My Neighbor Totoro

"He's your friendly neighbourhood forest spirit!"

1988 1h 26m JA

🙌

8.1

BANGER

★8.1TMDB · 9,149

FantasyAnimationFamily

Synopsis

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Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

“He's your friendly neighbourhood forest spirit!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Noriko Hidaka
Satsuki Kusakabe (voice)
Chika Sakamoto
Mei Kusakabe (voice)
Hitoshi Takagi
Totoro (voice)
Shigesato Itoi
Tatsuo Kusakabe (voice)
Sumi Shimamoto
Yasuko Kusakabe (voice)
Tanie Kitabayashi
Granny (voice)
Toshiyuki Amagasa
Kanta Ogaki (voice)
Yuko Maruyama
Kanta's Mother (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $41M — a 11.1× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, shot by Hisao Shirai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joe Hisaishi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Takeshi Seyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Noriko Hidaka and Chika Sakamoto and Hitoshi Takagi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Hayao Miyazaki directs. Hisao Shirai behind the camera. Joe Hisaishi scores. Takeshi Seyama cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $3.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $41M — a 11.1× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
438 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, shot by Hisao Shirai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Joe Hisaishi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Takeshi Seyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Noriko Hidaka and Chika Sakamoto and Hitoshi Takagi carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "He's your friendly neighbourhood forest spirit!".
10IMDB entry: tt0096283 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 12 themes, including "mother", "sibling relationship", "village", "leave".
12Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Hisao Shirai
Original score: Joe Hisaishi
Editing: Takeshi Seyama
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,700,000
Box office: $41,000,000
Return: 1108% of budget
Original language: JA
Certification (US): G
IMDB: My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Awards

Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year
Mainichi Film Awards
Blue Ribbon Awards
Ōfuji Noburō Award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Hayao Miyazaki

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Community reviews

What people are saying

sykobanana2020-05-17
★ 9/10
"Childhood" in a movie. This is just perfection - a perfect way to while away time and reconnect with your youth. Everything is outstanding in this film, but especially the way it can emote your sense of wonder and imagination. I wish I could have watched this as a child, I would have wanted to find Totoro and the Catbus, roar like Totoro, or sleep on his belly. Oh well...I will just have to imagine it. Its interesting to note this was released with Grave of the Fireflies, another Ghibli masterpiece, which I have summed up as being about innocence lost. This movie is innocence maintained.
20thCentury2020-07-20
(SPOILER ALERT) I was delighted to see this subtle/multi-layered tale unfold, which seemed to play well to both a childhood audience, keen on likable characters/compelling imagination, and adults with a deeper appreciation for the symbolic backstory. Like most of Miyazaki's films, there was an enormous focus on the power of the natural world. Whenever man perverts the natural world, the natural world seems to pushback. It appears as though the seldom seen Mother in the story is sick due to some mental/physical disconnect that she has likely had with the natural world. Through the unique power of children to tap into their imagination, especially children living outside the city and amongst nature, Miyazaki demonstrates the unique gift that children have to re-establish the lost bond between unhealthy adults and the healing power of the natural world. I was thoroughly impressed with how delicately Miyazaki established this bond between the two children, their imagination, and the natural world. Totoro, the lovable silent giant, is a great and unexpected metaphor for the healing power of the natural world and childhood imagination :)
r96sk2024-01-27
★ 8/10
Aggressively cute. <em>'My Neighbor Totoro'</em> holds an extremely hearty story, one told via impeccably beautiful animation. Noriko Hidaka and Chika Sakamoto standout as Satsuki and Mei, the relationship between those two characters is so sweet. They do get a bit shouty in parts which ever so slightly irritates, but that's definitely one to file under 'nit-picking'. A simple movie, one which displays the imagination of children perfectly. Big fan of the Catbus. 🐱