My Neighbor Totoro

I have never seen the movie before so can't judge what it was like in other releases. In the DVD I bought, I had widescreen, dialog in English and Japanese and two disks. One for the regular film and the other was the entire soundtrack with story boarded pictures. I found the dialog in English beautiful and well done. The picture and the care the film had in transferring it over into DVD was marvelous. A man and his two daughters move to the country in a new house while the mother is hospitalized. They meet two very nice neighbors but the girls become attached to forest spirits who seem to take care of them when their parents are unavailable. Beautiful moving story with lots of hope.

This was my favorite movie of all time when i was a little kid. Since those Disney has taken the movie and completely screwed it by re-doing the voices. If you're a true fan of the original, then do not buy this movie. It is the disney version. And if you know where i can get the original (non-disney) version i would appreciate it if you let me know.

I first saw this film in 2004. I'm a voice-actor and was going to be voicing an anime series. I asked around to see what the best films and series were and, of course, Myiaskai's films were highly recommended. I instantly fell in love with this film and it started me on the journey of seeing all of the films produced by Studio Gibli. I now have a 2 year old son and bought it to share with him, although I fell in love with it as an adult. It is my favorite film of any genre (not just children's). Give it a watch, then start your own Myisaki collection!

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.

It looks like fullscreen/widescreen (disney) versions of this movie are on the same page. Neither has Japanese subtitles - both are dubbed. I caught the older, non-Disney one which is pan and scan, and found the dubbing adequate. (Some users here seem pretty unhappy about the Disney one, which I cannot comment on.) My boyfriend threatened to walk away if he was forced to watch a pan-and-scan version (if you are going to rent it, since it doesn't seem to be for sale anymore), but he did watch it and seemed to enjoy the movie anyway with no significant or obvious disadvantages.

The movie itself is great for people of all ages, but if you are thinking of showing it to a child, it helps to know if your child likes watching slightly more introspective, atmospheric movies that _don't_ crack a joke-a-minute with famous names and product tie-ins. Some kids might find this boring, but I'm sure loners and kids with bright imaginations will take to it and see the possibilities for their own creativity and wonder.

basic, basic plot: two sisters (one is about 11, the other 5) move with their father to the Japanese countryside in the 1950s to be nearer their hospitalized mother. The nearby forest contains "totoros," who are super adorable fluffy cat-owl creatures that protect the forest.

I found the animation beautiful and the pacing very refreshing from what North American animation has offered in the past decade. The totoros are winsome and an antidote to the you-know-who aggressively "cute" (but actually just irritating) sidekicks and characters that are created to sell more toys. Totoro is silent, mysterious, charming and can sell me plenty of toys just by being himself. It's a very relaxing and highly recommended experience.