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80-587: Totoro may refer to: Totoro, the titular character of the 1988 Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro Totoro Station , a railway station in Japan Totoró, Cauca , a town and municipality in the Cauca Department, Colombia Totoro language , a language of Colombia Eoperipatus totoro , a species of velvet worm named for its resemblance to Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro 10160 Totoro ,

160-465: A camphor tree in a Shinto shrine surrounded by a Shinto rope , and he is referred to as mori no nushi (master of the forest). Ogihara-Schuck writes that when Mei returns from her encounter with Totoro, her father takes Mei and her sister to the shrine to greet and thank Totoro. This is a common practice in the Shinto tradition following an encounter with a kami . According to Phillip E. Wegner,

240-501: A cult of human ancestors, specially of tribal chiefs and clan-heroes: this is Manism or Ancestor Worship proper, culminating in hero worship. ... it is to be noted that the characteristics pertaining to a particular clan or tribal community, which mark ancestor worship, will have fallen very much to the background if they can be at all inferred among the Celts; the relations emphasised will be found pertaining to mythologic concepts and to

320-569: A culture's development. He also coined the term animism . Tylor disagreed with Herbert Spencer , another founder of anthropology, as well as of sociology, about the innateness of the human tendency towards animistic explanations, but both agreed that ancestor worship was the root of religion and that domestic deities were survivals from such an early stage. In contradistinction to both Herbert Spencer and Edward Burnett Tylor , who defended theories of animistic origins of ancestor worship, Émile Durkheim saw its genesis in totemism . This distinction

400-462: A likelihood suggested by the good points which in many respects survive in their character, their virtues being turned into vices, and, contrariwise, their vices into virtues, as good or ill fortune befell the household and its appurtenances. Is not the bowl of milk placed for the Brownie in the corner of the room a survival of the drink-offering of wine which was poured out before the household gods of

480-458: A list kept at the shrine and declares him or her a "family child" (氏子 ujiko). After death an ujiko becomes a "family spirit", or "family kami " (氏神 ujigami). Many Japanese houses still have a shrine ( kamidana , kami shelf) where offerings are made to ancestral kami, as well as to other kami. Edward Burnett Tylor , one of the main founders of the discipline of cultural anthropology, spoke of survivals , vestiges of earlier evolutionary stages in

560-565: A many-legged animal as a vehicle, which according to the collectors resembles a velvet worm". In Japan in May 1988, Tokuma published a four-volume series of ani-manga books, which use color images and lines directly from My Neighbor Totoro . The series was licensed for English-language release in North America by Viz Media , which released the books from November 10, 2004, through February 15, 2005. A 111-page picture book based on

640-545: A minor planet named after My Neighbor Totoro See also [ edit ] Toroto (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Totoro . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Totoro&oldid=1211296141 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

720-631: A similar Empire list of best children's films, and number one in the greatest animated films in Time Out ; a similar list by the editors ranked the film in third place. Film critic Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times identified My Neighbor Totoro as one of his "Great Movies", calling it "one of the lovingly hand-crafted works of Hayao Miyazaki". In his review, Ebert said the film "is based on experience, situation and exploration—not on conflict and threat", and added: it would never have won its worldwide audience just because of its warm heart. It

800-421: A star-heavy cast, including Dakota and Elle Fanning as Satsuki and Mei, Timothy Daly as Mr. Kusakabe, Pat Carroll as Granny, Lea Salonga as Mrs. Kusakabe, and Frank Welker as Totoro and Catbus. The songs for the new dub retain the translation as the earlier dub but are sung by Sonya Isaacs . The Disney dub was directed by Rick Dempsey, a Disney executive in charge of the company's dubbing services, and

880-423: A trademark style of Studio Ghibli. Only one young girl, rather than two sisters, is depicted in several of Miyazaki's initial conceptual watercolor paintings, as well as on the theatrical release poster and on later home-video releases. According to Miyazaki; "If she was a little girl who plays around in the yard, she wouldn't be meeting her father at a bus stop, so we had to come up with two girls instead. And that

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960-410: Is also rich with human comedy in the way it observes the two remarkably convincing, lifelike little girls ... It is a little sad, a little scary, a little surprising and a little informative, just like life itself. It depends on a situation instead of a plot, and suggests that the wonder of life and the resources of imagination supply all the adventure you need. Steve Rose from The Guardian gave

