Totoro Opens Fantasy World

Born in 1941 in Tokyo, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best animators in the world. He has been creating a large number of Japanese animated movies -- such Japanese animated films are often called anime. Some of Miyazaki’s animations are “Laputa: Castle in the Sky” (1986), “My Neighbor Totoro” (1988), “Princess Mononoke” (1997), “Spirited Away” (2001), and “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004).

Released in July 2001 in Korea, “My Neighbor Totoro” is probably the best known anime of Miyazaki among teens. It was written and directed by Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The studio was founded in 1985 by Miyazaki and his colleague and mentor Isao Takahata.

The anime portrays the fantasy world of two little girls who live in rural Japan in the 1950s. Satsuki Kusakabe is an 11-year-old girl whose father works in a Tokyo university. Satsuki is the traditional name of the fifth month of the Japanese calendar, meaning May in English. Her little sister Mei is very playful and curious about everything.

One rainy night, Satsuki and her little sister Mei are waiting for their father at a bus stop. Instead of their father, they encounter a 3-meter tall fat creature called “Totoro.” He is known as the “Keeper of the Forest.” Unlike his appearance, he is very friendly.

Satsuki offers Totoro an umbrella when she sees him holding a small leaf on his head for protection against the rain. He is happy with the shelter and likes the sounds the umbrella makes as rain falls on it. In exchange for the umbrella, he gives the girls a bundle of nuts and seeds. Then he leaves on the Catbus, a huge grinning cat that looks like a yellow school bus. With Totoro and the Catbus, the little girls’ fantastic journey begins.