My Neighbor Totoro [VHS] [Import] (1994)

『となりのトトロ』は親子そろって楽しめる数少ないファミリー映画のひとつである。母親が入院中の10歳のサツキと4歳のメイは、大学教授の父親と一緒に田舎の古びた家に引っ越してくる。巨大なクスノキの根元で、メイは大トトロ―巨大なウサギに似た大きな森の精―の住みかを見つける。サツキとメイはトトロが木を成長させること、トトロが田畑の上を飛び、雷のようにとどろく声で吠える時、風が吹くことを知る。トトロは姉妹の保護者を買って出るかのように、父親を待つ2人を見守ってくれたり、森を越えて心躍る旅に連れ出してくれたりする。2人が母の容態を心配している時には、ネコのバス―不思議の国のアリスのチェシャーキャットもうらやむようなニヤニヤ笑いを浮かべた不思議な多足動物―に乗せて病院まで送り届けてもくれるのだった。
サツキとメイはアニメに登場する子どもにありがちなうぬぼれ屋でもなければ、鼻につく甘ったるさを持ち合わせているわけでもない。2人は実に子どもらしい子どもなのだ。賢く、元気にあふれ、愚かで、頼りにもなり、時には我慢がきかなくなったりする。監督の宮崎駿は2人の姉妹がお互いを深く思い合うさまを、これまでのアメリカ作品ではなしえなかった表現で描き出して見せた。『となりのトトロ』は日本で爆発的な人気を博し、アメリカでもキャラクター商品が一部出回り始めている。映画をきっかけに、国内の自然保護団体が作品の舞台になった埼玉県のトトロの森自然区域を買い取ろうとする運動も始めている。（Charles Solomon, Amazon.com）

My Neighbor Totoro is that rare delight, a family film that appeals to children and adults alike. While their mother is in the hospital, 10-year-old Satsuki and 4-year-old Mei move into an old-fashioned house in the country with their professor father. At the foot of an enormous camphor tree, Mei discovers the nest of King Totoro, a giant forest spirit who resembles an enormous bunny rabbit. Mei and Satsuki learn that Totoro makes the trees grow, and when he flies over the countryside or roars in his thunderous voice, the winds blow. Totoro becomes the protector of the two sisters, watching over them when they wait for their father, and carrying them over the forests on an enchanted journey. When the children worry about their mother, Totoro sends them to visit her via a Catbus, a magical, multilegged creature with a grin the Cheshire Cat might envy.

Unlike many cartoon children, Satsuki and Mei are neither smart-alecky nor cloyingly saccharine. They are credible kids: bright, energetic, silly, helpful, and occasionally impatient. Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki makes the viewer believe the two sisters love each other in a way no American feature has ever achieved. My Neighbor Totoro is enormously popular in Japan, and some of the character merchandise has begun to appear in America. The film has also inspired a Japanese environmental group to buy a Totoro Forest preserve in the Saitama Prefecture, where Miyazaki's film is set. --Charles Solomon

For years, Hayao Miyazaki's beloved feature My Neighbor Totoro was available only in a pan-and-scan transfer with an adequate but undistinguished English translation and dub; this widescreen version from Disney Home Video offers livelier performances and a more vivid translation. In the old dub, the mysterious little black creatures who inhabit the empty farmhouse were called "dust bunnies," although that term refers to the clumps of dust that form under furniture. The new translation of "soot gremlins" suggests what the little beings really are. As Satsuki and Mei, Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning are lively and believable without being saccharine; Tim Daly gives a warmly understated performance as their patient father. The new transfer captures the subtle palette of Miyazaki's vanished natural world. More than ever, My Neighbor Totoro is a magical film that family members of every age can enjoy. --Charles Solomon

Visionary and Academy Awardwinning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away) has created a heartwarming, music-filled, and wonderful world in My Neighbor Totoro, a delightfully animated family adventure. And now, exclusively in this special edition DVD, never-before-seen bonus features reveal even more of Totoro’s fantastic world! Follow the adventures of Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in the countryside. To their delight, they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totorowho can be seen only through the eyes of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary charactersincluding a cat that doubles as a bus!and takes them on an incredible journey. Bring home My Neighbor Totoro from Studio Ghibli and Disney for your family’s DVD library and experience the timeless classic film Roger Ebert calls “one of the very few that come along that are magical for all ages.”