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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 |
 "Innocence and imagination"Okay, so I have an older VHS version of this movie, so I can't comment on the DVD itself, but I can comment on the movie. This is the cutest animation movie you will ever see. Every child I have shown this movie to has just fallen in love with it, not to mention many adults love it too. The movie is about two sisters (ages five and eight). Their family moves out to the country into a rickety old house. The girls mother is in the hospital a few towns over (not sure from what), so the girls are left in the care of their father. Shortly after they move into the house, the girls discover amazing things, most importantly, Totoro. Totoro is a forest spirit that only children can see. The plot is relatively simple, but it just brings you back to a time of innocence... a time when you could run around in the summer time all day long without shoes...a time when your imagination just ran wild. The character development is superbly done. You feel such a connection to the girls and their adventures in this movie. The animation is marvelous. I can't say enough about Miyazaki's artwork. He just has the best talent for capturing emotion and scenery so perfectly. The dubbing from Japanese to English was very well done too. Just a wonderful movie. "GREAT movie"I love this as well as do my kids, we watch it over and over again. So nice to have shows without all the American attitude and slang we have and still have the magic and mystery of childhood! 5 stars all the way... "Wonderful even with the dubbing."Wednesday, June 15, 2005 / 5 of 5 / Wonderful even with the dubbing. I try to watch my anime with the Japanese soundtrack as I took it in high-school and college and it's a reminder of how quickly you can lose it if you don't use it. The cadence and flow of the language is superior in its original format vs dubbing the vast majority of the time and subtitles are not an issue once you get used to using them. That said, Totoro only had an English dub, but wasn't too bad. Coming to Totoro from Castle in the Sky I continued by chronological trek of the Miyazaki cannon. It's a testament to the director and storywriter that 30 somethings can enjoy his films as much as the children that are ostensibly his target. Totoro centers around a couple of young siblings who move with their parents to a remote rural location in Japan, their house in the shadow of a mountainous forest overseen by the giant, shaggy, rabbit like Totoro and his helpers. It boggles my mind that something so child-like in this story can be so compelling for adults. As an avid fan of anime I've rarely been moved like I have with Miyazaki's movies and this story was one of his lightest and sweetest. The only conflict in the story is the younger sister Mei running off. The rest is a languid exploration of the area around the house and meeting with Totoro and his companions. I love the artwork on the forest and rural settings and the attention to detail these films bring. The children are never talked down to and are treated with respect and love at the same time. The adults are not dumbed down or stereotyped either. Once again, highly recommended for all ages.  "Wonderful movie...horrid DVD"The Movie is a five-star masterpeice that must be seen by anyone who can. There is no better living Film director than Miyazaki and with every feature it grows truer and truer. Totoro is a wonderful film the whole family can enjoy and it has the incredible ability to lift spirits at all times. The Fox edition of this DVD is shabby and worthless. There are no special features, it's in Full Screen (which is not it's original theatrical aspect ratio), and the english dub A. Blows and B. Is the only available viewing option. This is a travesty and a diservice to this great film. Fear not however because Disney is releasing a new two-disc special edition in the same veign as Porco Rosso, The Cat Returns and Nausicaa. If you can't wait to get your Totoro fix then i reluctantly recommend this DVD, but it's not a fair representation of this beautiful film. I bought it for five dollars at borders (After I used a coupon that gave me 25% of the purchase.) Other than that sort of circumstance do not buy this DVD...especially not so close to the Disney release (They did a spectacular job with the afformentioned films and Spirited Away..hopefully they will be re-dubbing Totoro with better actors.) "Wonderful film; cropped, poorly-dubbed DVD"To call one Miyazaki film better than another is pointless, since his different movies are great in so many different ways, and even his lesser movies are better than most American cartoons. "My Neighbor Totoro" is probably his most harmless, and for that matter his most suitable for younger children, but it is no less meaningful. Despite the elements of fantasy in it (soot sprites, "totoros," et. al), nothing is superficial, and when conflict actually does arrive in the second half of the movie it is something that you will care about. I would like to see the film with either better dubbing or in its original Japanese with subtitles. This doesn't detract too much from the film, however, and the songs were performed well in English. The real regret, and the reason I only gave it three stars, is that this DVD version crops the movie to a 3:4 ratio. For a Miyazaki movie this is desecration. As one who has lived in a very small town in Japan, I can certainly appreciate viewing the ENTIRE picture, in all its rural green Japanese beauty. I can't recommend this DVD to Miyazaki enthusiasts. Instead you should wait until the new DVD comes out (at a date still unanounced). For some one who is not as partial to Miyazaki as his fans, this version will do. |
