Studio Ghibli Analysis: My Neighbour Totoro

during this analysis I will be attempting to pronounce several Japanese words and names viewer discretion is advised my neighbor totoro is regarded as one of the most iconic pieces of Japanese animated film it is Studio Ghibli's third film and was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki even if you haven't watched the film you will more than likely be familiar with the gentle giant that is Totoro who has seen incredible success in the realm of merchandising there are cuddly toys stationery phone cases and even furniture all complete with the Totoro motif sociai merchandise was a huge financial benefit for Studio Ghibli despite Totoro as iconicity however his appearance in the film is fairly minimal he doesn't appear for the first time until the 30 minute mark retaining the mystery surrounding his character in this video I'm going to explain how the film depicts the experience of young children during a tough time in their family life through an exploration of the relationships within the kusakabe family unit Miyazaki has often claimed that childhood is the happiest time in one's life and this is portrayed through Satsuki and Mays determination to stay happy when things take a turn for the worst the story was heavily based on Maya's Aki's own childhood when his mother was stricken by disease this resulted in his family moving closer to a hospital the novelization of my neighbor totoro makes it clear that the mother is suffering from tuberculosis and likewise Miyazaki's mother was ill with spinal tuberculosis he said it would be too hard hitting if the two protagonists were boys and not girls seeing as the animation process takes a lot of time looking at stills of the characters it's understandable why this change was made another connection worth mentioning is that mr. kusakabe shares a very similar visual representation to the character Jiro from Maya's Aki's 2013 film the wind rises both characters look very similar to Maya's Aki's father Kazuki Miyazaki both of whom were aeronautical engineers it is also worth highlighting that all three father figures took care of their partners when they were unwell showing just how much of a role model Miyazaki's father was to him My Neighbor Totoro was rejected by animation company Telecom in the early 1980s however when one considers how much of a difficult film this must have been to pitch it's early rejection is understandable the film lacks complexity there is no villain that needs to be stopped thus creating minimal dramatic peril it obviously was not going to capture the attention of large film production companies who are generally on the lookout for action-packed blockbusters or romantic dramas eventually Japanese production company tokuma shoten agreed to produce it under the condition that the film would be released alongside of the grave of the fireflies one can imagine this must have been a challenge for Ghibli given that they didn't have their reputation or global financial success back in the 80s yet this choice of pairing does also prove that Studio Ghibli were capable of creating masterpieces of both serious and light-hearted natures originally the film was intended to have one female protagonist instead of to a six-year-old girl with red hair the decision to put the focus on two girls at different ages allows for a broader exploration of family as opposed to the traditional hero with a goal to overcome to do this Maya Zaki encouraged his animators to observe children that pass by their office windows to ensure the realistic characterization and animation of the girls may for example is not your typical innocent cherub like other girls of her age are commonly portrayed in western films she roars cries loves to pretend and throws tantrums she is a realistic child despite the realistic portrayal of the characters and setting it collides with the fantastical world of the spirits around the location we see shrines and temples including statues of foxes the statues are also known as kitsune e boxes that have supernatural powers such as the ability to transform kitsune are regarded as protectors of crops which is why they're typically found near fields and we actually meet some kitsune in Ghibli's 1994 film pom Poko shrines are typically known to be in dark quiet and peaceful areas to create a spiritual omnipresence in the film's case the shrines create a presence of the forest spirits meaning that we can feel totoro's presence without necessarily seeing him when Mei tries to convince her family that she slept on a fat furry bowling ball they aren't disappointed irritated or even unwilling to investigate they're perfectly content and in awe of their surroundings despite Mei being unable to prove her claim the giant Totoro resides in the mystical world amongst the camphor tree where it is quiet and peaceful a place of intense greens flowers plants and butterflies Maya's Aki believed that quote gods came from such dark places that they preferred to in peaceful places such as forests so is Totoro a God not exactly a spirit undoubtedly however I would argue that Totoro is more comparable to the Buddha a large cheerful figure known for taking afternoon naps the film is set in an outer region of Tokyo before the massive urban expansion of the 1960s humans were still living harmoniously amongst nature unlike more environmentally-conscious Ghibli films they would later produce such as Princess Mononoke according to Misaki Totoro is set in a simpler time before there was television and likewise there is no television set in any of the houses we see Gunter and granny work in a rice field and Satsuki remarks that they had a day off school because it was rice planting day nowadays rice picking is mainly dependent on agricultural machinery but labor is an important ingredient to the film as the two girls chip in with everyday work without complaint a life with no television and plenty of chores to do would be a modern child's nightmare but the two girls decide to remain brave and patient