Kerri Johnson
Dr.Childs
English 1301
3, October 2012
My
Review of My Neighbor Totoro
This movie was really interesting to me. I
have never been into or really have watched any Japanese animation so I really
enjoyed it. The only animation that I can relate this too is Disney. I found it
to be similar to Disney but it had its own qualities I liked the basic story of
family the movie portrayed was great. Even though the film was animated it was
similar to real life family events and situations but Disney’s animation is
mostly based on fairy tales.
One of the other reasons I found it
interesting is that the movie didn’t have a villain like most animated films.
If you have watched many Disney films like I have, they all pretty much have
some sort of villain in them. Someone is always hurting someone else. I like that this movie was really wholesome.
It was more focused on the family. No violence or mean-hearted acts. The kids
were so happy to play with each other. This let their imagination run wild. I
think Roger Ebert said it best in his review of this movie. He stated “Here is
a children’s film made for the world we should live in, rather than the one we
occupy. No fight scenes. No evil adults. No fighting between the two kids. No
scary monsters. No darkness before dawn. A world that is benign. A world where
if you meet a strange towering creature in the forest, you can curl up on its
tummy and have a nap.”
The animation in this movie was also
interesting too. It was very simple looking but still very defined. I enjoyed
the simplicity of the animation. I believe that the animator drew this film
frame by frame. This takes hours and hours to complete. This is a classic way
of making animated films. I’m not a fan
of all the high tech animation that is popular today. I know they use computers
do this and it is still a lot of work. I think sometimes that can take away
some the story that is the movie is trying to tell. Sometimes less is just so
much more.
The movie reminded me of a classic
Disney film, Alice in Wonderland. Both movies had a kind of make believe world
and a reality world. They both fell down a hole of some sort to get to see the
make believe characters. The main characters in each movie were guided by the
make believe characters. The only thing that I can point out that was a huge
difference is again this movie didn’t have the violent indications like Alice
did. The queen in Alice wanted to cut off heads of some of the other characters
in the movie.
I also liked the way this movie portrayed
the family dynamics. Most movies give dads a bad reputation or just don’t show
them at all. In My neighbor Totoro the dad is basically on his own taking care
of the kids. His wife is sick and has been hospitalized for a while. The oldest
daughter, Satsuki, helped out a lot especially with little Mei. The
relationship with the two sisters was great. I loved how they were so happy.
The laughter was so addicting. I found myself laughing with them. It was great
to watch a film like that.
I think children should have
imaginary friends and this movie is a great attest to that. These girls had a
huge gap missing in their lives at this time, their mother. Totoro helped them
fill that void. This film was a positive portrayal of a family and I think
that’s what missing in today’s film be it animation or not. Even though the
film was animated it was similar to real life family events and situations.