1040-630: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages My Neighbor Totoro My Neighbor Totoro ( Japanese : となりのトトロ , Hepburn : Tonari no Totoro ) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten . It stars the voices of Noriko Hidaka , Chika Sakamoto and Hitoshi Takagi , and focuses on two young sisters and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan . The film explores themes such as animism , Shinto symbology, environmentalism and

1120-651: Is exactly the same being as the Danish Nis, and Scottish Brownie, and English Hobgoblin. [b] He performs the very same services for the family to whom he attaches himself. ... The Nis, Kobold, or Goblin, appears in Scotland under the name of Brownie. MacMichael elaborated his views on the folkloric belief complex as follows: What are our elves and fairies, goblins, nisses, brownies, and pixies but latter-day survivals of arkite ancestor worship? Brownies and pixies were probably invariably of good character, originally,

1200-402: Is late. Mei falls asleep on Satsuki's back and Totoro appears beside them, allowing Satsuki to see him for the first time. Totoro has only a leaf on his head for protection against the rain, prompting Satsuki to offer her umbrella to him. Delighted, he gives her a bundle of nuts and seeds in return. A giant, bus-shaped cat arrives; Totoro boards it and leaves. A few days after planting the seeds,

1280-524: Is married to Miyazaki's niece, who inspired the character Mei in My Neighbor Totoro . A main-belt asteroid that was discovered on December 31, 1994, was named 10160 Totoro . In 2013, Eoperipatus totoro , a species of velvet worm that was discovered in Vietnam, was named after Totoro. Following the request of the paper's authors, the species was named for the character because he "uses

1360-563: Is not one singular deity but a type or species of animistic , which usually has lesser powers than major deities. This type was common in the religions of antiquity, such as the lares of ancient Roman religion , the gashin of Korean shamanism , and cofgodas of Anglo-Saxon paganism . These survived Christianisation as fairy -like creatures existing in folklore, such as the Anglo-Scottish brownie and Slavic domovoy . Household deities were usually worshipped not in temples but in

1440-416: Is somewhat academic since totemism may be regarded as a particularized manifestation of animism, and a synthesis of the two positions was attempted by Sigmund Freud . In Freud's Totem and Taboo , both totem and taboo are outward expressions or manifestations of the same psychological tendency, a concept which is complementary to, or which rather reconciles, the apparent conflict. Freud preferred to emphasize

1520-467: Is upset and argues with Satsuki. She leaves for the hospital to take fresh corn to their mother, but gets lost on the way. Mei's disappearance prompts Satsuki and the neighbors to search for her, thinking that Mei has died. In desperation, Satsuki pleads for Totoro's help. Totoro summons the Catbus, which carries Satsuki to Mei's location, and the sisters reunite. The bus then takes them to the hospital, where

1600-405: Is well known. He is usually described as attached to particular families, with whom he has been known to reside for centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and performing similar household tasks. His favorite gratification was milk and honey. George Henderson elaborated on the presumed origin of ancestor worship in animism : The second phase of this stage of thought [Animism] would be

1680-509: The London Evening Standard , Charlotte O'Sullivan praised the charm of the film but said it lacks complexity in comparison with Spirited Away . Jordan Cronk from Slant awarded the film three-and-a-half stars but said it is "devoid of much of the fantasia of Miyazaki's more outwardly visionary work". In the 1996 movie guide "Seen That, Now What?" , My Neighbor Totoro was given the rating of "A". The guide stated that

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1760-576: The Industrial Revolution threatened to erase most of these minor deities until the advent of romantic nationalism rehabilitated them and embellished them into objects of literary curiosity in the 19th century. Since the 20th century, this literature has been mined for characters for role-playing games, video games, and other fantasy personae , not infrequently invested with invented traits and hierarchies somewhat different from their mythological and folkloric roots. The general dynamics of

1840-627: The Royal Shakespeare Company and composer Joe Hisaishi announced that a stage adaptation of the film titled My Neighbor Totoro would run from 8 October 2022 to 21 January 2023 at the Barbican Centre in London. It was adapted by British playwright Tom Morton-Smith and directed by Improbable 's Phelim McDermott . Tickets went on sale on 19 May 2022, breaking the theater's box-office record for sales in one day which

1920-569: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 94% of 59 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: " My Neighbor Totoro is a heartwarming, sentimental masterpiece that captures the simple grace of childhood." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In 2001, Japanese magazine Animage ranked My Neighbor Totoro 45th in its list of 100 Best Anime Productions of All Time . My Neighbor Totoro

