Movie Review: My Neighbor, Totoro

Heroine as a Role-Model: A+
Hero as a Role-Model: A
Female to Male Character Ratio: A+
Scariness of the Bad Guy: A
Violence or Inappropriate Scenes: B
Rating: G

Overall Appropriateness for Preschoolers or Younger:

A -

My Neighbor, Totoro, 1988

This is absolutely my favorite movie for my children, and it gets the best rating I will probably give to a non-Sesame-Street movie. We watch it in the original Japanese, but the DVD comes with Japanese, English, and French versions.

It is the story of Satsuki Kusakabe (Noriko Hidaka, or Dakota Fanning in the English version) and her four-year-old sister, Mei (Chika Sakamoto or Elle Fanning), who move to the countryside with their father while their mother endures a long-term hospitalization for an unknown illness. Immediately, the children begin having supernatural experiences with the discovery that their new home is "haunted" by Susuwatari, and this experience is followed up by an encounter with a Forest Spirit that Mei dubs "Totoro," as well as some challenges as Satsuki and Mei struggle to get through daily life without their mother.

Satsuki is a strong and independent female heroine, but she is not the token feisty female; there are plenty of other female characters in the cast (as is common in Hayao Miyazaki movies). I was not sure who to consider the male hero of the story, since it is really the story of two heroines, but both Mr. Kusakabe and Totoro make interesting and very good male role models, as does the "romantic interest," the young Kanta.

One of my favorite aspects of this movie is the lack of a villain, yet another feature common in Miyazaki's works. The girls do have definite concerns for the health of their mother, and there is a scene when Mei attempts to walk to the hospital herself and gets desperately lost, causing stress and worry for her older sister and the community (some tension is needed in any good movie). But there is nothing evil to fear in this story.  None of the supernatural creatures are any threat to the girls (most are actually affectionate), Satsuki and Mei have an extremely loving and open-minded father, a mother who completely dotes on them (albeit from afar), and they are surrounded by a community that cares for them.

I gave this movie a B-rating for Inappropriate Scenes for several minor reasons. First of all, the idea of a mother being sick in the hospital could be disturbing to some children, especially as the movie progresses and Satsuki expresses her (unfounded) fears that her mother might die. Secondly, during the part of the movie when Mei is lost, a child's sandal is found floating in a pond and the community begins to fear that Mei may have drowned. This is never explicitly explained, and my own preschool-age son does not understand why the community is so terrified, but an older child might grasp the meaning and find it upsetting.  In addition, children who are particularly sensitive might find the idea of susuwatari living in the house a bit scary, despite their harmlessness.

Parents may want to note that there is a scene where the girls bathe with their father.  The girls are shown naked from the waist up, and the father is obviously naked although nothing is shown.  This scene is completely in keeping with the Japanese tradition of family bathing, and it is clearly entirely innocent, but it may offend some American sensibilities.  The Cat Bus (male) is also portrayed as anatomically-correct, but this is only apparent if you are paying extremely close attention.

I highly recommend this movie for children of any and all ages. It is heart-warming and innocent and fresh, with a very happy ending. It is not only the favorite of both of my children, but one of my favorite movies, as well.