MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO (1988)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Chika Sakamoto, Noriko Hidaka,
Genre: Anime/Adventure
Running Time: 86mins

Rating:

Having recently moved to the country with their father while their mother is treated at a nearby hospital, sisters Mei and Satsuki find themselves in a land of green fields and giant trees. One day while Satsuki is at school however, Mei explores the forest and stumbles into the dwellings of a mystical creature, Totoro. Visible only to children, Mei and Satsuki's time in the country will lead them to meet a host of unusual forest creatures that live around them in the trees and under the growth of the forest.

My Neighbour Totoro is a magical, family film. More restrained than Miyazaki's later work with regards to the rampant vibrancy of Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, Totoro, while still mystical and imaginative in its own right is a considerably more subtle and charming affair. It is a film that eases into a relaxing pace allowing its hidden world to reveal itself gradually with gentle intrigue rather than bombard with histrionics.

Miyazaki's attention detail and demands from his animation team is never more perfectly represented than by this beautifully constructed film. The mannerisms of the characters from the delightful Mei ambling down the stairs clutching a Makuro-kurosuke (soot ball), to the hulking, gentle giant Totoro are carefully crafted and expertly realised. In possibly the simplest scene of the film, as Mei and her sister wait for their father's bus in the rain, Totoro appears, the sound of rain tap-tapping against an umbrella is a delight for him and makes for a beautiful scene as an acute use of everyday observation is juxtaposed with such a fantastical character. That this is immediately followed by the seriously imaginative cat bus is indicative of the flights of fantasy My Neighbour Totoro frequently travels.

With his work as screen designer on Panda Ko Panda (an earlier more crudely animated tale of a father and son panda meeting a young girl who is left to watch over her grandmothers house) acting as a precursor to the design of the now famous Ghibli stalwart Totoro, Miyazaki has returned with a lavish production that allows for an imaginary world of characters to inhabit a landscape that is crafted with great attention to detail from the splintered wood, to the rusting well pump.

It's the childhood wonderment that Miyazaki is able to capture so well through Mei that makes My Neighbour Totoro such a wonderful film to watch. Every observation whether it be her movement or her reactions, regardless of the usual anime-look, they are all recognisable actions from a child, animated so perfectly that you forget that what you're watching is not the real thing. Occasionally petulent, mischievous and frequently loud Mei provides much of the comedic value from Totoro, and its our connection to her that makes her later (brief) disappearance genuinely concerning.

The film is an effortlessly enjoyable subdued treat, meandering with very little in terms of plot development Miyazaki takes you into his world and lets you bask there to relax. There is a sense of purity and innocence in My Neighbour Totoro that remains refreshing even today. It's nigh on impossible to pin-point just exactly what it is that makes the film work so well purely because its a collaborative effort. From the richly drawn characters, to the languid pace of the narrative and the almost conflict-free plotting not to mention the as ever perfect score by regular composer Joe Hisaishi, everything about the production feels like it has fallen naturally into place. It's a rare feat.

My Neighbour Totoro is a gently paced film that will please children and adults alike. Unlike anything you've seen before, it is charming, funny, exciting and just an absolute joy to watch.

Outstanding.