2000-522: The DVD transfer of the film but noted the disc lacks a look at the film's production, instead being overabundant with storyboards. Writing in Joe Hisaishi's Soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro , Kunio Hara praised the soundtrack, describing the song "My Neighbor Totoro" as a "sonic icon" of the film. Hara also commented the music "arouse[s] a similar sentiment of yearning for the past". My Neighbor Totoro

2080-679: The English dub. Tokuma Shoten released My Neighbor Totoro on VHS and LaserDisc in August 1988. Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan (now Walt Disney Japan) reissued the VHS on June 27, 1997, as part of their series Ghibli ga Ippai . Disney released the film on Blu-ray in Japan on 2012. After the rights to the Streamline dub expired in 2004, Walt Disney Home Entertainment re-released

2160-634: The Indo-European household, in Chapter II, "The House Spirit", Section 1, he states: The belief which guided the conduct of our forefathers was ... the spirit rule of dead ancestors. In Section 2, he proceeds to elaborate: It is thus certain that the worship of deceased ancestors is a vera causa , and not a mere hypothesis. ... In the other European nations, the Slavs, the Teutons, and

2240-513: The Kelts, the House Spirit appears with no less distinctness. ... [T]he existence of that worship does not admit of doubt. ... The House Spirits had a multitude of other names which it is needless here to enumerate, but all of which are more or less expressive of their friendly relations with man. ... In [England] ... [h]e is the Brownie. ... In Scotland this same Brownie

2320-793: The Nature-Myth. For, as modifications and transitions in behalf are constant, ancestor worship gets partly transcended. But in Manism the guardian spirit has its specific influence on the tribal consciousness. I recollect Aoibhell of Craig Liath, the guardian spirit of the Dal Caiss , mentioned in the narrative concerning Brian Boru in the Wars of the Gaedhel and the Gall; there is also Mag Molach or Hairy Hand, and Bodach An Duin of Rothiemurchus, as well as

2400-651: The Robin Goodfellow (q.v.) of the English and the Kobold of the Germans is conspicuous, and the Roman Lar is also suggested by this suspicion. William Edward Hearn , a noted classicist and jurist, traced the origin of domestic deities from the earliest stages as an expression of animism, a belief system thought to have existed also in the neolithic and the forerunner of Indo-European religion. In his analysis of

2480-656: The Romans? Demonstrating that this evolution and functional equivalence has generally come to be accepted and that their nature is indeed that proposed by Grimm, one may refer to the early twentieth century New International Encyclopaedia : The term fairy, however, is also loosely used to include other beings of a similar character like the brownie, elf, fay, gnome, goblin, kobold, pixy, puck, salamander, sprite, sylph, troll and undine. ... Fairy lore contains likewise certain elements of ancestor-worship, of mythology, and of older religious beliefs. and also The resemblance to

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2560-636: The Special Award at the Blue Ribbon Awards in the same year. The film is considered as one of the top animation films, ranking 41st in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010 and the number-one animated film on the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of all-time greatest films . The film and its titular character have become cultural icons, and made multiple cameo appearances in other films. Totoro also serves as

2640-530: The United States as of October 2018. In the UK, the film's Studio Ghibli anniversary release appeared on the annual lists of ten-best-selling foreign language films on home video for five consecutive years, ranking number seven in 2015, number six in 2016 and 2017, number one in 2018, and number two in 2019 below Spirited Away . My Neighbor Totoro received widespread acclaim from film critics. On

2720-638: The Valley of the Wind (1984) and Castle in the Sky (1986), Hayao Miyazaki began directing My Neighbor Totoro for Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki's production paralleled his colleague Isao Takahata 's production of Grave of the Fireflies . Miyazaki's film was financed by executive producer Yasuyoshi Tokuma, and both My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies were released on the same bill in 1988. The dual billing

2800-494: The case of the Romans. The gods would be treated as members of the family and invited to join in meals or be given offerings of food and drink . In ancient and modern religions, a god would preside over the home. Certain species, or types, of household deities existed. An example of this was the Roman Lares. Many European cultures retained house spirits into the modern period. Some examples of these include: Although

