My Neighbor Totoro

My very long and entertaining look at the films of Hayao Miyazaki comes to a close with his 1988 film, My Neighbor Totoro, which had an ungodly wait on Netflix. It's one of his charming "magical" films, and once again emphasis the cooperation of man and nature.

Two little girls move into an old farmhouse with their father, a professor. Their mother is in the hospital, and they are cared for during the day by the old lady caretaker, whom they call Granny. The house seems to be haunted, which excites them all rather than scares them. Little furry black balls called "soot gremlins" scurry about.

One day the younger daughter, Mei, stumbles across a large, furry creature. He looks kind of a like a bear, and grumbles that his name is Totoro. The father tells her he must be a forest spirit, and can be seen only when he wants to be seen.

This happy stuff takes a sharp turn when the family gets a telegraph about mother in the hospital. Mei runs off, trying to find the hospital. The entire village searches for her, but the older daughter, Satsuki, seeks Totoro's help.

The film is not one of Miyazaki's best. The story is pretty thin and the use of a sick parent is a cliche even he can't overcome. But it is full of wondrous images. The best is when the girls go to meet their father's bus in a rainstorm. The bus comes and he's not on it, so they wait for the next. It gets dark. Totoro shows up, and they hand him an umbrella, which he doesn't know how to use. Then a bus does show up, but it's in the form of a giant cat. Totoro gets on and leaves, and the girls stare after him. Brilliant.

In the most recent English version, the Fanning sisters, Dakota and Elle, voice the two girls. I think this would be a great movie for small children.