My Neighbour Totoro [Studio Ghibli]

MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Certificate: PG
☆☆☆☆

THIS much-loved film has been celebrated since its first release in 1988. Now back on the big screen over the summer holidays, it gives a new generation the opportunity to discover one of the Japanese film creatives Studio Ghibli’s most successful tales.

Professor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his daughters Satsuki and Mei have moved into a new home: we learn their mother has a life-threatening illness and they have moved closer to the hospital she is being treated in.

The home is old and musty. On entering, Satsuki spots a community of soot gremlins – little spirits that are rather shy but very friendly, love abandoned dark spots and provide the opening salvo of a magical realm the youngsters are about to discover.

From these soot gremlins to wood spirits; we eventually meet the undefinable giant squishy creature that is Totoro, a frankly weird-looking do-gooder with no voice who meets and befriends the girls and leads them on a fable-like adventure.

A gentle family story is raised to a piece of contemporary artwork with the incredible hand-drawn imagery, and the references to ancient Japanese culture – this is more than a gentle tale.

It will educate by sparking curiosity, and for the accompanying parent, it’s akin to visiting an art gallery.

And the re-release – the film has not dated – is another marker of the boom in Japanese, Korean and Chinese film in our otherwise Hollywood-dominated film world.

Speak to any primary school-age child and you will hear how well-versed they are in anime – it is more than a passing trend. From the culture of Kawaii – a penchant for cute stuff like Hello Kitty – to the emergence of Ghibli as a serious power in children’s film today, Japanese film has injected freshness, with a cultural slant that is an antidote to the well-worn Pixar-style animation that has been the mainstay of children’s movies at least since the first release of this bonkers, weird and enjoyable movie.

From My Neighbour Totoro to other Ghibli releases such as Kiki’s Delivery Service and the utterly knock-out Spirited Away, this is a welcome and refreshing trend that youngsters have latched on to.

After watching Totoro, it is easy to understand why. A gentle, childlike fable that makes many Hollywood children’s films appear shallow in the extreme.