My Neighbor Totoro
|
Our Price: $64.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $29.99 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of My Neighbor Totoro
Movie Review: a wonderful first movie
Summary: 5 Stars
For any parent who is concerned about the content of the movies and TV they allow their young children to watch, this movie is terrific. In addition to being gorgeously animated, it also replaces what is so objectionable about so many videos for young children with the following:
- family members who clearly really love each other, including sisters who occasionally bicker but without malice or bitterness
- sensitive handling of a sick and possibly dying mother -- older children will "get it", younger children won't even notice this scary plot point and can enjoy the rest of the movie
- scenes that are thrilling (a ride through the sky!) or tense (phone call from the hospital) without ever being scary
- absolutely NO sexualization of children (unlike Disney films and all their small waisted big boobed heroines)
- no bad guys
- not sappy sweet or mind numbing to parents like Barney or The Wiggles
I don't care about the dubbing issues or Disney v. Fox...all three of my children (now long outgrown this movie) LOVED this, and I think I've seen it 500 times.
Movie Review: Great animated film for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
A classic film from a classic director, Hayao Miyazaki deserves all of the accolades he receives and more. My Neighbor Totoro is a film that can be enjoyed by all ages for its pure vision of childhood. The characterizations of the 2 female protagonists are sweet and genuine and it's a pleasure to watch their interactions with Totoro and the other wood spirits. The story is not very robust, but it's more about the characters that inhabit this world and the representation of them. The animation shows great attention to detail and holds up well for its age.
I, as with most Japanese animation, encourage it to be viewed with the original Japanese language soundtrack. Although many people seem to dislike reading subtitles, the voice actors in Japan have much less trouble sounding like real people in real situations than most of the poorly chosen big name (or just poorly chosen) American actors who can't seem to do a voice that doesn't sound forced. They can truly make a good movie bad.
This will definitely be a movie that I can watch with my (future) kids without having to turn my brain off.
Movie Review: An enormous difference between version!
Summary: 5 Stars
My mother got My Neighbor Totoro on VHS for my son several years ago. I always liked the movie, and reading the reviews here made me curious enough to buy the full-screen DVD. The first thing I noticed was how much of the original film was cut from the VHS tape- I had always thought of the story as being a little vague and with a very sketchy plot- for instance, the father was nearly nonexistent in my old version, and appeared distant and uninvolved when he was in the movie, which turned out not to be the case at all. The true beauty of the film unfolded and for the first time I saw why My Neighbor Totoro is such a well-loved classic! The original Japanese soundtrack, with the inflections and cute little voices of the children (especially Mei's) really add to the film, even though I don't speak Japanese- the inflections are so much more genuine, and the subtitles are very easy to follow. I plan to get my hands on more Studio Ghibli films right away. If you've only seen the full-screen, dubbed version of this movie, you owe it to yourself to watch the original, subtitled version.Movie Review: closest to a dream
Summary: 5 Stars
i first saw this movie about 7 years ago on vhs and bought it as soon as i could find it. i am going to wait to buy it on dvd until i know it is the fox version because it has to have the same voices that were in that version.
the closest thing i can say about this movie is that i think the writer had to get the idea for the story in a dream state. the bits about catbus and totoro are so dreamlike that it is the only possible explanation.
i love the references to shintoism in this movie. for a westerner it is so refreshing to see a movie where the references to nature and to the native religion of japan is so gracefully illustrated. if there is someone who has any doubts about faith and nature, i think this is one of the most simplistic ways to show how closely we are entwined with the natural world.
this is simply one of the best movies i have ever seen. the animation is sublime. i can think of no other way to explain it. the story is just so touching. i rate this movie up there with the reading of the bible for spiritual refreshment.
Movie Review: True Japanese culture of the mid-20th century
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this anime and am waiting for the Disney/Buena Vista release for the Japanese language version. I lived in Japan during the early 1960s, so much in the film reflects the country I knew as a child. As for those reviewers worrying about the bath scene - get over it. It's completely innocent. I used to bathe like that with my grandfather and my grandmother, and sometimes with my parents. They didn't bother with any false modesty based on prudish ideas. When I first saw that scene, I felt no worry or upset, but warm nostalgia. I talked with my sons about it, and how things were back then, and they haven't become twisted.
The Japanese countryside really did used to look like Miyazaki's backgrounds; my grandmother used to wear the same kind of over-all apron when she cooked. I will often watch the anime just to remember back to my childhood and the Japan I remember. I don't know of any other film that so truly captures the joys (and heartaches) of being a child as well as My Neighbor Totoro does.