Hacker Cinema
My Neighbor Totoro
となりのトトロ
1988 · Film · 86 min
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
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.
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38 comments on Hacker News
I do sometimes think about slow burn movies and how they are hard to find outside of Oscar bait type of pictures.
Just looking at kids movies, something like My Neighbor Totoro has many scenes involving ambient sound with no dialog or background music, and it’s a major contrast compared to today’s 3D dopamine festivals.
On the other hand, that might just be survivorship bias. I’m cherry picking the best kids movie of its decade and comparing it to Boss Baby 2.
Finally, I’d also say my default read of articles like this are that they’re probably idle “the kids these days are bad” concern bait.
A professor complaining that his students won’t do their homework is not new and it’s not news. It is a statistical certainty.
Avatar 3 is making a billion dollars on people willing to sit through a 2.5 hour movie.
The use of color is atrocious in new movies. It's the era of high contrast and contrasting colors. They depend on it to make something look 'expensive' and 'premium' even though to me it looks really bad. And played out. Give me washed out greens like My Neighbor Totoro or yes, Jurassic Park, anyday.
It's a self-reinforcing thing. New movies want to look 'new', no matter if 'new' is bad.
Do you realize the linked article isn't talking about an actual bus stop? The movie My Neighbor Totoro has a scene at a bus stop. These people recreated the bus stop near their home/business.
So no, any bus stop that's been decorated is not "the same thing outside of Japan." This is specifically about being the bus stop from the movie.
My Neighbor Totoro is a family favorite in our household. My wife loves it. We even play the soundtrack in the car and in our backyard. We also greatly enjoy the Ernest & Celestine movies. We are waiting for the show to make it to a streaming service for us to try that.
I hope the next generation of Studio Ghibli isn't afraid to further explore the "Miyazaki universes" he envisioned. I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so, even if they drop the ball.
I'm grateful for the work these people have done to entertain so many with heartfelt animations.
In children’s movies the antagonist/monster is often meant as a metaphor for the child’s lack of autonomy in an ambivalent world that they do not fully understand.
And then you have My Neighbor Totoro, where all the monsters are friends, and the bad guy is just chronic illness, children who have let their imaginations run wild and fear the worst, a sibling getting lost, and at the end basically nothing happens which is the best news considering. There is no metaphor for human struggle, it’s just human struggle.
While some of his movies like Castle In the Sky, Mononoke and Nausicaä follow a modified Hollywood bad guy arc (in Castle half the bad guys practically become chosen family, in Spirited Away they become allies), a lot don’t. Up on Poppy Hill is essentially two teenagers in love discovering to their horror that they are first cousins, despair, and then discover that one of them was adopted.
But in all of them is the self-rescuing princess. The child either has to save themselves or at least demand the help that they are rightfully entitled to.
I got to introduce some kids to Ghibli right as Disney started distributing them. If you’ve seen Lasseter’s introduction to Spirited Away that’s where we were at that time - I’m telling you a secret that should not be a secret. And they in turn “forced” their friends to watch them in the same way my generation forced people to watch The Princess Bride; like it was a moral imperative to postpone other plans and rectify this egregious oversight in their education.
Let's look at the context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc
Presenters: "This is a presentation of an artificial intelligence model which learned certain movements [...] It's moving by using its head. It doesn't feel any pain, and has no concept of protecting its head. It uses its head like a leg. This movement is so creepy, and could be applied to zombie video games. An artificial intelligence could present us grotesque movements which we humans can't imagine."
The screen shows some Silent Hill looking vaguely humanoid, crawling blob. As the presenters say, it's pretty creepy looking.
Miyazaki: "I am utterly disgusted [...] I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all"
IMHO saying Miyazaki outright hates AI is putting words into his mouth. All the clip shows is that a dude that doesn't make zombie horror films doesn't need a zombie horror generator thank you very much.
So yeah, he clearly rejects the product pitch. But judging from Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro I don't see why you'd pitch him that product.
To present an opposite viewpoint, I try to only engage with media I suspect future me will be able to revisit and pull enjoyment out of at least once. I rarely actually do so, but I've found it to be a remarkably effective quality filter.
It's also a genre independent quality metric. That's not to be underplayed. Some examples of films that successfully passed it for me: Casablanca; Portrait of a Lady on Fire; Hereditary; Under the Skin; My Neighbor Totoro; The Fifth Element. I'm pretty sure most people would agree at least half of these movies are good.
