Year: 1988
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist. Along with Isao Takahata, he co-founded Studio Ghibli, a film and animation studio that Miyazaki has described as combining elements Walt Disney, Orson Welles and Steven Spielberg. There are many great films in his cannon, like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. One of my personal favourite Studio Ghibli films is My Neighbor Totoro
When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wonderous forest spirits who live nearby.
Driven by its pleasant nature and deceptive simplicity, Totoro's story remains free of harrowing conflicts, fast-paced action, or moments of deafening suspense. Miyazaki contends that the discovery of magic and imagination in everyday life presents its own adventure. It's an incredibly personal picture. As Totoro was in its planning stages, Miyazaki has said he wanted to make "a happy and heartwarming film, a film that lets the audience go home with pleasant, glad feelings. Lovers will feel each other to be more precious, parents will fondly recall their childhoods, and children will start exploring the thickets behind shrines and climbing trees to try to find a Totoro.”
Perhaps the best aspect of Studio Ghibli is that it tries to avoid demographic categorization. Miyazaki wishes to communicate with children in an honest and intelligent way. Unlike many American pictures, Ghibli doesn't underestimate a child's intelligence. Miyazaki trusts the innocence of children, imagination, and Nature more than Westerners ever could. He doesn't acknowledges not-so-great situations in life, but does not dwell on it.
My Neighbor Totoro wants to awaken his viewers to realize that within the real world there exists magic for those with the imagination to see it. It ascribes to an ecological awareness that permeates throughout the run-time. Its artistry flourishes as it takes both child and adult on a stroll through the imagination. This is a must-see
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