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My Neighbour Totoro
It's been the third time that I sat down to watch this warm, fascinating and inspiring animation, My Neighbour Totoro(1988) directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The rich imagination, the hamony of the family relationship, their love for each other, the kindness of the neighbours, and the beauty of the countryside scenery, the lovely totoros and dusk creatures all add to its attraction. Above all, the simpleness, innocence and loveliness of the two sisters are what bring me constantly back to it.
This animation has two sisters as its protagonists, the four year old Mei and her ten year old sister Satsuki. The youger Mei is the leading heroine of the two, for this animation is about how little girls are closer to nature, and the younger the age, the closer she is to nature. Totoro is the guardian of the forest, a character from Japanese folklore. He is the spokesman of nature. The sequence and chance to see him marks the degree of innocence. Only young girls can see him. None of the adults have seen him. The neighbour boy never gets the chance to see him. And of the two sisters, the younger Mei is the first to see him.
As the film starts, the Kusakabe family is moving to the rural Japan so as to be near to the hospital where the mother stays for recovering from an unnamed illness. The two lively girls are excited about the green and fresh countryside in summer, the farmers working in the field and the bubbling stream under the bridge. The house they move in is an old one with the pillars on the porch creaking as the two sisters hanging on and revolving around them. Laughing and giggling they start their exploration of the house and the surrounding yard. High weeds waggles in the breeze on the front lawn bordered by bushes that lead to a wood. It is in this wood that Mei first comes across Totoro.
When the house is cleared, and the lovely black dust creature called susuwatari scared away, they start their life anew. Satsuki makes lunch for all of them and goes to her new school with a newly friend, the father, a professor, starts his writing in the study, and Mei plays in the yard. Before long she notices curiously a small white creature with a bag on his shoulder from which acorns drop down one after another, marking his walking route even when he becomes invisible to escape Mei's tailing. Oh, the simper of Mei! Sudden disappearance of this small creature under the foundation of the house brings another blue creature a little bigger in front of Mei as she turns around suddenly. How she chases wildly the scared two! across the meadow, into the bush and through the tunnel of tree branches till she drops into a big tree hole!
A huge animal is there sleeping, with a fuzzy tail, a big mouth like this, a thick tongue and whisks. Mei climbs to its soft and warm belly and watches its mouth wide-eyed. "You must be Totoro!"cries Mei. Ha, here he is, the Totoro! "Oh, Totoro." Mei mumbles and falls into sleep.
When she wakes on the ground under the big tree, her sister and father are looking crazily for her. But she has seen Totoro, she hasn't lied. Mei grumbles when they seem not to believe her. Sure they believe her. The father says. And they are to march to the king of tree to thank the forest master.
How about Totoro? Where has he gone? Why would the tree hole disappear? Don't worry. He will come back, because Satsuki hasn't seen him yet and she wants to meet him too.
Totoro's second real appearance belongs to Satsuki. As she waits on a rainy day for her father's bus while Mei falls asleep on her shoulder, Totoro shows up beside her, waiting for his cat bus. Satsuki is stunned when a pare of huge feet stop under her umbrella. Looking up she sees a huge bearlike figure with a cat face, water dropping from his small funny leave hat between his ears. She hands him the extra umbrella for his father, and sees him grasp it with nails with no idea of how to use it. She shows him the way. Hearing the sound of rain falling on the umbrella above, Totoro grins and jumps so that water in the tree shade all shower down on the umbrellas like iron beads, making Satsuki groaning, and Totoro glad. Soon, a beam of light comes from the right and stops in front of the wide-eyed Satsuki and just awoken Mei a bus in the shape of cat. A door appears on the side of the cat body. Totoro places on Satsuki's hand a small leave-wraped packet before stepping onto the bus and flying away in a flash, leaving the two sisters amazed and then bursting into cheers when their father finally arrives with the belated bus.
In the packet are some acorns. Satsuki and Mei sow them in the yard and wish them sprout as soon as possible. Totoro comes again in their dream when together with Totoro and other two small totoros they pray for the growth of the oak seedlings that grow quickly into big trees. On the next day the acorns really sprout.
The third appearance of Totoro is when Mei is lost. A telegram comes that reads that the date for Mom's discharge from the hospital has to be delayed. Satsuki has to make a phone call to her father's university to tell him about the news. Mei wants to come with her sister but is refused because she can't run quickly. Satsuki, in her worry for her mother makes a qurrel with Mei. And Mei, wronged by her sister, decides to go to the hospital herself only to be lost in some distant field. All the villagers get out to search for Mei with no result. A girl's sandal is found beside a pond. Many people crowd there to pray for Mei. As Satsuki rushes to the pond, she finds that luckily it's not Mei's. It's getting dark and the night is soon falling but Mei is still no where to be found, no response for the calls. Satsuki thinks of Totoro. She goes to the big true on the hill top and prays the Forest Master to help find Mei. Totoro hears her and summons the cat bus. Again dumnstartled, Satsuki steps into the bus and the destination board changes to: next stop: search for Mei. As the bus runs through the field, the farmers working there continue their work. Birds fly away when the bus runs on the electrical lines. Finally Mei's cry is heard. Satsuki calls out for her from the bus on the electrical line. Mei, hearing her sister's voice, stops crying immediately, but confused at seeing her sister no where around. When she looks up and sees the cat bus, she is again startled. She has wanted to give her Mom an ear of corn that's still in her arms. Together they fly to the hospital in the bus. They sit in a tree and see father and mother talk and mother seems to be fine with father's hearty laugh. As the mother seems to see them in the tree, they are gone, and left on the windowsill is the corn cob, carved:to Mom.
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Post comment Comment (2 replies)
- Reply bluephoebe
- I love every Hayao Miyazaki's film and Spirited Away is my favorite. I Your blog refresh my memories about this film. Perhaps during this holiday, I will revisit it. Happy New Year!
