My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro

After the release of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, I produced My Neighbor Totoro in 1988 at Ghibli Studio. This was a story about the two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, who moved from the city to the countryside with their father in order to be closer to the hospital where their mother was recuperating from tuberculosis. While living there, they encountered the forest spirit, Totoro, which helped Mei to find her mother at the hospital. This movie was almost like my personal biography. For example, Mei and Satsuki's mother recuperating from tuberculosis at a hospital was similar to my mother's tuberculosis disease when I was in elementary school. This movie was purely constructed based on my creativity. Creativity is like a relay race that is absorbed, changed and passed onto our next generation from us. In fact, I never limit my creativity by creating any script for my films because we never know where the story will go until we start drawing the storyboard. Similar to many of my movies, such as Spirited Away, I Mei and Satsuki are created based on little children. Often time, I always feel that I learn a lot simply by looking at their facial expressions. Many of my films, include My Neighbor Totoro, are compared to Disney productions. However, I personally do not like the fictional American anime too much because they are shallow and display no compassion for fellow humans. In today’s society, I see many children are sacrificed for video games and TV. When children are absorbed with manufactured goods, TV and video games, they confuse the real world with the reality. In the world of TV and games, they are limited to their sense of sight and sound, yet when they are in the reality, they must use all five senses. Therefore, through my films, I want to express children's innocence and encourage them to step outside of the world of manufactured goods. My Neighbor Totoro was one of the most successful films produced by Ghibli Studio, and it won the third Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1988. Due to the huge success of this film, my works became more widely known in the eastern Asia region.

Begin The Exploration of Princess Mononoke



*My Neighbor Totoro* After the release of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, I produced My Neighbor Totoro in 1988 at Ghibli Studio. This was a story about the two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, who moved from the city to the countryside with their father in order to be closer to the hospital where their mother was recuperating from tuberculosis. While living there, they encountered the forest spirit, Totoro, which helped Mei to find her mother at the hospital. This movie was almost like my personal biography. For example, Mei and Satsuki's mother recuperating from tuberculosis at a hospital was similar to my mother's tuberculosis disease when I was in elementary school. This movie was purely constructed based on my creativity. Creativity is like a relay race that is absorbed, changed and passed onto our next generation from us. In fact, I never limit my creativity by creating any script for my films because we never know where the story will go until we start drawing the storyboard. Similar to many of my movies, such as Spirited Away, I Mei and Satsuki are created based on little children. Often time, I always feel that I learn a lot simply by looking at their facial expressions. Many of my films, include My Neighbor Totoro, are compared to Disney productions. However, I personally do not like the fictional American anime too much because they are shallow and display no compassion for fellow humans. In today’s society, I see many children are sacrificed for video games and TV. When children are absorbed with manufactured goods, TV and video games, they confuse the real world with the reality. In the world of TV and games, they are limited to their sense of sight and sound, yet when they are in the reality, they must use all five senses. Therefore, through my films, I want to express children's innocence and encourage them to step outside of the world of manufactured goods. My Neighbor Totoro was one of the most successful films produced by Ghibli Studio, and it won the third Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1988. Due to the huge success of this film, my works became more widely known in the eastern Asia region. Begin The Exploration of Princess Mononoke