Tonari no Totoro, also known more commonly as My Neighbor Totoro is a simple story about a family moving into the country side and meeting several spirits of the forest. One of these spirits is known as Totoro and he lives in a tree near their house. The story sounds simple but the execution makes it so special.
As I just mentioned the story is very simple but this fact does not detract the film's quality at all. The film oozes with creativity wherever they can cram it. I love the design of the spirits and the creative premise in particular. The story has a sense of whimsical charm that children and the little kids in all of us can surely appreciate.
The setting isn't all that unique but is utilized well. The theme of different spirits being present works with the setting. This would not have worked if the story had taken place in say New York City. The rural setting also gives off a good and peaceful atmosphere throughout the entire film.
The movie's conclusion was very satisfying and there was some great resolution present. The film did not seem very long or short winded as the running time runs just outside of the average movie running time at 1 hour and 26 minutes. The comedy was also well done and there was some quality and realistic drama present. So overall the narrative of this movie is amazingly executed.
The characters were also quite solid in this film. The characters were all very likable and were put in believe able situations. Characterization and development were present and we did get to know the characters. The characters also captured child like whimsy and fun while also maintains realistic family dynamics.
Totoro is an absolute beast, he was very sweet and funny despite his scary aesthetic appearance. He can be described as a gentle giant. The adults in this story were good too, the mother who was in the hospital still had a good attitude about it. The father had a very fun and believeable relationship with his daughters. And granny provided wisdom when the time was needed. And do I even have to say anything about the cat bus? The characters were overall a massive hit.
The only real problem I had with this film were some of the presentation. The animation in this film was good but not great. I really liked the use of color and the fluidity of the animation. However some of the animation was reused and the animation had aspects that didn't age a whole lot well and just looked awkward at some points in the film.
The soundtrack here was very good and went along with the film's atmosphere very well. The English dub was also pretty well executed with some annoying voices peppered throughout the film at different points. I would like to see the sub version because the father's voice actor is the same as someone who worked on the mother series of video games.
So overall My Neighbor Totoro was a great experience. It succeeded with quality characters and a fun story. There weren't too many significant flaws and it is another great film from Stidio Ghibli. This movie succeeded in making me feel like a little kid which is a very rare occurrence indeed.
