My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

When two young girls and their Father move to the country to be nearer their Mother who is ill in hospital, they befriend some forest spirits, including the fluffy and enormous Totoro. I was probably one of the few people on the planet who hadn’t seen this film when I sat down to watch it for the first time, and my Ghibli knowledge remains sorely lacking, I’ve only seen a handful. The review almost writes itself when it comes to a Ghibli film, beautifully hand drawn animation with gorgeous storytelling to boot, especially when it comes to childhood. My Neighbor Totoro is spellbinding from beginning to end, and there’s clearly influence drawn from here in Ghibli’s critically lauded Spirited Away (2001). Dealing with themes of loss, love, and childhood innocence, but only rarely fear- when the two sisters ask a neighbour (a young boy) how to find their new house, he makes a face before telling them later on that it's haunted. But not in the traditional sense of the word; it seems it's simply little black fuzzy dots scurrying from their view. Their Dad calls them 'dust bunnies' although an old Nanny that's hired to help out describes them as 'soot spirits' that will pack up and leave at the sound of laughter. As well as dust bunnies, the film is filled with other magical creatures including the delightful 'cat bus', a character I'm still trawling the internet for in the hope of finding a fluffy one for a certain someone that's not £1000. My Neighbor Totoro isn't without moments of vague threat; but these are always swiftly swiped to one side by the children themselves and their own imagination or distractions, and while I mentioned the fact that loss was a component of the film it's really only in the sense that one day this freedom will be lost when the children grow old. Even the expected sadness from their Mother's illness isn't played this way, it's more a matter of fact and the film simply disperses the facts of life into the innocence and imagination of children. My Neighbor Totoro is a beautiful film, and like pretty much all Ghibli film will work for all ages; I took my daughter to see it in the cinema when she was four and we both absolutely loved it. This is also a great intro to the studio itself, the lack of true jeopardy means it's a much more suitable entry point then Spirited Away (2001) although that's very much also a must see. 8.7/10