2880-400: The character's appeal, commenting Totoro "is more genuinely loved than Mickey Mouse could hope to be in his wildest—not nearly so beautifully illustrated—fantasies". Empire also commented on Totoro's appeal, ranking him at number 18 on a list of the greatest animated characters of all time. The character of Totoro later became a mascot and official logo for Studio Ghibli. According to

2960-495: The color of red soil from Kantō region . The finished film was described by Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki; "It was nature painted with translucent colors". Oga's conscientious approach to My Neighbor Totoro was a style the International Herald Tribune recognized as "[updating] the traditional Japanese animist sense of a natural world that is fully, spiritually alive". The newspaper said of

3040-575: The cosmic status of household deities was not as lofty as that of the Twelve Olympians or the Aesir , they were also jealous of their dignity and also had to be appeased with shrines and offerings, however humble. Because of their immediacy, they had arguably more influence on the day-to-day affairs of men than the remote gods did. Vestiges of their worship persisted long after Christianity and other major religions extirpated nearly every trace of

3120-453: The dub of the film as a theatrical release. The songs for the Streamline version of My Neighbor Totoro were sung by Cassie Byram. In 2004, Walt Disney Pictures produced a new English dub of My Neighbor Totoro to be released after the rights to the Streamline dub had expired. As is the case with Disney's other English dubs of Miyazaki films, the Disney version of My Neighbor Totoro has

3200-447: The entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into two types; firstly, a specific deity – typically a goddess – often referred to as a hearth goddess or domestic goddess who is associated with the home and hearth, such as the ancient Greek Hestia . The second type of household deity

3280-543: The environmental journal Ambio , My Neighbor Totoro "has served as a powerful force to focus the positive feelings that the Japanese people have for satoyama and traditional village life". The film's central character Totoro was used as a mascot by the Japanese campaign "Totoro Hometown Fund Campaign", which aimed to preserve areas of satoyama in Saitama Prefecture . The fund, started in 1990 after

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3360-402: The film and aimed at young children was released by Tokuma on June 28, 1988, and, in a 112-page English translation, by Viz on November 8, 2005. Tokuma later released another 176-page art book containing conceptual art from the film and interviews with production staff on July 15, 1988, and, in English translation, by Viz on November 8, 2005. In 2013, Viz released a hardcover light novel that

3440-525: The film five stars, praising Miyazaki's "rich, bright, hand-drawn" animation and describing it as "full of benign spirituality, prelapsarian innocence and joyous discovery, all rooted in a carefully detailed reality". Trevor Johnston from Time Out also awarded the film five stars, commenting on its "delicate rendering of the atmosphere" and its first half that "delicately captures both mystery and quietness". Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited My Neighbor Totoro as one of his favorite films. Writing for

3520-482: The film has sold 429,822 tickets since 1999. The film has been internationally released several times since 2002. The film has grossed $ 30,476,708 worldwide since 2002. A South China Morning Post article in 2021 reported that the film has grossed more than $ 41 million in total. Thirty years after its original release in Japan, My Neighbor Totoro received a Chinese theatrical release in December 2018. The delay

3600-493: The film is an "enchanting, lushly animated view of the natural world with child's sense of wonder", and noting its suitability for young children while being "a perennial favorite among [film buffs]". The 1993 translation was not as well-received as the 2006 translation; Leonard Klady of Variety wrote the 1993 translation demonstrates "adequate television technical craft" that is characterized by "muted pastels, homogenized pictorial style and [a] vapid storyline". Klady described

3680-583: The film is an example of alternative history , citing the utopian-like setting of the anime. After working on 3000 Miles in Search of a Mother , Miyazaki wanted to make a "delightful, wonderful film" that would be set in Japan with the idea to "entertain and touch its viewers, but stay with them long after they have left the theaters". Initially, Miyazaki had the main characters Totoro, Mei, Tatsuo, and Kanta. The director based Mei on his niece, and Totoros as "serene, carefree creatures" that were "supposedly

3760-465: The film on Blu-ray and DVD on October 17, 2017. In Japan, My Neighbor Totoro had sold 3.5   million VHS and DVD units as of April 2012, equivalent to approximately ¥16,100 million ( $ 202 million ) at an average retail price of ¥4,600 ( ¥4,700 on DVD and ¥4,500 on VHS). In the United States, the film sold over 500,000 VHS units by 1996, with the later 2010 DVD release selling a further 3.8   million units and grossing $ 64.5 million in

