Tonari no Totoro (1988)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writer:

Hayao Miyazaki (written by)

Release Date:

16 April 1988 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Plot:

When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wonderous forest spirits who live nearby.

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Spirit | Father | Forest Spirit | Sick Mother

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Noriko Hidaka	...	Satsuki (voice)
Chika Sakamoto	...	Mei (voice)
Shigesato Itoi	...	Tatsuo Kusakabe (voice)
Sumi Shimamoto	...	Yasuko Kusakabe (voice)
Tanie Kitabayashi	...	Kanta no obâsan (voice)
Hitoshi Takagi	...	Totoro (voice)
Yûko Maruyama	...	Kanta no okâsan (voice)
Machiko Washio	...	Teacher (voice)
Reiko Suzuki	...	Furoi on'na no hito (voice)
Masashi Hirose	...	Kanta no otôsan (voice)
Toshiyuki Amagasa	...	Kanta (voice)
Shigeru Chiba	...	Kusakari-Otoko (voice)
Naoki Tatsuta	...	(voice)
Tarako	...	(voice)
Tomohiro Nishimura	...	(voice)
Chie Kôjiro	...	(voice) (as Chie Koujiro)
Daiki Nakamura	...	(voice)
Yûko Mizutani	...	(voice)
Akiko Hiramatsu	...	(voice)
Ikue Ootani	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Butcher	...	Kanta (voice: English version)
Pat Carroll	...	Nanny (voice: English version)
Cheryl Chase	...	Mei (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Lara Cody	...	Farm Girl (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Natalie Core	...	Nanny (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Tim Daly	...	Professor Kusakabe (voice: English version) (as Timothy Daly)
Dakota Fanning	...	Satsuki (2005 Disney version) (voice: English version)
Elle Fanning	...	Mei Kusakabe (2005 Disney version) (voice: English version)
Kenneth Hartman	...	Kanta (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Alexandra Kenworthy	...	Mother (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Steve Kramer	...	Farmer (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Melanie MacQueen	...	Kanta's Mom (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Lisa Michelson	...	Satsuki (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Katelin Petersen	...	Girl / Additional Voices (2005 Disney Version) (voice: English version)
Ashley Rose	...	Girl / additional Voices English Version (voice: English version) (as Ashley Rose Orr)
Yvonne Russo	...	Various Voices (voice: English version)
Evan Sabara	...	Boy / Additional Voices (2005 Disney Version) (voice: English version)
Lea Salonga	...	Mrs. Kusakabe (voice: English version)
Brianne Siddall	...	Michiko (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Gregory Snegoff	...	Dad (Troma version) (voice: English version)
Frank Welker	...	Totoro (voice: English version)

Directed by
Hayao Miyazaki

Writing credits
Hayao Miyazaki		(written by)

Produced by
Rick Dempsey	....	executive producer (US version)
Tohru Hara	....	producer
Ned Lott	....	producer (2005 Disney Version)
Eiko Tanaka	....	line producer
Yasuyoshi Tokuma	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Mark Henley		(English version)

Film Editing by
Takeshi Seyama

Casting by
Ned Lott		(2005 version)

Art Direction by
Kazuo Oga

Production Management
David Candiff	....	post-production manager (2005 Disney Version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tetsuya Endo	....	assistant director

Art Department
Hayao Miyazaki	....	storyboard artist
Nobuko Mizuta	....	color designer

Sound Department
Petra Bach	....	supervising adr editor (2005 Disney Version)
Randy Coppinger	....	adr recordist (2005 Disney Version)
Tom E. Dahl	....	sound re-recording mixer
Doc Kane	....	adr mixer (2005 Disney Version)
William Komar	....	adr recordist (2005 Disney Version)
Kazutoshi Satou	....	sound effects editor
Shigeharu Shiba	....	sound director

Special Effects by
Kaoru Tanifuji	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Hisao Shirai	....	production camera supervisor

Animation Department
Masaaki Endo	....	animator
Makiko Futaki	....	animator
Junko Ina	....	background artist
Yoshinori Kanada	....	animator
Hidetoshi Kaneko	....	background artist
Toshio Kawaguchi	....	animator
Shinji Kimura	....	background artist
Komasa	....	inbetween animator
Katsuya Kondô	....	animator
Tsuyoshi Matsumuro	....	background artist
Hajime Matsuoka	....	background artist
Yuko Matsuura	....	background artist
Toshio Nozaki	....	background artist
Kiyomi Ota	....	background artist
Nobuhiro Otsuka	....	background artist
Shinji Otsuka	....	animator
Yoshiharu Sato	....	animation director
Masako Shinohara	....	animator
Makoto Shiraishi	....	background artist
Kiyoko Sugawara	....	background artist
Yasuko Tachiki	....	animation checker
Hideko Tagawa	....	animator
Yôji Takeshige	....	background artist
Keiko Tamura	....	background artist
Makoto Tanaka	....	animator
Sadahiko Tanaka	....	background artist
Tsukasa Tannai	....	animator
Hitomi Tateno	....	animation checker
Akira Yamagawa	....	background artist
Hirômi Yamakawa	....	animator
Masaki Yoshizaki	....	background artist

