First up, the art was absolutely amazing. The landscapes and details in every minute object were breathtaking. Leaving the characters on a basic style made the movie over all very balanced.
Sound was great, they added all the right sounds in all the right places, especially in the natural scenes.
Characters were very enjoyable. They are almost symbols of different stages of our life. The younger sister represents our innocent and imaginative ways when we were small. The older sister shows the kind of people who are growing older and more mature but still have an inner kid inside. The mother is one of those hopeful people who believes in fairytales and happy endings despite downsides. The father is the stage where we are adults who can enjoy ourselves every once in a while with the help of some youngsters. There are more characters, but you can see the movie. All I can say is that each one had their own personality and no two were the same.
The story was almost perfect, it basically is about how a family moves to the countryside (most likely to help the sickly mother get well) and the children adjust to their new surrounding, meeting a spiritual neighbor named totoro. Other than the last quarter of the movie, there was no specific plot. But its a kids movie, and its japanese so its excused. :P
OPINION:
To be honest, I did not want to see this movie and kept delaying it for a long time. It didn't seem very impressive but I'm glad I gave it a shot. It is a very uplifting movie that helps one's spirits rise and bring back old memories from childhood. It definitely fits in the group with Spirited Away and Ponyo but it brings a new edge all the same. I highly suggest you watch it. If you don't believe me, give it 10-20 minutes and we will see who is right.
If you have kids, this is a very fun movie to watch it with :)