3840-406: The film's environment as "obviously aimed at an international audience" but "evinces a disorienting combination of cultures that produces a nowhere land more confused than fascinating". Stephen Holden of The New York Times described the 1993 translation as "very visually handsome", and said the film is "very charming" when "dispensing enchantment". Despite the highlights, Holden wrote "too much of

3920-565: The film's release, held an auction in August 2008 at Pixar Animation Studios to sell over 210 original paintings, illustrations, and sculptures inspired by My Neighbor Totoro . Miyazaki additionally uses Totoro as a part of his logo for Studio Ghibli. Totoro also makes a cameo appearance in the Pixar film Toy Story 3 (2010) but was not included in Toy Story 4 due to licensing problems. Toy Story 3 's art director Daisuke Tsutsumi

4000-440: The film, however, is taken up with stiff, mechanical chitchat". Matthew Leyland of Sight & Sound reviewed the DVD released in 2006, commenting; "Miyazaki's family fable is remarkably light on tension, conflict and plot twists, yet it beguiles from beginning to end ... what sticks with the viewer is the every-kid credibility of the girls' actions as they work, play and settle into their new surroundings". Leyland praised

4080-450: The film. For example, ripples were designed with "two colors of high-lighting and shading" and the rain for My Neighbor Totoro was "scratched in the cels" and superimposed for it to convey a soft feel. The animators stated one month was taken to create the tadpoles, which included four colors; the water for it was also blurred. The music for My Neighbor Totoro was composed by Joe Hisaishi , who previously collaborated with Miyazaki on

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4160-547: The film: Set in a period that is both modern and nostalgic, the film creates a fantastic, yet strangely believable universe of supernatural creatures coexisting with modernity. A great part of this sense comes from Oga's evocative backgrounds, which give each tree, hedge and twist in the road an indefinable feeling of warmth that seems ready to spring into sentient life. Oga's work on My Neighbor Totoro led to his continued involvement with Studio Ghibli, which assigned him jobs that would play to his strengths, and Oga's style became

4240-459: The forest keeper, but that's only a half-baked idea, a rough approximation". Art director Kazuo Oga was drawn to the film when Hayao Miyazaki showed him an original image of Totoro standing in a satoyama . Miyazaki challenged Oga to raise his standards, and Oga's experience with My Neighbor Totoro began Oga's career. Oga and Miyazaki debated the film's color palette; Oga wanted to paint black soil from Akita Prefecture and Miyazaki preferred

4320-430: The girls awaken at midnight to find Totoro and his fellow spirits engaged in a ceremonial dance around the planted seeds. They join in, causing the seeds to grow into an enormous tree. Totoro takes the girls for a ride on a magical flying top . In the morning, the tree is gone but the seeds have sprouted. The girls discover that a planned visit by their mother has been postponed because of a setback in her treatment. Mei

4400-496: The girls learn that their mother has been kept in the hospital by a minor cold but is otherwise recovering well. The girls secretly leave the ear of corn on the windowsill, where their parents discover it. Eventually, their mother returns home and the girls play with other children while Totoro and his friends watch from afar. Animism is a major theme in My Neighbor Totoro , according to Eriko Ogihara-Schuck. Totoro has animistic traits and has kami status because he lives in

4480-410: The good kindly lares were often held to be manes or souls of departed ancestors. So in our German superstition we find instances of souls becoming homesprites or kobolds , and still oftener is there a connexion between unquiet spirits and spectres. To underscore the equivalence of brownie, kobold, and goblin, consider the words of the English historian and folklorist Thomas Keightley : The Kobold

4560-493: The hollow of a large camphor tree . She befriends a larger spirit, which identifies itself using a series of roars that she interprets as "Totoro". Mei thinks Totoro is the troll from her illustrated book Three Billy Goats Gruff . She falls asleep atop Totoro but when Satsuki finds her, she is on the ground. Despite many attempts, Mei cannot show her family Totoro's tree. Tatsuo comforts her, saying Totoro will reveal himself when he wants to. The girls wait for Tatsuo's bus, which

4640-522: The home, where they would be represented by small idols (such as the teraphim of the Bible , often translated as "household gods" in Genesis 31:19 for example), amulets , paintings, or reliefs. They could also be found on domestic objects, such as cosmetic articles in the case of Tawaret . The more prosperous houses might have a small shrine to the household god(s); the lararium served this purpose in

