I thought My Neighbor Totoro was a very pleasant film. I went in knowing it was supposed to be mostly a “slice of life” movie, and that it was very lacking in actual plot, and that was certainly the case. I know these sorts of movies can go either way, where it can either drag and meander and basically bore me, or I can find myself completely wrapped up in the characters’ lives and enjoy the ride, and thankfully the latter was the case in this instance.
I think a lot of its success is in just how fun these characters are to follow. I loved spending time with this cast of characters, their sense of joy and wonder was just infectious, and even the side characters we’d occasionally run into I found myself invested in, such as the boy who gradually came to become friends with our leads.
I also found it to be a rather nostalgic feeling experience, as watching these characters wander around either through the house or out and about reminded me of being a kid and just running around playing with my brothers or neighborhood friends, back before everyone had computers in their homes or cell phones constantly distracting us from the world around us.
I also like how the fantasy element feels somewhat up to interpretation as to whether it’s real or if it’s just their imagination. Either way works I feel, but in any event, I also really enjoyed how it was incorporated. It kinda made me think of Shigeru Miyamoto’s explanation for his inspiration for Zelda coming from spending time working in his garden, and while this isn’t exactly an action adventure like Zelda, I can see a similar inspiration perhaps at play here as well.
So yeah, I quite enjoyed this. And that 90 minute runtime just flew by. I could’ve easily spent more time with these characters.
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