Review of “My Neighbor Totoro”

Review of “My Neighbor(ˈnābər) Totoro”

By Roger Ebert

Here is a children’s film made for the world we should live in, rather than the one we occupy(ˈäkyəˌpī). A film with no villains(ˈvilən). No fight(fīt) scenes(sēn). No evil(ˈēvəl) adults. No fighting between the two kids. No scary(ˈske(ə)rē) monsters. No darkness before the dawn(dän,dôn). A world that is benign(bəˈnīn). A world where if you meet a strange towering creature in the forest, you curl(kərl) up on its tummy(ˈtəmē) and have a nap(nap).

‘’My Neighbor Totoro’’ has become one of the most beloved(bəˈləv(ə)d) of all family films without ever having been much promoted(prəˈmōt) or advertised(ˈadvərˌtīz). It’s a perennial(pəˈrenēəl) best seller on video. On the Internet Movie Database, it’s voted the fifth best family film of all time, right behind ‘’Toy Story 2’’ and ahead of ‘’Shrek.’’ The new Anime(ˈanəˌmā) Encyclopedia(enˌsīkləˈpēdēə) calls it the best Japanese animated film ever made. Whenever I watch it, I smile, and smile, and smile.

This is one of the lovingly hand-crafted works of Hayao Miyazaki, often called the greatest of the Japanese animators(ˈanimādər), although his colleague at the Ghibli Studios, Isao(ē) Takahata, may be his equal. Remarkable that ‘’Totoro’’ and Takahata’s ‘’Grave(grāv,ˈgräˌvā) of the Fireflies,’’ now both in my Great Movies selection, were released on the same double bill in 1988. Miyazaki has not until very recently used computers to help animate his films; they are drawn(drôn) a frame(frām) at a time, the classic way, with the master himself contributing tens of thousands of the frames.

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https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-my-neighbor-totoro-1993