helping their dad around the house whilst their mother is sick the granny also acts as a substitute and mothering figure as she encourages and helps the Kasukabe family from the day they move in right up until the end of the film where the girls reunites with her and Gunter throughout the film the two girls are determined to be fearless and strong through the stressful task of moving home supported also by their father the Kusaka base house is more than just a traditional Japanese home though as this will be the one that the girls will remember a house of childhood they scream into dark rooms encouraging any potential monsters to come out come out to wherever they are and this bravery is encouraged by their father in the bathroom scene when the girls are scared of the wind blowing through the house he encourages them to laugh away the unnerving situation interestingly the bathroom scene was a problem for the film's Western distributors Fox and 50th Street films the distributors claimed that it would be hard for Westerners to understand this notion of families bathing together even though the father could have chosen to have an entire bathtub to himself he shows his unity with his family by sharing in their experience one of the most touching parts of the film is when Satsuki has her hair brushed by her mother Satsuki displays a deep connection with her mother to the point of desiring to be her her wish to have hair like her mother's alongside the proud smile she wears when her mother says you and me are a lot like Satsuki exemplifies we also see her rushing around making food for the family including her lunch for school that her father admits he completely forgot about not only do we see Satsuki's desire to take after her mother here but we also begin to understand the father's struggle of being a single parent throughout the ordeal however Satsuki in particular remains patient and understanding she didn't get angry at her father for forgetting for example when Satsuki is at school and her father is busy working Mei is left to play alone where she meets the three totoro's they consist of what I'm guessing is a big father Totoro and his two offsprings symbolically mirroring the father and his two daughters when Mei falls down the camp for tree and meets the big Totoro the image of Alice falling down the rabbit hole from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland springs to mind with the smallest Totoro somewhat resembling the white rabbit at the end of the film we also see the cat bus also shares similarities to the Cheshire cats with his huge smile her father later states that the Totoro spirits of the forest and can only be seen when they want to be seen it could be argued that the woodland spirits wanted to be seen by Mei as she is seeking somebody to play with something the father couldn't fulfill as he is too busy working the two girls and their father later ask the spirits the following which could show that the Totoro purpose is to help the three whilst their mother isn't present as much as Satsuki enjoys playing the role her mother would ordinarily enact this comes with a burden also this is represented humorously when Mei shows up at her school but also when Mei has to be carried by Satsuki in the rain as they wait for the father to come home maybe in the symbolic representation of this burden at this point Satsuki is joined by Totoro if we understand that the total Rose appearances are deliberate then we can assume that he also came here in her time of need although the moment with Totoro and the umbrella is fairly iconic Miyazaki has said that most people have misconceptions about what exactly Torres fascination with the umbrella is perhaps he could be using it as a musical instrument in the rain maybe he thinks the umbrella helps him fly higher or maybe he just wants to be Mary Poppins when a sandal is found in the river after Mae has run away we feel a sense of immediate danger however Mae is found by Satsuki in the cat bus so quickly that there is no real time to feel sad for her Satsuki and Mae's reuniting brings to lights that we are not concerned about the fate of these two girls but we are apps more concerned about their separation and beyond that a concern for the breakup of the family unit when they are reunited things quickly fall back into place and the two girls right the cat bus home and reunites with granny and Gunther the cat bus fading away rather than a visible exit represents that Satsuki and Mae's difficult time is coming to an end and they no longer need the assistance of the forest spirits for help and comfort at the end of the film we see a delightful collection of illustrations depicting the near future after the events of the story we learned that the mother comes home a new sibling appears and that the Totoro is spending time together but not once do we see the spirits and humans interact this indicates that due to the re-emergence of the family units the girls no longer need the presence of the Taro's all living happily ever after unless you believe some crazy conspiracy theory that Totoro is a God of death or something I'll let you decide thanks for watching we learned a lot about this film from a book titled the cinema of Hayao Miyazaki written by Jeremy mark Robinson we already have a Kiki's Delivery Service video in the works which will be out after I'm done with black mirror if there are any other Ghibli films you'd like us to analyze leave a comment below where we will continue this discussion [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Harry's Moving Media

Views: 117,280

Keywords: Harrys, Harry, Harry's, Moving, Castle, HMC, Did, It, Suck, Analysis, Review, Studio, Ghibli, Studio Ghibli, My, Neighbour, Totoro, My Neighbour Totoro, Video Essay, Family, Black Mirror, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Japan, Japanese, Animation, Themes, Family Friendly, lol, Funny, Pom Poko, Princess Mononoke

Id: GHc8aa13ZSE

Length: 10min 29sec (629 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 04 2018