My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbour Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) is a 1988 Japanese anime fantasy film on Blu-ray, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The movie won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988. Two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, have moved with their father into a new home in the country, while their mother recovers from illness in a nearby hospital. To their surprise, they soon discover that they share this home with some rather unusual creatures and even stranger neighbours – forest guardians that the girls dub Totoro. When trouble occurs, their new friends will help them rediscover hope… Dearly loved and critically regarded worldwide, the magical My Neighbor Totoro is a heart-warming tale of innocence and the power of belief that will delight viewers of all ages. Includes both English dub and original Japanese (subtitled) versions. From the Studio Ghibli Collection. Special Features Alternative angle storyboards Original trailers Textless opening and closing Awards Won Mainichi Film Concours Award, Best Film Won Animage Anime Grand Prix prize Won Kinema Junpo Awards for: Best Film, Readers' Choice Best Japanese Film Won Blue Ribbon Award, Special Award My Neighbor Totoro Reviews “A real contender for the greatest animated family film ever made.” Combustible Celluloid “A beautifully observed film that has become a guaranteed charmer for all ages.” Daily Express UK “Totoro may seem like a small film compared to some of Miyazaki's other works, but its intimate scale is exactly what makes it stand apart from the usual animated fare…this film should be required viewing by every child (especially girls, who are front and center of few animated films that treat them realistically and not as fairy princesses)..one of the most sublime animated films ever made.” DVD Verdict “The lack of sentimentality will be utterly refreshing to those raised on a diet of Disney.” Time Out “An otherworldly tale of childhood and a definitive work of imagination.” Empire Magazine “..What makes Totoro so special isn’t its animation, although that in itself is worth watching the film for, but the special quality of the writing and direction. It’s almost impossible to imagine a more perfect movie. The voice acting is superb, and the animation of the two characters, Mei and her big sister Satsuki, are dead-on and perfect in every way. Even the father character is masterfully done. Everything, right down to the first chance encounter between Mei and Totoro, is magical. The film itself is 85 minutes of pure magic. The movie made me smile with its title sequence and I never stopped smiling until it was over…nothing short of a wondrous achievement, for both children and adults.” Beyond Hollywood “Despite the cuteness, there's little in the way of icky sentiment – indeed the spectre of death hangs over the story – but it's a captivating world you won't want to come home from.” Guardian, UK “Miyazaki is a genius.” Cinema Crazed “Markedly different from most plot-driven ’80s animated fare, it’s a film of deceptive simplicity. yet its gorgeously painterly visual details and deliberate pace perfectly recreate a child’s endless fascination with nature, or a new house. Around this, Miyazaki plants realistic tensions about their hospitalised mother, giving the rural idyll a fear factor. Resourceful Satsuki and stubborn Mei have characterisation as compelling as live-action cinema…But the blend of reality and fantasy is Miyazaki’s most extraordinary achievement..” Total Film “The world the characters inhabit is less expressionist than impressionist, blessed with a delicate evocation of natural light and color that subtly incorporates Miyazaki's en­vironmentalis­m.” AV Club “Visually arresting and consistently compelling, this movie is magical.” Pop Matters “Hayao Miyazaki is best known for his sprawling fantasy epics like Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle – but even if My Neighbour Totoro (or Tonari no Totoro), is a more intimate, personal work on a much smaller scale, it is every bit as magical, adding to Miyazaki's status as the greatest feature film animator in both Japan, and, indeed, the world…My Neighbour Totoro is a true family film, both about, and for, families and while it is wholly concerned with good, decent, likeable people (as well as endearing rustic entities), it somehow avoids saccharine sentiments or a pat resolution…” EyeforFilm.co.uk