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My Neighbor Totoro (Full Screen Edition) Actors: Noriko Hidaka, Hitoshi Takagi Director: Hayao Miyazaki Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Pan & Scan Format: Animated, Color Audience Rating: G (General Audience) Running Time: 87 minutes Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-12-03 Buy from Amazon |
 "This movie looks good! "I wanna buy this movie when it comes out. But 2010???? Again I am unaware of content on this page. I am confused. "2 discs is a good sign"Hopefully this will get the respectful treatment it deserves this time around. Fantastic story, but the original DVD was a disappointment. Subtitles may be a pain to read, but it's worth it to hear the original character actors.... "Hoping this release is Better!"I refrained from purchasing the previous (and out of print) 20th century Fox DVD version, because of all I'd heard about the full-screen only, dubbing-only, lack-of-extras... Here's hoping that whenever this edition is released, those problems will be fixed and the second disc will be chock full of extra goodies!! "Magical"Quite possibly the most charming and heartfelt movie I've ever seen. Georgeously animated and endlessly creative. a sweet simple story of family and the imagination of children. Just amazing. Perfectly suitable for children of any age. A catalogue oof memorable scenes.  "Totoro--Mon Ami"Hayao Miyazaki, the writer/director of this lovely little film-was just hitting his stride when he released this fetching bit of Anime. This 1988 film led the way to PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997), SPIRITED AWAY (2001), and his latest triumph, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (2005). Though he supervises a team of animators-he still prefers the old fashioned hand drawn-one cell at a time process-meaning that it takes him literally years to prepare each of this features. His movies have been labeled as "visually enchanting". He is a great artist and master-and is treated that way in Japan. He resents being referred to as the "Japanese Walt Disney". Roger Ebert has written that this film has "become the most beloved of all family films-and it has done so without promotion-or a worldwide campaign." I enjoyed Timothy Daly and Dakota Fanning's voice overs in the dubbed version. Of course it is always preferable to find the version in widescreen, and in the original Japanese with sub-titles. I was surprised to find out that the Totoros were not traditional Japanese mythological creatures. They are created directly from the mind and heart of Miyazaki. The film sets up a realistic scenario. A college professor Dad rents a cottage with his two young daughters in order to be near his wife-who is ill and has to stay in a hospital nearby. The plot included a charming family bathing scene that seemed to upset some Western viewers. It shouldn't have. Mei-the youngest daughter-is playing outside one day-and she chases what she believes to be a rabbit--but it is a small totoro-and it leads her to the King of the Forest-the great looming Totoro. The creatures are very loving and protective-just what little girls need in their lives. I adored the scene where the Totoro plant seeds at night-and a great tree sprung to life immediately-and the one where great Totoro produces a spinning top that allows him to fly-with the girls clinging to him. Totoro looks scary-but is benevolent. What a lovely lesson for children. My favorite creature was the Cat Bus-with eight quick paws-eyes for headlights-and the ability to fly. Adults can not see the Bus-only children can. |