Editorial Department
Hiroshi Adachi	....	assistant editor
Chris DeLaGuardia	....	color timer
Cory Hansen	....	post-production coordinator (2005 version)

Music Department
Kaiulani Kidani	....	music transfer
Eugene H. Saburi	....	music transfer

Other crew
Cindy Davis Hewitt	....	adaptation: English version
Rick Dempsey	....	dialogue director
Donald H. Hewitt	....	adaptation: English version
Ned Lott	....	additional voice director (2005 version)
Carl Macek	....	english producer
David Midthunder	....	voice
Kazuo Oga	....	executive background stylist
Hideo Ogata	....	planner
Tatsumi Yamashita	....	planner

Production Companies

• Tokuma Japan Communications Co. Ltd. (as Tokuma-Shoten)
• Studio Ghibli

Distributors

• Toho Company (1988) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• Cinema Mondo (2006) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Triangelfilm (2007) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• 50th Street Films (1993) (USA) (dubbed)
• EDKO Film (1989) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Gébéka Films (France)
• Intercontinental Video (2001) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Lucky Red (2009) (Italy) (all media)
• Orlando Films (2008) (Israel) (all media)
• Pan Vision (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• RUSCICO (2008) (Russia) (all media)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD) (dubbed)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1995-1996) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Anime Torotoro  animation assistance
• Atelier BWCA  background art
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Dragon Production  animation assistance
• Kobayashi Production  background art
• Omnibus Japan  post-production sound studio
• Studio Fantasia  animation assistance
• Studio Run Run  animation check
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing
• Tokyo TV Center  sound recording studio

Also Known As:

My Neighbor Totoro (USA)
My Neighbour Totoro (UK)
I geitonia tou dasous: Oi peripeteies tou Totoro (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Il mio vicino Totoro (Italy) [it]
Komsum Totoro (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Mój sasiad Totoro (Poland) [pl]
Magiska äventyr med Totoro (Sweden) (TV title) [sv]
Mein Nachbar Totoro (Germany) (TV title) [de]
Meu Amigo Totoro (Brazil) [pt]
Mi vecino Totoro (Argentina) [es]
Min granne Totoro (Sweden) [sv]
Min nabo Totoro (Denmark) (TV title) [da]
Mon voisin Totoro (France) (dubbed version) [fr]
Näkymätön ystävä (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Naapurini Totoro (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | South Korea:All | Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | France:U | Hong Kong:I | UK:U | USA:G | Singapore:G

Company:

Tokuma Japan Communications Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

On its original theatrical release in Japan, it was double-featured with Hotaru no haka (1988) as the film was believed to be too big a financial risk as a standalone release.

Goofs:

Continuity: Some of the whiskers on Mei's drawing of Totoro vanish in a wide view.

Quotes:

Tatsuo Kusakabe: Trees and people used to be good friends. I saw that tree and decided to buy the house. Hope Mom likes it too. Okay, let's pay our respects then get home for lunch.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Yellow Sticky Notes (2007)

Totoro is a Winner

Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro is a film that should be able to put a smile on any viewers face, and without a doubt, it'll take you on one of the most whimsical and fantastic journey's ever.

My Neighbor Totoro is a story that definitely something children can relate with, as i watched this with someone, they immediately paused the film and asked if this reminded me of being 4 years old again. This film really connects with people. But it's far from a quality nostalgia piece, it's well animated, beautiful, avoids cliché stereotypes (from both typical of the Anime genre and Children's Fantasy films), and is beautifully filmed (see scenes such as the girls waiting for the bus with Totoro and the scene where the magic nuts and seeds grow with the help of Totoro).

Even the English dub done by Fox isn't as bad everyone states. I've seen the Japanese version, and i'd have to say it's a mixed-bag between having Mei's voice sounds a bit too bratty for the English version, or having the Father's voice sound a bit awkward and perhaps not as caring in the Japanese version. Disney is said to be releasing a re-dub in mid-to-late 2005, so perhaps that will even out the controversy.

This film may not reach the heights of other Anime classics (mainly it's double bill with Grave of the Fireflies, or Miyazaki's other masterpieces Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away), however this will definitely be high on any film lovers list, and is definitely a high water mark of it's genre.

A solid 9/10, This film is next to impossible to watch without it pushing a smile out of your face.