Tonari no Totoro

Satsuke and Mei

Two young girls, Satsuke and her younger sister Mei, move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother.

Satsuke and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros. They soon befriend these Totoros and have several magical adventures.

This is a gentle, and enchanting film which is easy to fall in love with because the theme is mystical and imaginative. One thing that really attached me to this film is the freedom, sincerity and variety of emotional expression the characters used, especially Satsuke, Mei and Totoro, the furry forest friend.

There are a lot of magical adventures to be found in this film from flying with umbrellas to catching a giant living cheshire cat bus that leaps from three top to tree top to get around. A very gentle film with colorful and expressionate animation; youthful, lovable and free spirited characters.

cheshire cat bus that leaps around

flying with umbrellas

The forest spirit, Totoro had also made a huge cultural impact to have appeared in non-Japanese works such as Comedy Central's South Park and Pixar's Toy Story 3.

Totoro as seen in Toy Story 3

It made me feel like a kid again every time I watch this film, thanks to the lively characters.

Studio Ghibli, Inc.

This studio was first founded in June 1985 and headed by the directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki. This studio could be compared to the Pixar Studio and Dreamworks Studio from the States that had released many popular animations such as Toy Story, Monster Inc. and so on.

The logo of Studio Ghibli features my all-time favourite character Totoro which is a forest spirit from the film My Neighbor Totoro.

the studio's logo

The word "Ghibli" derives from the word Italians used for their Saharan scouting planes in World War II, which is Libyan "sirocco", a hot wind blowing through the Sahara Desert. Studio Ghibli was to blow a new wind into the Japanese animation industry and indeed it has!

One of the Studio Ghibli films that had succeeded the highest achievements by far is Spirited Away. It is the first film to be shot using a 100% digital process.

This is the first film to gross $200 million worldwide and the only anime film to win an Academy award for Best Animated Feature; the only winner to be made outside of the English-speaking world; the only traditionally-animated winner. It also became the top grossing film in the history of Japanese cinema, overtaking mega blockbuster Titanic at the Japanese box office.

More details about Studio Ghibli could be found here, here and the official japanese website here :)

Passion

I'm sure most people enjoy watching films and so on. For me, the thing that I enjoy the most is watching animation, be it cartoon, animes or in movie form. Even though I'm a young adult now, I would still enjoy watching cartoons with my baby nephews.

One of the many directors that I admire the most is one of Japan's greatest animator and manga artist, Hayao Miyazaki.

Miya-san at the 65th Venice Film Festival

My interest in his works began when I first watched My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) when I was six with my elder sisters. I was fascinated by the characters in the film and of course by the cute and fluffy wood spirit, Totoro. Everything seems possible in the eye of Hayao Miyazaki. Till this day, I am still fascinated and always blown away by his works.

So I have decided to dedicate this blog to Studio Ghibli where the great director had released most of his works.

I'm not going to make movies that tell children, "You should despair and run away".

- Hayao Miyazaki