Studio Ghibli have, over the last 30-odd years, produced some wonderfully endearing cartoons - and My Neighbour Totoro is one of the best.
Two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, move to a new house in the Japanese countryside with their university professor father. Their mother is in hospital for treatment of an unmentioned illness. The two girls spend their time exploring the new house and the woods around it. One day whilst Satsuki is at school, Mei encounters a little forest spirit and chases it into the woods to discover a much bigger forest spirit called Totoro (apparently a mispronounciation of the Japanese word for troll). This spirit takes the form of a big, furry, cuddly thing. Before long, both Mei and Satsuki are having various adventures with Totoro.
There really is very little plot, but it's brilliantly handled and the movie just seems to exude a quality that keeps you captivated.
Disney bought the international rights to the Studio Ghibli back catalogue a while back and then redubbed most (all?) of the films with American actors. I normally have a problem with dubbing because it normally detracts from a movie and can be downright irritating. Disney have done a superb job however, seemingly taking the time to find voices that fit the characters of the movies. Dakota Fanning (and her younger sister Elle) are very well cast as the sisters.
Makes me want to rewatch more Ghibli.
My rating: 8.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.1 / 10
Running time: 86 mins
IMDB link
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