My Neighbor Totoro facts for kids

Quick facts for kids My Neighbor Totoro となりのトトロ
Directed by	Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by	Toru Hara
Written by	Hayao Miyazaki
Starring	Chika Sakamoto Noriko Hidaka Hitoshi Takagi Tanie Kiribayashi Shigesato Itoi Sumi Shimamoto
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography	Hisao Shirai
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Studio	Troma Films - 1993 dub (USA) Walt Disney Pictures - Disney dub (USA)
Distributed by	Toho (Japan) 20th Century Fox - 1993 dub (USA) Buena Vista Pictures - Disney dub (USA)
Release date(s)	April 16, 1988 Fox Dub 1993 Disney Dub March 7, 2006
Running time	86 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	$236, 677,550

My Neighbor Totoro (Japanese: となりのトトロ, Tonari no Totoro) is a famous animated movie from 1988. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and made by Studio Ghibli. This heartwarming film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1988. It tells the story of two young sisters who move to the countryside and discover friendly forest spirits.

The movie was first released in the United States on VHS as My Friend Totoro. Later, Troma Films released an English version in 1993. This version was available on VHS and DVD. In 2006, Disney re-released the movie with a brand new English voice cast. This Disney DVD was the first in the U.S. to include both Japanese and English audio.

The Story of Totoro

The movie follows two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, and their father. They move to an old house in the countryside. Their mother is recovering from a long illness in a nearby hospital.

Mei, the younger sister, soon discovers a giant, friendly creature living in the forest. She calls him Totoro. He is a forest spirit! Later, when their mother's health seems to worsen, Mei tries to visit her alone. She gets lost. Satsuki asks Totoro for help. The magical Catbus then takes both girls to the hospital. They deliver an ear of corn to their mother, showing her they are thinking of her.

Meet the Characters

The Kusakabe Family

• Satsuki Kusakabe: She is a girl around ten years old. Satsuki is Mei's older sister. Her name means "fifth month" in Japanese, like May in English.
• Mei Kusakabe: Satsuki's younger sister, who is about four years old. Her name also sounds like "May." This is because the story was first about one girl, who was then split into two sisters.
• Mr. Kusakabe: The girls' kind father. He works as a professor at a Tokyo university. He studies old cultures and human history.
• Mrs. Kusakabe: The girls' mother. She is getting better from an illness at Shichikokuyama Hospital. The hospital is known for helping people with her type of illness.

Forest Spirits and Friends

• Totoro: A big, friendly forest spirit. He is grey and white and looks like a mix of an owl, a cat, and a tanuki. He is very tall! Mei mispronounces his name from "troll." There are also two smaller Totoros: Ō-Totoro (the big one), Chū-Totoro (the middle one), and Chibi-Totoro (the smallest).
• Kanta: A boy from the village. He is about Satsuki's age. He seems a bit shy around Satsuki.
• Granny: Kanta's grandmother. She is very kind and sometimes looks after Satsuki and Mei.
• Catbus: A magical cat that can turn into a bus! It has hollow insides and serves as a ride for the Totoros. The Catbus is based on a Japanese belief. This belief says that old cats can gain special shape-changing powers. These cats are called bake neko.

How the Movie Was Released

My Neighbor Totoro first came out in Japan in August 1988. It was shown as a double feature with another Studio Ghibli movie, Grave of the Fireflies. Some people think this was done because Totoro was not expected to be a big hit on its own. Others believe Grave of the Fireflies was too sad by itself. So, it needed a lighter, happier movie to go with it.

In 1993, Fox released the first English version of My Neighbor Totoro. This version had different producers. Their rights to the movie ended in 2004. Disney's new English version first showed on October 23, 2005. It then appeared at the 2005 Hollywood Film Festival. The Turner Classic Movies TV channel showed Disney's new English dub on January 19, 2006. This was part of a special tribute to Hayao Miyazaki. The Disney version was released on DVD on March 7, 2006.

The Disney version of Totoro has many famous voice actors. Dakota Fanning voices Satsuki, and Elle Fanning voices Mei. Timothy Daly is Mr. Kusakabe, and Pat Carroll is Granny. Lea Salonga voices Mrs. Kusakabe. Frank Welker voices both Totoro and the Catbus. The songs in the new dub kept the same words. They were sung by Sonya Isaacs.

Totoro's Other Appearances

Totoro and his friends have popped up in many other places!

• Mei and the Kittenbus: Hayao Miyazaki made a short 13-minute "sequel" to the movie. It is called "Mei and the Kittenbus". This short film is only shown at the Ghibli Museum in Japan.
• Other Studio Ghibli Movies:

* Totoro made a quick appearance in Pom Poko, another Studio Ghibli film. * In Kiki's Delivery Service, Mei and Chū-Totoro are painted on bedroom windows. Kiki also has a Totoro stuffed toy. * In Whisper of the Heart, Chū-Totoro and Chibi-Totoro can be seen on a dollmaker's bench. A book titled "Totoro" is also in a school library.

• TV Shows and Movies:

* In the first Digimon Movie, a Totoro object can be seen during a bubble scene. * An episode of Samurai Jack features a creature that looks like the big Totoro. * The TV series His and Her Circumstances has Totoro cameos. The director, Hideaki Anno, worked with Miyazaki before. * Totoro has appeared four times on Comedy Central's Drawn Together. * Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender was inspired by the Catbus. * In The Simpsons, Homer visits a cartoon convention. There is a booth with a Catbus and a grey figure underneath, referencing Totoro. * Kanta makes a brief appearance in Grave of the Fireflies. This was the movie Totoro was originally shown with. * A Totoro doll is one of the toys owned by the character Bonnie in the movie Toy Story 3.

• Books and Comics:

* In Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Brief Lives, a character blows bubbles into impossible shapes, including Totoro. * In Gaiman's The Books of Magic, Totoro dolls are for sale in a magical market. * A Totoro-like figure appears on a sign in Generation X (comics).

• Music:

* A Totoro-doll appears on the cover of The Vandals album Internet Dating Superstuds.

• Other:

* A parody called "Tonari no Pedoro" was seen in a Gintama special. * Totoro makes many appearances in the South Park episode "Imaginationland".

Fun Facts About Totoro

A real-life copy of Satsuki and Mei’s House at Expo 2005 in Japan.

• The main Totoro has become the official mascot for Studio Ghibli. You can see him in the studio's logo at the start of their movies.
• There is a real park in Japan called Hachikokuyama. This park was the inspiration for the mountain where Satsuki and Mei's mother was in the hospital.
• Matsugo, the area where Mei and Satsuki live in the movie, is a real place in Japan.
• When the Catbus takes Mei and Satsuki to the hospital, the destination sign shows real places. One sign even has a character upside-down!
• An asteroid (number 10160) has been named "Totoro" by an astronomer named Takao Kobayashi. The name was approved by space experts.
• The 2005 World Expo in Japan featured a "Totoro" house. It was a real-life copy of Satsuki and Mei's house from the movie.

Voice Cast

Here are the talented voice actors who brought the characters to life:

Images for kids

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  Eoperipatus totoro – a velvet worm from Vietnam

See also

In Spanish: Mi vecino Totoro para niños