My Neighbour Totoro Blu-ray Review

• 29th Oct 2012

Its been a long time coming, but its a very welcome first time release on Blu-Ray for the Studio Ghibli classic, ‘My Neighbour Totoro’. This beautiful little movie is about two young sisters Mei and Satsuki in 1950’s Japan who move to the countryside with their father following the hospitalisation of their mother. What they find there is a forest full of magical beings, in particular the bunny-like Totoros of varying sizes who guide and protect them and lead them on exciting adventures! My personal favourite is the cat-bus (with red-eyed mice for headlamps) and it is a real treat to get a first look at the soot sprites we meet later in Miyazaki’s masterpiece ‘Spirited Away’. When little sister Mei meets the larger Totoro first in an Alice-like encounter after getting lost in the forest, it is still as sweet and touching as I remembered. Mitzayaki has always said that he wanted this movie to be ‘peaceful, tranquil and innocent’, heavily influenced by his own childhood and local nature spirit beliefs; I think he has definitely achieved this and this film has always been one of my favourites from Ghibli.

With a choice of the original Japanese with subtitles or the English dubbing, you can get the best of both worlds. Both soundtracks sound crisp and fresh, and the Fanning sisters interpretation of the two girls in English is really in the right spirit. The sound has been beautifully restored and deepened for the Blu-ray release, the animal and weather noises are particular stand outs for full-bodied, modern quality. The visuals are wonderful with real tender loving care taken to preserve and enhance the classic Ghibli tones and the palette of nature intended.

You get a good hours worth of special features here that will appeal to both Ghibli nerds (the exhaustive ‘Storyboards’ spring to mind!) and the interested viewers who were as entranced as I was by this delightful movie. Most sections are documentary style five minute sections covering everything from the concept of the film and creating the characters themselves to a special look at the producers’ perspective. Compiled from interviews with Miyazaki, lead animators, producers and composers, this is an intimately interesting and never tedious insight into the world of Totoro. I was very interested to hear Miyazaki speak of his childhood and how this was a fifteen year long process from conception to filmmaking, a nostalgic journey to rediscover the beauty of the Japanese landscape similar to the time and place of his childhood. The location documentary in particular is a real highlight, investigating real-life locations that served as inspiration and what they would have been like in that era. I enjoyed seeing the original cheesy 80’s Japanese theatrical trailers and hearing about how they approached the soundtrack, aiming for something minimalist and ethereal which I think has definitely been achieved.

Overall this is a beautiful, delightful little movie that has been treated with the love and respect I believe it deserves. If you haven’t seen it yet, or indeed, any Ghibli before I really, really recommend you start wth Totoro on Blu-Ray!

Claire Hyypiä