It turns out most of the things I consider worth revisiting at least once are also things other people would consider that way. So for me a Rewatchability rating is a positive signal.
I think it comes down to whether or not you enjoy slice of life. I just watched My Neighbor Totoro with my daughter. It was the first time for both of us. I found it amazing, but, ultimately, nothing actually happens in the movie. Spirited Away and some of the other movies are obviously more fantastical, but they still share a kind of mundane, day-to-day feel to their plots.
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I haven't gone super-super-deep into Ghibli but I feel confident saying either My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away.
Be careful to keep your expectations straight for any of the Ghibli films you watch after Spirited Away though, because it's possibly their best. I go back and forth on that or Princess Mononoke taking the crown.
I asked a frAInd what famous actors dubbed miyzazki movies:
"Spirited Away" (2001) - Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, and Susan Egan.
"Princess Mononoke" (1997) - Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, and Billy Bob Thornton.
"My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) - Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning.
"Howl's Moving Castle" (2004) - Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, and Billy Crystal.
"Ponyo" (2008) - Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, and Liam Neeson.
"The Wind Rises" (2013) - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci.
"Porco Rosso" (1992) - Michael Keaton and Cary Elwes.
"Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989) - Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, and Janeane Garofalo.
Not always. Here is Isao Takahata [1]:
“The response was different depending on which film was shown first. My Neighbor Totoro would make them happy, then this Grave of the Fireflies… Those who saw Totoro first didn’t want to see Fireflies to the end. Those who saw Fireflies first didn’t have that problem, and stayed to the end. The double featuring was a problem, I’d say.”
[1] http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/grave/faq.html#totoro
In addition, I'd argue that most of those really good movies are still more enjoyable to watch without spoilers. They may be good on a re-watch, but not as good.
There are a handful of exceptions—ironically, one of the first that comes to mind is Miyazaki's own My Neighbor Totoro.
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>movies that inspired you? To think about technology, business, entrepreneurship? Also open to "fun"
Since you asked:
"Pirates of Silicon Valley"[1] was talking to the camera before a certain streaming service made it cool, and "Hard Candy"[2] caused a minor drama bomb when I went off to college because I had no idea it was a CSAM search term.
(In retrospect, the friend giving me feedback was weirdly insistent that my stance of "Why wouldn't I want to list a movie about murdering pedophiles on my online dating profile?" was totally wrong, and I deeply value the many folks who came and watdched pirated episodes of Dexter in my basement back in the good old days before streaming services.)
Anyways, both are wonderful plane movies for spooky season, but maybe also throw a copy of that catbus movie[3] on your device in case there's kids around :-)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley#Historical_accuracy
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Candy_(film)#Plot
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Neighbor_Totoro#Home_media
Yes, but IMO there's depth to it that she might be able to understand and appreciate more once she's around 10 years old. Another really good Studio Ghibli film with a lot of charm but a bit less depth is My Neighbor Totoro, which might be an even better fit for a seven-year-old.
Animated movies that I often rewatch (in no particular order):
- Spirited Away
- Grave of the Fireflies
- Finding Dory
- Up
- Tokyo Godfathers
- Akira (NOT the English dub, which completely changes the story and dialogue for the worse, and for no good reason)
- Mononoke Hime
- Ghost in the Shell (the original one)
- My Neighbor Totoro
Animated series I'll rewatch:
- Guardian of the Sacred Spirit
- Castlevania
- Futurama
- Archer
- Arcane
- Cowboy Bebop
- Ergo Proxy
- The Dragon Prince
- Hakaba Kitaro
- Star Trek: Lower Decks
My neighbor Totoro and ponyo are childrens movies for the younger ones.
Devastatingly sad movie.
But not for a second regrettable.
As sibling comment notes, have My Neighbor Totoro ready to go afterwards to put you back together.
interesting, these are more 'western' than the ghibli catalog as a whole, which does have some western stories. it almost seems like they were looking for less familiar material, much like i've been doing for the past number of years by watching more 'eastern' (chinese/japanese/korean) content. still, looks like i have some watching to do!
as a sidenote, i'm happy vulture put "spirited away" and "my neighbor totoro" at the top of their ghibli rankings[0]. these two films are amazing. i wouldn't have ranked "castle in the sky" at 3, but do agree that "grave of the fireflies" and "princess kaguya" should rank highly. "howl's movie castle" or "ponyo" would probably be #5 for me. "arrietty" would be last, despite me not having seen 5 of the films yet.
