| My Neighbor Totoro (Special Edition) |  | Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto
Studio: Walt Disney / Studio Ghibli
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 35.99
Buy New: CDN$ 22.87
as of 7/30/2010 23:31 CDT details
You Save: CDN$ 13.12 (36%)
New (8) Used (2) from CDN$ 17.00
Seller: importcds__
Rating:  296 reviews
Sales Rank: 170
Format: Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Unknown), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language), English (Dubbed)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 1
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: DISD101847D
UPC: 786936791716
EAN: 0786936791716
ASIN: B002ZTQV8Y
Release Date: March 2, 2010
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki made this gorgeous, delightful feature about two young sisters who move to rural Japan and start having magical advenures with a giant, friendly forest spirit called Totoro. The enchantment spreads as the girls are introduced to such wonders as a "cat bus" (a big bus that looks like a cat), but the film is also just as winning for the ordinary things Miyazaki captures: meeting neighbors, getting to know a new house from the perspective of excited children, etc. Little kids love this movie, and adults can easily appreciate it, too. Voices have been dubbed into English. --Tom Keogh
Amazon.com Essential Video
My Neighbor Totoro is that rare delight, a family film that appeals to children and adults alike. While their mother is in the hospital, 10-year-old Satsuki and 4-year-old Mei move into an old-fashioned house in the country with their professor father. At the foot of an enormous camphor tree, Mei discovers the nest of King Totoro, a giant forest spirit who resembles an enormous bunny rabbit. Mei and Satsuki learn that Totoro makes the trees grow, and when he flies over the countryside or roars in his thunderous voice, the winds blow. Totoro becomes the protector of the two sisters, watching over them when they wait for their father, and carrying them over the forests on an enchanted journey. When the children worry about their mother, Totoro sends them to visit her via a Catbus, a magical, multilegged creature with a grin the Cheshire Cat might envy. Unlike many cartoon children, Satsuki and Mei are neither smart-alecky nor cloyingly saccharine. They are credible kids: bright, energetic, silly, helpful, and occasionally impatient. Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki makes the viewer believe the two sisters love each other in a way no American feature has ever achieved. My Neighbor Totoro is enormously popular in Japan, and some of the character merchandise has begun to appear in America. The film has also inspired a Japanese environmental group to buy a Totoro Forest preserve in the Saitama Prefecture, where Miyazaki's film is set. --Charles Solomon
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 296
 Spirits of the forest May 16, 2010
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
Nobody captures the magic of childhood and bottles it into movie form quite like Hayao Miyazaki -- and one steller example of this is "My Neighbor Totoro," an enchanting little film about two little girls who encounter strange, wondrous things in the woods. There's not much actual plot, but the journey is the truly lovely part, and the lush animation and weird creatures (catbus! CATBUS!) finish off the perfection.
Satsuki and her toddler sister Mei move to the countryside with their father, so they can be close to the hospital where their mother is being treated (apparently for tuberculosis). The girls are immediately taken under the wing of an old lady, and discover that the countryside is filled with strange and magical creatures -- especially little balls of soot that dance through uncleaned rooms in their house.
What's more, while waiting for a bus Satsuki ends up standing next to a giant grinning bunny-creature -- whom Mei learns is called Totoro -- who boards a giant leaping cat-bus. The girls soon befriend the trio of Totoro, who take them on magical adventures involving giant fast-growing trees, flying with umbrellas, and riding in the cat-bus. But after the girls learn that their mother has become ill and can't visit, Mei vanishes without a trace -- and Satsuki may need Totoro's help to find her.
"My Neighbor Totoro" is sort of a fantasy slice-of-life story -- it's basically a few days in the life of two chipper little girls, who happen to be living in a Japanese countryside filled with genial spirits and magical happenings. There's no real plot at the center of it, but such is Miyazaki's skill that you never really care. You just want to see if things will turn out all right in the short term, and revel in the innocence of being little kids in the countryside.
