursuing it, she comes upon the den of a much larger forest spirit that she calls "Totoro". At first, Mei is the only one who sees Totoro, but Satsuki soon meets him as well and the girls have several fantastic encounters with Totoro that are interwoven between subplots involving their family and (human) neighbors.

But the girls' seemingly idyllic rural existence is soon shattered when a health crisis forces their mother to cancel a much-anticipated visit home. Heartbroken, the two girls take out their fear and anger on each other, and Mei eventually sets out for the hospital alone, determined to deliver an ear of corn she believes will make her mother well. The remainder of the film revolves around Satsuki's increasingly desperate search for Mei; when all other options are exhaused, Satsuki appeals directly to Totoro for help -- and he is more than delighted to be of assistance.

One of Miyazaki's best known films, ''Totoro'' is considered a classic even by western critics (RogerEbert called it "the best family film of all time"; JonathanRoss says it's one of his favourite films) and Totoro himself became Ghibli's mascot. Unlike many other so-called "family" filmmakers, Miyazaki does not gloss over some of the more frightening aspects of childhood: the girls are terrified that their mother will die, a common goat seems monstrous from little Mei's perspective, and the whole village's fright and anxiety when Mei goes missing is almost palpable. Even Totoro himself -- with his huge grin, inscrutable expression, and manic eyes -- can be a little scary; Satsuki refers to meeting him as both the funniest and the scariest day of her life.

!!This {{film}} contains examples of:

----

* EarWorm: "To-toro, To-to-ro!"

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Averted, though the disease is treated as this trope the girl's mother never coughs even once; thankfully she doesn't actually die from it

''My Neighbor Totoro'' (''Tonari no Totoro'') is an animated feature, released in 1988, from StudioGhibli and directed by HayaoMiyazaki. It was originally shown in theaters as one-half of a double feature, the latter half of which was Ghibli's ''GraveOfTheFireflies'' (which, [[CaptainObvious oddly enough]], [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism did not seem to match]] [[MoodWhiplash audience expectations at initial release]]).

A little cycle truck putters down a rural road in post-war Japan; it carries four year old Mei, older sister Satsuki, and father Professor Kusakabe to a new home in the country, close to the rural hospital where the family's mother is recovering from an unspecified (but potentially deadly) disease. Along with the usual tribulations of moving -- a spooky old house, new neighbors, fitting in at a new school -- Mei encounters an odd little creature in the backyard; while pursuing it, she comes upon the den of a much larger forest spirit that she calls "Totoro". At first, Mei is the only one who sees Totoro, but Satsuki soon meets him, and the girls have several fantastic encounters with Totoro that are interwoven between subplots involving their family and (human) neighbors.

The girls' seemingly idyllic rural existence is soon shattered when a health crisis forces their mother to cancel a much-anticipated visit home. The two heartbroken girls take out their fear and anger on each other, and Mei eventually sets out for the hospital alone, determined to deliver the ear of corn that she's convinced will make her mother well. The remainder of the film centers around Satsuki's increasingly desperate search for Mei; when all other options are exhaused, Satsuki appeals directly to Totoro for help -- and he is more than delighted to be of assistance.

''Totoro'' is considered a classic film, even by western critics (RogerEbert has called it "the best family film of all time" and JonathanRoss says it's one of his favourite films); it is also one of Miyazaki's more well-known films in the United States, and Totoro himself became Ghibli's mascot thanks to the film's success. Unlike many other so-called "family" filmmakers, Miyazaki does not gloss over some of the more frightening aspects of childhood: the girls are terrified that their mother will die, a common goat seems monstrous from little Mei's perspective, and the whole village's fright and anxiety when Mei goes missing is almost palpable. Even Totoro himself -- with his huge grin, inscrutable expression, and manic eyes -- can be a little scary; Satsuki refers to meeting him as both the funniest and the scariest day of her life.

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Averted: She never coughs even once., though the disease otherwise plays out the trope the same. The mother, thankfully she doesn't actually die from it

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Miyazaki's father was an academic and his mother, who suffered from tuberculosis, was successfully treated in a rural sanitarium. In an interview published in ''Starting Point: 1979-1996'' Miyazaki mentioned he made the main characters girls so it wouldn't be too close to his own life.

* ThemeNaming: "Satsuki" is the old Japanese term for the month of May, and "Mei" sounds like the English name for the month. Originally there was only going to be one girl (Mei) until Miyazaki realized that a four-year old wouldn't have the independence necessary to drive the story.

** For the Japanese version, Satsuki and Mei's dad Tatsuo is ShigesatoItoi. Yes, ''[[{{Mother}} that]]'' [[EarthBound Shigesato]] [[{{Mother 3}} Itoi]]. And the mother is SumiShimamoto.

* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: The short-film sequel, ''Mei and the Kittenbus'', which plays exclusively at the Ghibli Museum.

''Totoro'' is considered a classic film, even by American critics (RogerEbert has called it "the best family film of all time" and JonathanRoss says it's one of his favourite films); it is also one of Miyazaki's more well-known films in the United States, and Totoro himself became Ghibli's mascot thanks to the film's success. Unlike many other so-called "family" filmmakers, Miyazaki does not gloss over some of the more frightening aspects of childhood: the girls are terrified that their mother will die, a common goat seems monstrous from little Mei's perspective, and the whole village's fright and anxiety when Mei goes missing is almost palpable. Even Totoro himself -- with his huge grin, inscrutable expression, and manic eyes -- can be a little scary; Satsuki refers to meeting him as both the funniest and the scariest day of her life.