My Neighbor Totoro is the movie everyone thinks of when they hear the names of either Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli. Even if you're not a fan of Japanese animation or of Ghibli's films, you have probably seen this film. There is a reason that Totoro is Studio Ghibli's mascot. It's because it's a good movie. It has good characters, a good story, and a great atmosphere. Notice that only one of those things were great. That's because from my point of view
My Neighbor Totoro is just a good movie. As a person I love the film but as a critic I can't say it's any more than good. The main reason for my "cynical" perspective is that I don't feel there is enough time put into the main characters. The film is only an hour and a half which isn't uncommon for the studio but their other films that have a similar length are filled to the brim with a lot of character development. That's not to say that the characters in
My Neighbor Totoro are bad characters; they're anything but that. The older sister, Satsuki, is very relatable and the younger sister, Mei, is cute and fun but it never really explores past that. Totoro, however, steals the show for when he's in frame. He's cute and mysterious which gives the film a very unique type of atmosphere all of it's own. I especially enjoy the scene where Satsuki and Mei are stuck in the rain and Totoro just kind of shows up. Satsuki hands Totoro her extra umbrella and the group just kind of stands there for a little bit. This scene somehow portraits a lot of emotion through little to no movement almost the entire time. It's a solid minute of the girls interacting with Totoro through the means of
not interacting with him. It's borderline genius. Again, the film isn't bad nor is it great. It's just fun and relaxing and I can come back to it over and over again and enjoy it for different reasons. From the atmosphere to the big fluffy guy himself...
My Neighbor Totoro is a good time!
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