To that end, Miyazaki spins up a magical little world -- houses are filled with bug-eyed sootballs, a tunnel in the bushes may lead to a Totoro's lair, and a vegetable garden can sprout into a vast towering tree. It's all painted in lush, vibrant colors and great detail, and Miyazaki does a good job emphasizing the little moments of everyday life (Mei showing up at Satsuki's school) and interweaving them with the more fantastical stuff (Totoro flying across windswept fields with an umbrella).
But he never forgets that real life has its bumps in the road -- there's a genuinely touching subplot in which the girls hear that their mother is ill again, and there's a genuine sense of fear. It's not too harsh (it's a kid's movie, after all), but it taps into a very primal fear that every little kid has.
The characters are all rather simple, but they're still quite likable, with upbeat personalities and loud laughter. Satsuki is particular is a realistic kid, staying positive most of the time but occasionally blowing up at Mei or crying out of fear that her mother will die. The only character I didn't understand was the boy in the cap, who seems troubled and shy, but who is never fully explored.
This movie has always gotten skimped somewhat on the extras, so it's nice to see that it's finally getting some attention -- it has the Disney dub (which is quite good) and original Japanese dub, storyboards, behind-the-scenes featurette, and a pair of interactive features called "World of Ghibli" and "Enter the Lands".
While it's more obviously aimed at kids than many of Miyazaki's movies, "My Neighbor Totoro" is an enchanting little story with a warm heart, and Hayao Miyazaki perfectly captures the innocence of childhood. Plus, it has a big, furry, grinning bus.
A loveable classic April 15, 2010
S. Latendresse (Quebec Canada)
In this age of wall-to-wall product placement, it's nice that films like this are still in distribution. Good solid story, exquisite visuals. The English translation stands up really well - it doesn't feel off at all. Recently watched with 4- and 7-year-old girls; it became their favorite film. They loved the girls, they were hanging on the story, they invested themselves into the dramatic parts. A well-tested classic.
Captures March 6, 2010
User1
This show captures childhood like no other animated show. The animation, music, and special attention to detail makes this show whimsical for a lack of better words. Worth the money and no need to be a fan of anime.
Amazing! August 26, 2009
Sophie Veilleux (Canada)
This movie brings me back to my youth and the voice of the little girl is so cute! I love Miyazaki's movies and this one is at the top with Spirited Away. Being an adult, my boyfriend and I were on the edge about renting this (when I did not yet know about Miyazaki movies), because it seemed like a movie for small children, but when we watched it, we both loved it and now I can't stop thinking about it so I bought it and am waiting it's arrival tomorrow!
magical tale of discovery January 4, 2008
elfdart
the first maybe 15/ 20 minutes of this movie are really annoying and just seem like these two girls are running around trying to be cute and carefree. those few minutes made me acutely aware that i was an adult watching a child's movie, in the most unpleasant way possible. thankfully it improves. in fact, if you play the movie again right after you've seen it once, you'll most likely still have the happy/ magical feeling and will still feel a connection to the characters, so can pass of the annoying as...... endearing.
the girls take us on a journey, seeing the world through their eyes. the story begins when the girls and their father move to a new house in the country. when they get there they start bumping into spirits, and continue to do so throughout the movie. the story itself is a very plain story about two girls living their regular lives, waiting for their mother to come home from the hospital, but this magical world that only the girls can interact with and see takes the story to a whole other level. the magical beings the girls interact with can easily be rationalized as the imaginations of these two girls as they make more of their surroundings than is actually there (for example the soot gremlins could be just dust balls), but even if that is the case, it makes the story that much more fantastic. a child, who is already prone to accepting the fact that magic can exist, will accept this story as it is presented, two girls who meet forest spirits. an adult however, much more skeptical than a child, may not do so and will look for instances to rationalize away the magic (soot gremlins = dust balls), and to that adult this story has the wonderful lesson of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. that's also why it helps to watch the movie twice as an adult to enjoy it, you get over your inhibitions and desire to make it fit into your own life after seeing it the first time, for those who don't need the first time i salute you.
it's a wonderful movie, and as it's a myazaki film, definitely worth the watch.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 296
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