(Tonari no Totoro)

I really have to give credit toDisney for some smarts and taste for their purchase of the rightsto My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, both by HayaoMiyazaki. My Neighbor Totoro is a perfect example of an animationappropriate  for family viewing in the truest sense of thedescription. The story is a family bonding story that actuallyhas some sophistication to it. I know some of you might find thathard to believe, a Disney film about family bonding that won'tmake even stupider than you were before you watched it, but Iswear, I'm telling the truth.

Set in an almost idyllic PostwarJapanese country village, a father and his two daughters,Satuskiand Mei, are moving  into their new home. The daughtersdiscover both natural and supernatural delights (including"totoro's") in the fields and woods. Their pleasuresare dampened by their worries for the mother of the family. Sheis away recovering from an unspecified illness. The tensions thechildren feel are handled delicately and realistically avoidingover-dramatizing.

Mei, the youngest daughter atabout five years old, is the primary explorer tumbling throughthe rural countryside seeing things growups just can't see.Satuski is not even a teenager yet, but is doing her best towatch over Mei without mother around. She also gets to deal witha very shy boy's fondness for her.

The artwork is sometimes verging on photorealistic. The character design is excellent for both thechildren and adults.

It's about time Disney invested insomething with this much class.

There are plenty of good web sites devoted to this film. Here is one to get you started: a page by Wing See filled with other Hayao Miyazaki delights as well.