4720-587: The joys of rural living. My Neighbor Totoro received worldwide critical acclaim, and has grossed over $ 41 million worldwide at the box office as of September 2019; the film also grossed significantly more from home video sales and merchandise . My Neighbor Totoro received numerous awards, including the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize, the Mainichi Film Award , and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film in 1988. It also received

4800-648: The major pagan pantheons . Elements of the practice can be seen even today, with Christian accretions, where statues to various saints (such as St. Francis ) protect gardens and grottos. Even the gargoyles found on older churches could be viewed as guardians partitioning a sacred space. For centuries, Christianity fought a mop-up war against these lingering minor pagan deities, but they proved tenacious. For example, Martin Luther 's Tischreden have numerous – quite serious – references to dealing with kobolds . Eventually, rationalism and

4880-621: The mascot for Studio Ghibli and is recognized as one of the most popular characters in Japanese animation. In 1950s Japan, university professor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his daughters Satsuki and Mei (approximately ten and four years old, respectively) move into an old house close to the hospital where the girls' mother, Yasuko, is recovering from a long-term illness. The house is inhabited by small, dark, dust-like house spirits called susuwatari , that can be seen when moving from bright places to dark ones. The susuwatari leave to find another empty house. Mei discovers two small spirits that lead her into

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4960-506: The movie on DVD on March 7, 2006, with Disney's newly produced English dub and the original Japanese version. The company reissued My Neighbor Totoro , as well as Castle in the Sky , and Kiki's Delivery Service , with updated cover art highlighting its Studio Ghibli origins, on March 2, 2010, coinciding with the US DVD and Blu-ray debut of Ponyo . My Neighbor Totoro was re-released by Disney on Blu-Ray on May 21, 2013. GKIDS re-issued

5040-413: The movies Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky . Hisaishi was inspired by the contemporary composers Terry Riley , Philip Glass , Steve Reich , Karlheinz Stockhausen , and John Cage , and described Miyazaki's films as "rich and personally compeling". He hired an orchestra for the soundtrack and primarily used a Fairlight instrument. The soundtrack for My Neighbor Totoro

5120-613: The origin and development of household deities over a considerable span may be traced and exemplified by the historically attested origins and current practices of the Shinto belief system in Japan. As the Japanologist Lafcadio Hearn put it: The real religion of Japan, the religion still professed in one form or other, by the entire nation, is that cult which has been the foundation of all civilized religion, and of all civilized society, – Ancestor-worship. Drawing

5200-442: The original Japanese film with English subtitles. The Disney version was released on DVD in the United States on March 7, 2006. In Australia, an English dub was also released by Madman Entertainment on March 15, 2006. In 2023, the film was re-released in 970 United States locations as part of celebrations to mark the 35th anniversary of its first theatrical release, with showings in both Japanese with English subtitles and with

5280-574: The original film and her one-night adventures with Kittenbus, the offspring of Catbus, and other cat-oriented vehicles. The sequel was first released in Japan in 2003 and is regularly shown at Ghibli Museum but has not been released on home video. Licensed My Neighbor Totoro merchandise of Totoro has been sold in Japan for decades after the film's release. Sales of the film's licensed merchandise in Japan grossed ¥10.97 billion in 1999, ¥56.08 billion during 2003–2007, at least ¥4.1 billion in 2008, and ¥19.96 billion during 2010–2012. In May 2022,

5360-489: The picture with broader strokes, he continues: Three stages of ancestor-worship are to be distinguished in the general course of religious and social evolution; and each of these finds illustration in the history of Japanese society. The first stage is that which exists before the establishment of a settled civilization, when there is yet no national ruler, and when the unit of society is the great patriarchal family, with its elders or war-chiefs for lords. Under these conditions,

5440-474: The psychoanalytic implications of the reification of metaphysical forces but with particular emphasis on its familial nature. This emphasis underscores, rather than weakens, the ancestral component. European folklorist Jacob Grimm did not hesitate to equate the Roman lar familiaris to the brownie . He explains in some detail in his Deutsche Mythologie : Larva betrays its affinity to lar  ..., and

5520-402: The spirits of the family-ancestors only are worshipped;—each family propitiating its own dead, and recognizing no other form of worship. As the patriarchal families, later on, become grouped into tribal clans, there grows up the custom of tribal sacrifice to the spirits of the clan-rulers;—this cult being superadded to the family-cult, and marking the second stage of ancestor-worship. Finally, with

