And I can tell you it lives up to it's hype. It's one of the sweetest warmest most beautiful films I have ever seen. And by beautiful I mean it's beautiful to look at and it's got a beautiful message.The film is about a family that moves out to the country for recuperative reasons, the mother of the family has an unnamed illness. The two little girls of the family meet up with creatures only they, and other children, can see. And when the youngest of the two gets lost on her way to see her mother in the hospital, the creatures come swiftly to their aid. I know, the story sounds thin but believe me there is more character development and story in this film than there is in any CGI enhanced piece of shit that comes out of Hollywood. There is more humanity and compassion in this film than there is in all of Christendom. And there is more art and joy in this film than there is in any art museum and gallery.
It's a timeless and border-less classic. The story may take place in Japan outside of Tokyo and the characters may have funny sounding names but they could be anybody living anywhere where children are allowed to roam around, are loved, and allowed to think for themselves. This film touched me deeply and I highly recommend it to everyone of all ages.
13 comments:
Good review; I agree completely. This is one of my all-time favorites, though I still haven't seen the Disney release you saw. I have an older version with a different audio dub. I actually loaned it to a friend once and she returned it and said she didn't like it because it was "too violent." I knew right off she didn't actually watch it.
I don't usually watch these, I wrongly chalk them up as 'kid flicks'. I will check this one out, need to change my way of thinking! :)
I had heard of it, but hadn't seen it yet. All the reviews I had read seemed good. I definitely wanna check it out.
That's been a family favorite here since 1997. The youngest girl looks a lot like our Twin #2.
Can this be rented or must I buy?
It can be rented DIY.
The only problem is the end theme, it sticks in your head long after the last viewing.
Totoro to to ro!
We're watching this today at rest time.
Have you seen Spirited Away? By the same dude and totally worth every second. The main character of S.A. and Mai from Totoro are my favorite cartoon characters. Ever. :)
In Japan, this played as a double bill with Grave of the Fireflies. It is one of the strangest pairings of all time. Grave is the most bleak and heart-wrenching animation film I have ever seen, while Totoro is sweet and life-affirming.
I will never understand the Japanese.
My kids loved this movie, so I've seen it many times. I think your review sums it up very well. And Cormac Brown is correct; that song gets stuck in your head. There have been many times when I've found myself singing "Totoro, Totoro..." without realizing it.
I know this movie by heart. I have four daughters and this is one of the few animated movies where the mother isn't dead, which I do appreciate!
And how astonishingly gorgeous is the animation? such a brilliant movie. I admire Miyazaki immensely, and like all of his films but, for me, he's never topped Totoro.
Yeah, I WISH Ed would stop singing the theme song -- I'm about to contact an attorney!! Love this movie -- except the way the mouths open on Japanese animé characters really creeps me out. Kiki's Delivery Service is also sweet. Pompoco though -- you can't top that one for weird, trippy almost, like the pink elephant scene in Dumbo. Raccoons who use their "raccoon pouches" (hint: only the males have them) for all kinds of things.
Did you notice that Totoro was stamped on your swag package? I did it just for you, Dr. Monkey.
I saw Spirited Away for the first time this past weekend, and I liked it a lot, even if my wife didn't. Haven't seen Totoro yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to doing so.
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