[Closed] My Neighbour Toroto

It's a great film and no mistake.

you do realise he's a Troll, right?

a very cute fluffy cuddly Troll ^_^

Actually, Totoro isn't a troll, he's a forest spirit, the troll part comes from Mei mis-pronouncing the word Totor[u]u[/u], which is the Japanese word for troll:

What is Totoro?

He has been called many things from "a giant furry thing" to "a rabbit-like spirit". Basically, he is a spirit of the forest. Totoro is not a traditional Japanese character: he came completely from Miyazaki's imagination. However, he is obviously a mixture of several animals: tanukis (the Japanese version of raccoons), cats (the pointed ears and the facial expressions), and owls (the chevron markings on their chests and the "ooo"-ing sound they make with their ocarinas at night).

The name "Totoro" comes from Mei mispronouncing (she has a tendency to do so, though it wasn't clear in the dub) the word "tororu", which is the Japanese word for "troll". When Satsuki asks her "Totoro? You mean, the Troll in our book?" she is referring to their book "Three Mountain Goats" (The Three Billy Goats Gruff). In the closing credits you can see their mother reading the book to them. Although it's hard to see it on the tape, in the picture book for the movie you can see the picture on the cover shows a goat running over a bridge while a Totoro-like troll looks up from underneath the bridge.

i love studio giblet 😉 😀

shame studio ghibli dont exist anymore 🙁

I'm glad Miyazaki's getting such good press on here... not that I would have expected anything else. But it is interesting to see how his sort of traditionalism resonates with such a postmodern crowd.

In any case, Totoro has to be his best, but Nausica, Valley of the Wind is also brilliant.

Can't believe this thread has got so far without a single mention of Princess Mononoke

For shame!!

Laputa is my fave. The wife loves Totoro, has loads of collectables all over the house!

grave of the fireflies is best for feels, whereas spirited away is best story telling imo

Totoro rules - we love 'soot sprites' too with their bigger 'Spirit away' role 🙂

- still can't bring myself to watch 'Grave of the fireflies' - had it for years but cover blurb makes it sound so sad-

I prefer Spirited Away, the scene where Chihiro and No-Face ride the water logged tram/train to Zeniba's (Granny's) house just gets me every time, the sense of isolation and of not knowing is magical. Joe Hisaishi compose a wonderful score for the film and i recommend you check it out.

CountZero- ah yup, agree with that but the first time I learned of the mispronunciation of [i]tororo [/i]and then saw the book cover it was settled for me. 🙂

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Stuey - it's certainly not an easy film to watch.

Stuey - it is a really sad film, i cried at least 😛 but its well worth it, ghibli have never made a bad movie imo

Totoro cake for my daughter's 18th...

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still can't bring myself to watch 'Grave of the fireflies'

A devastatingly sad film.

wonderful score

Oh aye - it's gorgeous, especially that piano refrain... looking forward to seeing it in the cinema again. 😀

My husband introduced me to Studio Ghibli stuff when we first met. Absolutely lovely stuff, and if I ever have kids then I'm probably going to smother them with Totoro stuff.

LIKE THIS BED!

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I've never managed to bring myself to watch Grave of the Fireflies though.

seriously, all of you who have never watched grave of the fireflies, are missing out, it is a masterpiece of story telling and is perfectly executed. i promise you, once you get past the tears, you will be glad you watched it..i will say one thing though; it is not a happy end, no spoilers but, it is a heart breaking end, i watched it when i was 18 and i cried like a baby :3

xzascc - Member
shame studio ghibli dont exist anymore

Plenty of news about Studio Ghibli has been lost in translation recently. On Sunday, after days of murmurings, an interview with the Japanese animation studio's co-founder Toshio Suzuki was poorly interpreted by western news sources, with many believing he had announced Ghibli's closure.
Instead, it emerged that Suzuki had said the studio was taking "a brief pause" from making films. Now Suzuki has suggested Ghibli co-founder and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki may return from his retirement.
Rumours about Ghibli's future had been circulating since Miyazaki, director of My Neighbour Totoro and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, stepped down last last summer. Interviews with Miyazaki and Suzuki have both suggested that a break in filmmaking was always on the cards for the studio, with the potential for the company to merely deal with the copyright permissions of its films instead to boost falling profits.

While hunting around for some info on Totoro himself, it seems there's an Internet thing going around that he's really a death-god!
Complete rubbish, but it's lead to some 'interesting' fan-art...