5600-474: The story was initially intended to be set in 1955, however, the team was not thorough in the research and instead worked on a setting "in the recent past". The film was originally set to be an hour long but during production it grew to respond to the social context, including the reason for the move and the father's occupation. Eight animators worked on the film, which was completed in eight months. Tetsuya Endo noted numerous animation techniques were used in

5680-410: The union of all the clans or tribes under one supreme head, there is developed the custom of propitiating the spirits of national, rulers. This third form of the cult becomes the obligatory religion of the country; but it does not replace either of the preceding cults: the three continue to exist together. Furthermore, Whenever a child is born in Japan, a local Shinto shrine adds the child's name to

5760-401: Was considered "one of the most moving and remarkable double bills ever offered to a cinema audience". In Japan, My Neighbor Totoro initially sold 801,680 tickets and earned a distribution rental income of ¥ 588 million in 1988. According to the animation scholar Seiji Kano , by 2005, the film's box-office gross receipts in Japan totalled ¥1.17 billion ( $ 10.6 million ). In France,

5840-539: Was considered a milestone for writer-director Hayao Miyazaki. The popularity of the film's central character Totoro among Japanese children has been likened to that of Winnie-the-Pooh in Britain. The Independent said Totoro is one of the greatest cartoon characters, describing the creature; "At once innocent and awe-inspiring, King Totoro captures the innocence and magic of childhood more than any of Miyazaki's other magical creations". The Financial Times recognized

5920-422: Was difficult." Miyazaki said the film's opening sequence was not storyboarded; "The sequence was determined through permutations and combinations determined by the time sheets . Each element was made individually and combined in the time sheets ..." The ending sequence depicts the mother's return home and the signs of her return to good health by playing with Satsuki and Mei outside. Miyazaki stated that

6000-840: Was due to long-standing political tensions between China and Japan but many Chinese people had become familiar with Miyazaki's films due to rampant video piracy. In its opening weekend, ending December 16, 2018, My Neighbor Totoro grossed $ 13 million , entering the box-office charts at number two behind Hollywood film Aquaman and ahead of Bollywood film Padman at number three. By its second weekend, My Neighbor Totoro had grossed $ 20 million in China. As of February 2019, it had grossed $ 25,798,550 in China. In 1989, US-based company Streamline Pictures produced an exclusive English language dub of My Neighbor Totoro for use as an in-flight movie on Japan Airlines flights. In April 1993, Troma Films , under its label 50th St. Films, distributed

6080-412: Was first released in Japan on May 1, 1988, by Tokuma Shoten , and includes the musical score used in the film, except for five vocal pieces that were performed by Azumi Inoue , including "Stroll", "A Lost Child", and "My Neighbor Totoro". It had previously been released as an Image Song CD in 1987 that contains some songs that were not included in the film. After writing and filming Nausicaä of

6160-459: Was previously held by the 2015 production of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch . The show won six Olivier Awards . On 30 March 2023, it was announced that the production will return to the Barbican for another season, which began on 21 November 2023 and ran until 23 March 2024. House spirits A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home , looking after

6240-510: Was voted the highest-ranking animated film on Sight & Sound 's critics' poll of all-time greatest films , and joint 154th overall. In 2022, the magazine ranked the film as the joint-72nd-greatest film overall, being one of two animated films included in the list. My Neighbor Totoro was ranked third on the list of "Greatest Japanese Animated Films of All Time" by film magazine Kinema Junpo in 2009, 41st in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010, second on

6320-463: Was written by Don and Cindy Hewitt, who had written other dubs for Studio Ghibli. Disney's English-language dub premiered on October 23, 2005; it was screened at the 2005 Hollywood Film Festival. The cable television network Turner Classic Movies (TCM) held the television premiere of Disney's new English dub in January 2006, as part of the network's tribute to Hayao Miyazaki. TCM aired the dub and

6400-537: Was written by Tsugiko Kubo and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki. Mei and the Kittenbus ( めいとこねこバス , Mei to Konekobasu ) is a thirteen-minute sequel to My Neighbor Totoro that was written and directed by Miyazaki. Chika Sakamoto , who voiced Mei in Totoro , returned to voice Mei in this short. Hayao Miyazaki voiced Granny Cat ( Neko Baa-chan ) and Totoro. The sequel focuses on the character Mei Kusakabe from

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