My Neighbor Totoro (Blu-ray) (1988) |
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My Neighbor Totoro (Blu-ray) (1988) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Animation |
Storyboards-(Picture in picture) Featurette-Creating My Neighbour Totoro Featurette-Creating the Characters Credits-Textless Opening And Closing Featurette-The Totoro Experience Featurette-Producer's Perspective: Creating Ghibli Featurette-The Locations of Totoro Featurette-Scoring Miyazaki Featurette-Behind the Microphone Theatrical Trailer-Original Japanese Trailers Trailer-Studio Ghibli Collection Trailers |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1988 | ||
| Running Time | 86:00 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Hayao Miyazaki |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Hitoshi Takagi Noriko Hidaka Chika Sakamoto Shigesato Itoi Sumi Shimamoto Toshiyuki Amagasa Tanie Kitabayashi Yûko Maruyama Masashi Hirose Machiko Washio |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music |
Jô Hisaishi Kazutoshi Satou Shigeharu Shiba |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
My Neighbor Totoro is certainly not the most sophisticated or complex film from director Hayao Miyazaki nor animation house Studio Ghibli. It is a film with young children in the lead and a story without much conflict. The pacing is deliberate with little of the hectic action that dominates most animated films for children. And yet it is one of the most loved films from Studio Ghibli and the large and lovable totoro has become the emblem for the animation house.
What is so special about My Neighbor Totoro is its sense of childhood awakening, the joy that comes from discovering the secret things in life that only children can see. In putting together his project plan for the film Hayao Miyazaki stressed that the film needed to be "a lively and fresh piece of entertainment and not full of reminiscence and the nostalgia. It must portray:
My Neighbor Totoro has appeared on DVD once in this region and was reviewed upon release in 2006. That was a bare bones release whereas this Blu-ray now enhances the experience with the addition of special features. These features appeared on a region 1 re-release of the film to coincide with the Blu-ray of Ponyo in 2010.
The plot of the film can be described very simply, for it is a simple story. In the 1950's two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, are moving to the country with their father to be closer to their mother who is living in a nearby hospital. The house in the country hasn't been occupied for a while and the girls find some odd creatures, soot sprites, hiding in the cracks. This is their first awakening to the creatures that reside around the house.
Venturing into the nearby woods four-year-old Mei discovers, like Alice in Wonderland, a rabbit hole of sorts and follows some fluffy creatures into a hole in a giant tree. Falling into the hole she lands on a giant fluffy and very sleepy creature who she calls Totoro. Sharing the secret with her sister they enjoy moonlight playtime with the spirits of the forest including the enigmatic cat bus.
When the girls are disappointed once again that their mother can't leave the hospital Mei takes off to visit her only to get lost. With the local villagers trying hard to find the young girl it may be up to Satsuki and the spirits to save the day.
Within this simple story lies a joyful and heartwarming experience. There is no doubt that the film is really for younger viewers and, as said, lacks the complexity of Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away. Yet I defy any sophisticated animation fan to watch my Neighbor Totoro without sporting a grin as big as the cat bus by the end!
My Neighbor Totoro comes to Blu-ray almost 25 years after its initial release. It is, of course, displayed in the original 1.85:1 cinematic aspect ratio.
The film looks the best it has ever been on home video format in this Blu-ray release. Having said that, there is no comparison between the look of this film and the latest Studio Ghibli movies like Ponyo and Arriety.
The character animations are clear and crisp with strong lines. The colours are bright and vibrant.
The film's backgrounds are painted with a poets eye and can seem a little soft by comparison with Disney hand drawn animation. The look is one of lushness and pastels which is conveyed wonderfully in this Blu-ray transfer.
Those who have the 2006 DVD in their collection will want to rush out immediately and buy the Blu-ray release.
There are subtitles in English.
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My Neighbor Totoro features two soundtracks. Both are LPCM 2.0 tracks. One is the Japanese original language version and the second the English language dub version. Both of these versions were present on the 2006 DVD release. Whether you listen to one or the other is a matter of personal preference.
Both are rendered cleanly and clearly. Fans could perhaps want for a 5.1 surround track but the original soundtrack was in 2.0 and nothing is really lost by not adding surround effects. The soundtrack is a gentle one which relies upon the smallest of sounds, like the wind in the trees and Totoro playing the flute, for effect.
The soundtrack contains the iconic music of Joe Hisaishi as well as the bouncy songs Stroll (Hey Let's Go) and the Totoro song. Again Miyazaki achieved his aims with these songs. He wanted simple cheerful songs that children could sing along to.
There are no technical problems with the sound.
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The film with story boards for comparison.
In this short feature Miyazaki explains the origins of the film and talks about how through it he rediscovered the beauty of Japanese landscapes.
Miyazaki and producer Toshiro Suzuki talk about the process of creating the characters. Suzuki claims the credit for not introducing totoro until some distance into the film referring to Steven Spielberg's decision not to introduce ET until halfway through. In creating the character of totoro Miyazaki was careful to avoid making him look like a traditional Japanese folklore creature.
Producer Suzuki claims how the film was not a great success upon first release and it wasn't until a TV showing a year later that a ground swell of support emerged. He tells how a fan of the film produced toys and a TV station invited viewers to send in a letter (this was before emails) asking for a toy. The letters came in by the truckload!
Producer Suzuki explains how the name for Studio Ghibli came from a nickname for an Italian spy plane and also a wind in the desert.
This lengthy feature is fascinating. It is an extract from a Japanese program called Scenes of Ghibli. We are taken through the various inspirational locations for the film. It is surprising and often stunning to see how closely the locations were rendered. These were locations from the youth of Miyazaki.
In this feature Joe Hisaishi talks about his ideas for scoring the film including particular moments such as the appearance of totoro at the bus stop.
The English-language cast of the film including the very cute Fanning sisters are interviewed about the film and the process of doing animation voice-overs.
For those who like to hear the opening song and watch it without credits.
The same but for the closing of the film.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This Blu-ray has not yet been released in Region A.
My Neighbor Totoro is a favourite for many fans of Studio Ghibli even those who would not otherwise watch a film made for younger children. Perhaps it is the iconic image of the lovable fluffy giant totoro himself or the genuine spirit of the film that entrances. Whatever the reason the film belongs in any collection of animation fans.
The Blu-ray is not reference quality compared to other more modern animation however it looks and sounds excellent and will be appreciated by fans of the film as a significant improvement over the DVD.
The extras perhaps should have been included on a release of the film in 2010 but they do not go astray here all our worth watching.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Cambridge 650BD (All Regions), using HDMI output |
| Display | Sony VPL-VW80 Projector on 110" Screen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer SC-LX 81 7.1 |
| Speakers | Aaron ATS-5 7.1 |