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ОглавлениеTonari no Totoro
— Adelle Drover —
A giant magical panda-rabbit is the leader of Japan’s most beloved animation house, Studio Ghibli. Adorning the company logo since 1990, Totoro—a character from My Neighbor Totoro—is both awe-inspiring in presence and cute enough to enthuse hordes of children to buy the plushy doll. So, how did this fluffy make-believe-monster-spirit become the face of an internationally renowned film studio?
Studio Ghibli is a name synonymous with animation. It’s right up there behind the powerhouse American studios of Walt Disney and Pixar. Yet the approach and tone for telling children’s stories—and I do mean “children’s stories” though not necessarily stories explicitly for children—is a cultural world apart. Ghibli’s animations turn away from the glossy sheen of singing princesses and chiseled-looking princes, yet they are still tales of transformation and wonder—just of a different nature. Being grounded in the reality of time and place makes their power all the more magical. As such, they are touches of the supernatural intertwined among the real-world tough lessons of growing up. Even when the world setting is entirely fictional, the foundations of these films grow heavily from the traditions of Japanese culture, religion, and folklore. The influential father of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, birthed a genre through the 1980s and subsequent decades of animated storytelling, the likes of which the world had never seen.
While Miyazaki’s debut feature Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is an action adventure on the environmental human impact, his second directed film My Neighbor Totoro takes a much lighter approach to similar themes. First released in cinemas as a double feature behind the more somber Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro—while not the most financially popular of his filmography—is still hailed as one of his most notable works primarily because of the lovable toothy-grinned Totoro character. A character who adds magic and lightheartedness into more mundane subject matter not commonly aimed at children. It’s these fantastic elements set amongst a coming-of-age sisterhood which makes My Neighbor Totoro such an understated success.
Set in postwar Japan, Satsuki and her younger sister Mei arrive at their new home in the countryside, ready to play and explore as much as their hearts desire. Summer days stretch infinitely and every loose acorn in the garden is a treasure worth collecting. Their father, Tatsuo, commutes regularly to his job in Tokyo and it’s revealed slightly later in the film that their mother, Yasuko, is in the hospital for an extended time. While exploring their new surroundings, the sisters discover some sneaky soot sprites hiding in the dark corners of the old house, upon which their father encourages their excited investigation. A neighbor informs the girls that she too could see the soot sprites when she was a child, alluding to the power of childhood intuition.
Later on, Mei discovers a hidden path which leads her to the lair of a giant cuddly creature she dubs “Totoro.” Her father again encourages his daughters’ exploration into the supernatural and tells them of the spirits who supposedly live in the forest. Totoro himself makes only a few but memorable appearances throughout the film. His presence is incidental to the story of the sisters trying to settle into a new life and come to terms with their mother’s precarious situation in the hospital.
The charm of My Neighbor Totoro comes from its story simplicity. Characters go about their lives with everyday ups and downs, adventures and tantrums, and without any kind of plan—other than to be kids. It’s this paired back narrative that leaves the audience open to follow the whims and childlike spontaneity of each sister. It is for the duration of the first two acts that the story is propelled entirely by the inquisitiveness of the girls and their interest in their new surroundings.
When Mei first spies a Mini-Totoro in its natural activities (much to its dismay at being spotted), the film follows along as Mei’s resolve changes from surprise at the fluffy creature, to curiosity at what it’s doing, and finally to utter determination to follow it and find out where it’s going in such a hurry. As the film goes on, it continues to align with the whims of the sisters through the repeated Totoro sightings, Satsuki attending school, and everyday interactions with their neighbors. Only in the final act of the film does the tone shift when Satsuki receives a telegram from the hospital with news of their mother. This prompts Mei to secretly run away, and here, we see a more conventional story arc as Satsuki goes into crisis mode and does everything she can to find her missing little sister. She enlists Totoro’s help, and the following journey on the magical Catbus is one of the most joyful scenes in the film.
Satsuki and Mei’s continuing exploration of the surrounding forest brings together a perfect unity of the natural and the supernatural. The real world with the secondary overlaid spirit world as influenced by traditional Shinto beliefs of Japan. In a visit to the forest, their father introduces them to a magnificent camphor tree rooted next to a forgotten Shinto shrine. The significance of the tree is marked by rice rope and paper wrapped around its enormous trunk to which the family bow and pay their respects. As a protector of the forest, Totoro is equally magnificent and worthy of respect. While we might first be introduced to the “King of the Forest” in a funny and childish way when Mei discovers the soundly sleeping Totoro, his influence over the natural world becomes clear. The midnight scene of Totoro and his companions dancing ritualistically around a patch of acorn seeds in hopes of summoning them to grow is a fantastical and hopeful spectacle.
My Neighbor Totoro isn’t a film of overcomplicated grandiose but instead a simple “slice-of-life” animation. Satsuki as the eldest sister is thoughtful and wise and Mei as the younger sister is rambunctious and spirited. They are two sides of the same coin and, while their interactions with Totoro and the spirit world are fleeting, they remain better off from the experience. Totoro is the perfect child-friendly reminder of the importance of our relationship to the natural world. This cuddly yet reserved spirit-creature embodies the core values which a lot of Miyazaki-directed Studio Ghibli films explore. My Neighbor Totoro is a delightful animation well cherished by fans all over the world. Magical characters steeped in Japanese folklore enrich a simple story of two sisters growing up in the world.
Adelle is a movie critic and movie fangirl in equal parts. Currently working in an Australian film production house, you can find more of her thoughts on the latest movie releases and indie cinema you should be watching over on her YouTube channel, Roll Credits, at www.youtube.com/RollCredits.