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CountZero - Member
While hunting around for some info on Totoro himself, it seems there's an Internet thing going around that he's really a death-god!
Complete rubbish, but it's lead to some 'interesting' fan-art...

CountZero - Member
xzascc - Member
shame studio ghibli dont exist anymore

Not true. The studio is going through a period of assessing what direction it's going to take, but poor translation has confused things: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11018226/Studio-Ghibli-Miyazaki-may-return.html
Plenty of news about Studio Ghibli has been lost in translation recently. On Sunday, after days of murmurings, an interview with the Japanese animation studio's co-founder Toshio Suzuki was poorly interpreted by western news sources, with many believing he had announced Ghibli's closure.
Instead, it emerged that Suzuki had said the studio was taking "a brief pause" from making films. Now Suzuki has suggested Ghibli co-founder and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki may return from his retirement.
Rumours about Ghibli's future had been circulating since Miyazaki, director of My Neighbour Totoro and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, stepped down last last summer. Interviews with Miyazaki and Suzuki have both suggested that a break in filmmaking was always on the cards for the studio, with the potential for the company to merely deal with the copyright permissions of its films instead to boost falling profits.

Mmmmm, you could be right, I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to write them off yet.

CountZero - Member
Mmmmm, you could be right, I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to write them off yet.

dont get me wrong, i want them to keep going, but i doubt it, i crie errtiem

without a single mention of Princess Mononoke

Finally saw [i]Princess Mononoke[/i] at the cinema last night.

Flippin' heck, it's epic!

Flippin' heck, it's epic!

Next try [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_(manga) ]Nausicaa[/url].

Next try Nausicaa.

On my list, for sure.

If any of you ever go to Tokyo, you need to go to the studio ghibli museum. It's amazing, almost like a set from on of their films.

I've been interested in watching My Neighbour Totoro for some time now [b][u]but[/u][/b] sometimes I fear I suffer from Asperger's Syndrome because I find something I like and end up needing to know everything about it...boring people to death with the facts in the process.
Will I become addicted to Anime if I watch this film tonight? 🙄
Apart from a bit of Pokemon as a child, i've never dabbled in the art of Anime.

Also, if I do decide to watch...would it be better to watch a subbed or dubbed version?

The Ghibli dubbed ones are first class, they use top class people for the voices.

Finally saw Princess Mononoke at the cinema last night.

Flippin' heck, it's epic!

You're welcome 🙂

somafunk - Member

I prefer Spirited Away, the scene where Chihiro and No-Face ride the water logged tram/train to Zeniba's (Granny's) house just gets me every time, the sense of isolation and of not knowing is magical.

I watched it with my brother... At that exact point, I turned to him and said "I love this", he turned back and said "I know". In our Ren and Stimpy voices obviously. Don't think the entire film held together that well but the [i]moments[/i], ah, perfect.

Don't think the entire film held together that well but the moments, ah, perfect

But, what a collection of set pieces.

Chapeau to Studio Ghibli.

Oh, and, wiki:

The studio is also known for its strict "no-edits" policy in licensing their films abroad

So the international releases are always, well, as intended.

I've got Nasu by Studio Ghibli, a cycle racing manga, for sale if anybody's interested. Only in French and Japanese though.

Mononoke is my fave of the Ghibli films by far.

Also, if I do decide to watch...would it be better to watch a subbed or dubbed version?

Totoro should be subbed, certainly. The voices, even if you can't quite understand the words, just fit better and work better. I once tried watching Totoro dubbed but it just wasn't right.

I decided to start out with Grave of the Fireflies 🙁 I think the haunting image of Setsuko will be in my dreams tonight.

An often overlooked Miyazaki film is Castle of Cagliostro. It's not in the same saccharin sweet vein as most of the other Ghibli/Miyazaki films but if you enjoy anime generally, it's worth watching.

LOVE THAT CAKE!

Oh, and Porco Rosso is a classic. Watch it without reading about it…

Today it was the turn of [i]Spirited Away[/i].

Not the first time I've seen it in the cinema, but it still sends my heart soaring.... especially that score.

Magic.

Just watched [i]Grave of the Fireflies[/i] for the 2nd time in my life, Last time i watched it it i was in my early 20's and it made a helluva impression on myself and those who who watched it alongside me, this time i'm in my very early 40's, watched it alone and i think i made a grave mistake watching it whilst i was drinking whisky, bugger…………….

Love it, but my gf is obsessed, she even has a totoro onesie!