[0]: https://www.vulture.com/article/best-studio-ghibli-films-ranked.html
Porco Rosso, The Wind Rises, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service. The Ghibli films keep me coming back.
I was curious, since I have been watching the "100 Films To See before You Die" and so many older films seem to clock in under 90 minutes (to be sure there are plenty of exceptions).
Just a handful of films under 90 minutes:
"Toy Story", "High Noon", "Rashomon", "This is Spinal Tap", "Frankenstein" (and "Bride of"), "Umberto D", "My Neighbor Totoro", "Run Lola Run", "Duel", "Rope"...
I think as adults we downplay how difficult first experiences can be, and so I don't think we get that the stories of loss and struggle in kids movies are speaking to them about real problems they either already have or will soon.
Miyazaki has for some people become an alternative to Disney, but his work is full of Dumbo and Bambi moments. The difference is that in his work, the girl (and it is almost always a girl protagonist) is often substantially responsible for saving themselves, by reasonable means. They are not rescued by a boy or by deux ex machina.
Even in My Neighbor Totoro, which is almost but not quite an exception to this rule, the youngest (who is a main character, but not the main character) is saved by a magic bus. However, the main character initiates this rescue by digging deep and calling on resources she might not have thought to exploit. She asks for help from the most powerful person she knows and she gets it. She has to ask, and the terms of the rescue are very defined. Nobody white-knights her, nobody swoops in and reads her mind.
But the main struggle in that story is not a lost child. It is Death. And this resolves itself rather than being resolved by the characters, not through a miracle, but by discovering that the children don't know the situation and have invented a story that is much scarier than reality. In the end most of their fears are unfounded, and while life won't be everything they hoped, it's going to be much better than their internal catastrophizing.
I've been watching some studio Ghibli movies with my kids, it's been a treat!
The ones we watched so far (Kikis Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro) have a style of storytelling that is delightful and engaging without feeling rushed or overwhelming.
Not all of their movies are suitable for younger audiences, but I think many/most are. I highly recommend them.
> My Neighbor Totoro
In anime at least, CGI cuts costs a lot, especially for 3D scenes. On the other hand, people are getting better and better at doing CGI these days. In general I feel like current animation has more movement overall, but it's not budgeted well. For example, in the introduction of Patlabor 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydCLeclaKik, there are lots of still shots, but some movements are impressive, and the backgrounds are gorgeous. It is one of the best anime movie ever made though, so it's not like everything at that time looked like that.
> Classic movies from the 80s like Alien, The Thing, My Neighbor Totoro, etc. look so much better to me than the latest blockbuster Marvel movie.
You chose three films that are widely considered to be among the greatest films of all time in their genre.
I truly hope there is a shift back to practical FX and 2d animation.
Classic movies from the 80s like Alien, The Thing, My Neighbor Totoro, etc. look so much better to me than the latest blockbuster Marvel movie.
There is something about actors acting in the same set you see, with the actual monsters you see, and the fog and lighting and everything else being real. And shooting on film just looks better to me.
Hand drawn 2d animation looks so much better too. I much prefer its soft and imperfect look to the HD perfection of modern computerized animation. 3d animation while great in some movies, I feel is an overused default animation style today.
I feel like we reached the perfect balance between visual art, technology and original stories back in the 80s, and have been steadily implementing cost/time saving optimizations ever since.
I’ve been watching these movies recently simply because they are so popular — I feel obligated to see them. I was bored by my neighbor totoro. But kikis delivery service absolutely blew me away and I would call it one of the best movies ever made. It astounded me. The story is perfectly paced and the characters mesh with each other, the setting and the story absolutely perfectly. It’s extremely beautiful visually. It should be mandatory viewing in the way that to kill a mockingbird is mandatory reading.
When you look at the selection criteria, it's hard to accept this as Kurosawa's favorite movies.
Based on the handful of films I've seen on this list, though, this is probably a list of films you should go out of your way to see if you're into film for something more than just for entertainment. Some are just flat out entertaining for anyone though, with the drama of Witness, the comedy of The Thin Man or the wonder of My Neighbor Totoro. Some show off the technical prowess of the director, like Barry Lindon. Some have stood the test of time as a work of art like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Of course, I guess the point is that great movies hit many of these categories.
Recently took my son to see his first movie in the theater: My Neighbor Totoro. It was an amazing experience for us all.
