Childhood Innocence and the Reality of Life
Ghibli Month — Chapter 4: My Neighbor Totoro
Director — Hayao Miyazaki
Year of Release — 1988
Language — English
How Many Times Watched? — 3 times
Rating — ★★★★★
This is a Must Watch. Sit back and remember what it’s like being a child.
In 1988, Studio Ghibli was not yet the animation powerhouse they are known as today. They only had one official film (the fantastic Castle in the Sky) and they were hoping to release a big hit. They needed something to cement them as a force to be reckoned with. Thus, Hayao Miyazaki began working on what was to be known as My Neighbor Totoro.
However, the studio did not have faith that it would find a large enough audience. They decided to package it as a double feature with Isao Takahata’s heartbreaking Grave of the Fireflies. I don’t understand the logic behind this pairing. My Neighbor Totoro is an energetic look at viewing the world through the eyes of a child, seeing the beauty and dealing with the hardships of life. Grave of the Fireflies is similar in that the main characters are children learning to deal with the world around them, beautiful and deadly. However, it is a bleak film filled with war, dead parents, and malnourishment. One is happy, even if it may deal with some serious themes, and the other is depressing, even if there is some joy to be found.
The Japanese public must have agreed because the double-feature was a financial flop, making Totoro Studio Ghibli’s worst opening box office to this day. It wasn’t until a year later when it aired on TV that My Neighbor Totoro started to pick up steam. Today, both films are remembered well and regarded as classics in their own right, but it was My Neighbor Totoro that became the true star, spawning a merchandising boom and becoming the (adorable) face of the company.
Taking place in the 1950s, My Neighbor Totoro follows two sisters Satsuki and Mei, eleven years old and 4 years old respectively, as they move with their father to the countryside to be closer to the hospital their mother is in with a chronic illness. Soon they discover Totoro, a magical being that loves acorns, flying, and, most importantly, sleeping. It is a film about growing up, imagination, family, and so much more. It is utterly delightful and Miyazaki’s first true classic.
Looking at the title, I was surprised the film didn’t involve Totoro all that much. You don’t even meet Totoro until over 30 minutes in, and the famous umbrella scene (the second time we see him) is almost an hour in. And the film is only 88 minutes! Totoro is not even close to being the main character. He is simply a symbol, something to help Satsuki and Mei.
The movie is really about the relationship between Satsuki and Mei and what it’s like to see through their eyes. They do everything together, from pumping water to doing cartwheels in the yard, able to find joy in anything. Even when Mei meets Totoro, she’s not scared of him. She pets his nose and growls right back at him. To these girls, the world is their playground and they will play in it all day long.
My Neighbor Totoro is a film about childhood innocence and growing up. Satsuki and Mei see the world through rose-colored glasses, but the world isn’t always rosy. One of the underlying plot points throughout is that their mother is in the hospital. They visit her and write letters to her every so often, but it’s not the same. She is not around.
Miyazaki writes children impeccably. He does not pretend that children are adults. He doesn’t make them into something that they are not. But he recognises that children are smarter than we give them credit for. They may understand the world more vibrantly and innocently than an adult, but they still understand the world. Satsuki and Mei understand what’s going on with their mom. It may not be as developed of an understanding, but that doesn’t make it any less valid. It is still affecting them.
For Satsuki, she steps into the role of mother for Mei. She makes her lunch, takes her to school with her, and keeps her entertained. She thinks that if she acts as Mom, it will be like she never left. But this takes a toll on her. She is actively suppressing the pain of having her mother in the hospital. So when word comes to her that her mother will not be able to come home, the full weight of playing Mom comes crashing down on her. She lashes out at Mei and falls into a depression. She could not contain her feelings anymore and the pain boiled over.
For Mei, she has a harder time understanding the full weight of what is going on. She knows her mother is sick and in the hospital, and all she wants is for her mother to get better and come home. For the last 20 minutes of the movie, she takes it upon herself to walks three hours to the hospital to get an ear of corn to her mother because she thinks it will be the one thing to make her mother better. If she can get the corn to the hospital then Mom can come home. It’s as simple as that for her. Satsuki is a decent surrogate mother for Mei, but she’s not her mother. Mei wants her mom, and she will do everything in her power to fix that.
The decline in their mother’s health leads to the loss of innocence in Satsuki and Mei. They are forced to come face to face with the harsh nature of their reality. There was a chance they would never see their mother again, and that rightfully tore them apart.
Eventually, Totoro saves the day, sending another spirit to their aid: the wonderful Catbus. Catbus helps Satsuki find Mei and takes them to the hospital so Mei can give her mother her healing corn.
Satsuki and Mei don’t know if their mother will get better, but they are learning to cope with the possibility together. Satsuki does not need to be the mom of the house. Mei doesn’t need to be the one to save her mother. They only need to be Satsuki and Mei: the fun, loving, and caring sisters that they already are. The world remains rosy, but this time with better coping strategies.
My Neighbor Totoro is a masterpiece that deserves your attention. It perfectly captures what it means to be a child, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Life can be difficult, and sometimes it feels like it will never get better, but Miyazaki urges you to learn from the perspective of a child. See the beauty of the world and let it encourage you.