While I'm glad we got to see it in the theater, I think the lack of Ghibli movies on streaming services is what will finally get me to buy a BluRay player and setup Plex. It's a popular approach among a lot of parents I know as who wants to discover their child's favorite film just got dropped by the streaming service you subscribe to?
To me it means you liked My Neighbor Totoro, you probably also like most of the Hayao Miyazaki work, and probably you like other anime movies.
Other people they might see you as a weeb.
When in reality maybe someone you like stickered it there, and you just know that the name of the thing is Totoro. Only you know, yet it's still a signal to people who interpret that symbol.
Now depending on your laptop brand you could be a major asshole or a normal human being! (This one is a joke, kind of)
I have the same. I cry in every Ghibli movie, even if they're fun to watch. I cry even when I think about Totoro flying around the big tree, I cry when I remember how Kiki can handle the world and her own life all by herself and I cry when I think about the killer robots of Laputa helping the little animals and plants to survive on that killing machine.
And I don't usually cry in the movies.
And yes, Grave of the Fireflies is tough.
Edit: Or that train crossing the flooded plains. Uh... We should not forget Joe Hisaishi's part in this.
Edit2: Or how Porco can't face love after being part of the war as a pilot.
It was a major eye opening experience the first time I saw My Neighbor Totoro. There was a charming and wonderful film that was completely devoid of conflict! Yet, it worked and worked well. It went against everything I had been taught in every English class in my life.
Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke are good. In fact, they're arguably some of his best.
But my favorites will always be Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and Whisper of the Heart. They may not be Miyzaki at his best, but they were the films that I loved the most.
The Wind Rises may also join the latter category. Either way, it's a really good film.
Finally, it should be noted that Kaze Ni Naru from The Cat Returns is possibly one of my favorite songs from any anime, ever. And I watch a lot of anime.
Suffice to say it's up on the list with A Cruel Angel's Thesis, and Tank. For you anime fans who know what that means, yes, it's that good, IMHO. YMMV.
though not sci-fi, but check out hiyao miyazaki's anime, really well done and he has this way of never portraying characters as bad, everyone is good, very consistent across all his movies, princess mononoke, porco rosso, my neighbor totoro, etc
The problem with forums about anime or manga is that they self-select for people who have been rejected from every other community. A solid science-fiction or horror story can find discussion in the appropriate forums, but nobody normal is interested in some high-school student's harem of magical girls.
Here are some manga / anime recommendations. Some have not been licensed for distribution in the US, or have been only partially released here, so you will need to hunt a bit for fansubs. I watch only the animated adaptations, as they're easier to hide, but feel free to order the original manga versions if you don't feel ashamed about reading comic books. Not all are adaptations -- the movies, and a few television series, are original animations.
- Monster < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_%28manga%29 >
- Planetes < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetes >
- Mushishi < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushishi >
- Mononoke < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mononoke_%28TV_series%29 >
- Tokyo Godfathers < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Godfathers >
If you're willing to relax your standards a bit, there are many outstanding series aimed at younger viewers.
- Denno Coil < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denn%C5%8D_Coil >
- Yokohama Shopping Trip < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokohama_Kaidashi_Kik%C5%8D >
- Kino's Journey < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kino%27s_Journey >
- Cromartie High School < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromartie_High_School >
- My Neighbor Totoro < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Neighbor_Totoro > , or almost anything else by Studio Ghibli < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli >
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_Who_Leapt_Through_Time >
- Yotsuba&! < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsuba&! >
He recommends Princess Mononoke.
It's that fact alone that makes me take his review into consideration. If you haven't seen Princess Mononoke, I'd highly recommend it. Actually, I'd recommend all the Studio Ghibli films. My wife and I have the entire collection, and are in the middle of watching the last one we haven't watched yet, Porco Rosso (which is so far, fantastic). "These" are the kinds of animations I, personally, want to watch.
- Visually stunning, without the need for CG.
- Not overwhelming, ie: Not too spastic or overwhelming, commercial-esque, scene switching.
- No overly annoying characters.
- Original content.
You can find the entire Studio Ghibli series online at your favorite Bay of Pirates, but, I'd recommend you actually buy them all, as they are simply amazing. (My Neighbor Totoro is the kid friendliest, and the others aren't necessarily). My apologies if this wasn't specific to Avatar, but I'm just about to finish all of Studio Ghibli's works, and am simply amazed at these films. Fantastic.