From AR402004@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU Tue Dec 6 13:02:30 1994 Return-Path: Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by redms.cac.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA22578; Tue, 6 Dec 94 13:02:29 -0800 Received: from brownvm.brown.edu by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA05720; Tue, 6 Dec 94 13:02:07 -0800 Message-Id: <9412062102.AA05720@mx5.u.washington.edu> Received: from BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU by BROWNVM.brown.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 8537; Tue, 06 Dec 94 16:01:07 EST Received: from BROWNVM (NJE origin AR402004@BROWNVM) by BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 4475; Tue, 6 Dec 1994 16:01:04 -0500 Date: Tue, 06 Dec 94 15:54:49 EST From: Steven Feldman Subject: TOTORO REVIEWS To: "Mike Johnson, nausicaa listowner" X-Status: Status: O TOTORO REVIEWS Subject: 1.) TOTORO review (Steven Feldman, November 20, 1989) L#00088 2.) TOTORO review (THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, May 7, 1993) L#00188 3.) TOTORO review (NEWSDAY, May 14, 1993) L#00245 4.) TOTORO review (THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS; May 13-15?; 1993) L#00284 5.) TOTORO review (THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 14, 1993) L#00343 6.) TOTORO review (Robert Plamondon, May 18, 1993) L#00418 7.) TOTORO review (THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, May 8, 1993) L#00516 8.) TOTORO review (THE SAN JOSE MERCURY, May 10, 1993) L#00590 9.) TOTORO review (SISKEL & EBERT, May 9, 1993) L#00763 10.) TOTORO review (VARIETY, May 10, 1993) ======================================================================== Subject: 1.) TOTORO review (Steven Feldman, November 20, 1989) WRITTEN BY: Steven Feldman SCANNED-IN BY: Rafael Brown, June 22, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 23, 1993 POSTED TO BY: Steven Feldman, June 23, 1993 Steven Feldman November 20, 1989 My Neighbor Totoro review: In stark contrast to his manic actioneer LUPIN III: CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, and the epic adventures of NAUSICAA and LAPUTA, Hayao Miyazaki's MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is lighthearted and modest in every way. The story is sparse, with a small nucleus of characters, unremarkable (though eminently competent) animation, and a simple message. This is an old-fashioned film, sort of like the live-action fare Disney produced in the 50s and 60s about little animals who get lost and then are aided by other species. In this case, little Mei Kusakabe and her older pre-teen sister, Satsuki, move into a spacious country cottage with their father. The house is reputedly haunted, and sure enough, Mei encounters some sprite-like dust motes which are said to be ghosts. A matronly old neighbor says that they are harmless to good people and vacate newly- acquired homes once they feel the new owners are okay. They do so. Soon afterward, Mei espies a ghostly little animal in her yard which, joining with a larger one (its mother?), leads her on a merry chase through a pathway in the underbrush which ends at the trunk of a gargantuan camphor tree. Mei falls through the crack into which the two owl-like and teddy bear-ish creatures vanish, and encounters the sleeping hulk of a similar creature tenfold her own size. In an effort to awaken it, she playfully tugs at its tail, climbs upon it, and tickles its nose. It briefly awakens, whereupon she learns (or intuits, actually) its name is Totoro. Mei, too, falls asleep, and when she wakes up, it is to her father's ministrations, which have found her in the pathway. He and Satsuki tell her it was a dream, yet Mei insists it really happened. Their father diplomatically concludes that it was the Keeper of the Forest and goes with them to give a prayer of thanks. What follows is a small series of episodes with Totoro and the girls, as Satsuki is let in on the secret. The creature Totoro itself functions both as Mei's childhood "imaginary friend" and as surrogate for her mother, who is ill in the hospital. Never far from their hearts and conversations, the children's mother is the focus of the film despite her conspicuous absence, and the longing felt by the girls and their father is suitably touching. High adventure, however this is not, and with nary an antagonist, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO has a tendency to drag. This is mostly domestic melodrama, with the girls helping papa do the laundry, cringing in the bath with papa when the wind moans strangely, attending the same grade school class when papa is away for the day, and so forth. Eventually, Totoro's presence and the mother's absence converges with not unpredictable results, making for a sentimental ending. Though vaguely maudlin, the film avoids the pratfalls of gratuitous familial reaffirmation, with a succession of still-images which accompany the closing credits (rather than a freeze frame of tearful hugging or some such). MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is, in all, a pleasing and very innocent film, and one can see why it was awarded the Minister of Education's Art Award in Japan. It is sort of like LASSIE COME HOME meets WINNIE THE POOH by way of MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD, which while not a bad thing, hardly makes for scintillating high-flown fantasy. PETER PAN, or even LAPUTA, this is not. Totoro is very much more down to earth, and is a simpler, subtler film. The fantasy elements are incidental, rather than pervasive, and the reality of each adventure is always in question. After all, the ostensible subject and point-of-view of the film is that of little children. I get the feeling that Totoro was meant to be a trifle, a breather of sorts from the sturm und drang of Miyazaki's previous features. A well-deserved respite from a busy schedule of often elaborate animation, this one's from the heart. -- Steven Feldman ======================================================================== Subject: 2.) TOTORO review (THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, May 7, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Charles Solomon FIRST PUBLISHED IN: THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Friday, May 7, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: Larry Greenfield, 5/7/93 RE-POSTED TO BY: Enrique Conty, May 9, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 Here's the LA Times review on MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. But before I proceed, I want to address two issues: 1) Siskel & Ebert reviewed TOTORO on their show. I haven't seen the show, but Siskel gave it a thumbs down, while Ebert gave it a thumbs up. Here's the fun part: after the capsule review at the end of the show, Ebert *blasted* at Siskel for not liking the film... ^_^ 2) Emru Townsend writes: > As someone pointed out on the Miyazaki mailing list, this individual > *does* know what he's talking about. (Could whoever posted that bit > about the Canemaker book please post it here?) Sorry, but Bryan Wilkinson doesn't have USENET access. The gist of it is that Solomon got turned to anime by LAPUTA. In the above book, he uses the sequence where Pazu and Sheeta awake on Laputa as an example of how to tell a story visually. And now, here's the review: ---------- cut here ---------- The following is the review of "My Neighbor Totoro" which appeared in the LA Times this morning (Friday May 7, 1993). The film, dubbed in English opens up in LA, SF, and Seattle today, and New York next week. Any typos are mine. MOVIE REVIEW 'TOTORO': A CHARMING TALE OF SISTERHOOD By Charles Solomon Special to the Times The gentle warmth of "My Neighbor Totoro," a new animated feature opening city-wide today, provides a welcome respite from the rapid-fire mayhem that usually characterizes Japanese animation seen in the United States. Instead of the standard sci-fi laser battles and explosions, writer-director Hayao Miyazaki offers a charming fantasy that stresses the affectionate bond between two young sisters. While their mother remains in the hospital, 4-year old Mei and 10- year old Satsuki move into an aged house in the country with their professor-father. When Mei explores the nearby woods, she meets Totoro, a seven-foot forest spirit who looks like an outsized cross between a bunny rabbit and a fuzzy throw pillow. The father believes Mei's story about meeting this magical guardian, and respectfully asks Totoro to watch over the children, which he does with the aid of a few assistants and a 12-legged "catbus" that is half animal/half machine. Guided by their supernatural friend, the sisters share a series of adventures, soaring over the landscape while Totoro's roars make the winds blow. But the story remains focused on the affection Mei and Satsuki share. Unlike many recent cartoon chums, the two sisters seem genuinely fond of each other, and their camaraderie never feels saccharine or forced. An accomplished director, Miyazaki enjoys a cult following in both Japan and the U.S. for such fast-paced adventures as "Lupin III: Castle Cagliostro." It's rare to see such skillful cutting, staging and camera work in a non-Disney animated film. The weakest aspect of "Totoro" is the animation itself, which never rises above the level of Saturday morning kidvid. The characters move jerkily, and many of the designs are awkward-looking: Mei has a wide, frog-like mouth that shows all of her back teeth whenever she yells, which is often. But despite these limits, "My Neighbor Totoro" (Times rated: Family) is a gentle and affirming film. It's certain to delight smaller children, although boys accustomed to the slam-bang violence of super- hero cartoon features and TV shows may chafe at its leisurely pace. ---------------- My Notes: Notice that they kept the names as Mei and Satstuki. Gee, when will people ever learn that animation doesn't have to copy or mimic Disney's style to be good? The only complaint this guy had was that the animation was more in the Saturday morning style than Disney style. "A cross between a bunny rabbit and a fuzzy throw pillow?" Hmmm. I wouldn't exactly call the cat-bus "1/2 animal, 1/2 machine". He isn't any part machine... he's just a cat who can change his shape slightly (as in opening his doors)... who is the bus of the forest. "Cult" following in Japan and the U.S.? In the U.S. mainly, because "cult" implies something not accepted as the mainstream, but Miyazaki is anythin but "cult" in Japan, where his movies become the top-grossing domestic films of the year there... :::::Larry::::: ---------- cut here ---------- -- E n r i q u e C o n t y The Flip-Flip Man conty@cbnewsl.att.com Disclaimer: You're not dealing with AT&T ======================================================================== Subject: 3.) TOTORO review (NEWSDAY, May 14, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Joseph Gelmis FIRST PUBLISHED IN: NEWSDAY, May 14, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: John H Bogan, May 17, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 Continuing the thread of reprinting Totoro reviews, this is from NEWSDAY (covering Long Island and New York City), May 14, 1993, reprinted without permission: WARM AND FUZZY GIANT ADVENTURE 3 *'s out of 4 by Joseph Gelmis Japanese animation covers a vast spectrum of tastes and styles, from the ultraviolent and futuristic "Japanimation" (aka anime), which has a home video cult following in the United States, to G-rated kiddie fare like "My Neighbor Totoro." Japanimation is too hyperactive for general audiences. But, unlike some of the more ambitious and confused animated features that glutted theatres last year, "My Neighbor Totoro" is simple and easy for the kindergarten set to follow and pleasant to look at. True, it wasn't funny or engrossing enough to suit my 13-year-old companion. But her sister, 8, loved it. She asked all the right questions, laughed on cue, responded with concern where she was intended to. The story combines fantasy and realistic family problems. Two sisters, Satsuki and May [sic], move into a long-empty house in the country with their father. Their mother, whom they visit briefly, is weak and hospitalized with an unexplained illness. The fabulous creature Totoro keeps the girls busy. The big guy, who can fly and blow gale-force winds and do all sorts of neat things, is a grinning giant, somewhere between Cheshire cat and owl, who lives unseen by adults in the foliage of a colossal tree. He introduces the girls to a huge cat that is also a high-speed bus. The movements of humans and fantasy creatures are lifelike, though the backgrounds are motionless. The dubbed soundtrack, enunciated with exaggerated care in English so even tots can understand the story, lacks the fluidity and grace of writer/director Hayao Miyazaki's animation. And it should be noted, if only for the record, the Japanese girls and their father have been Europeanized--probably for the purpose of global marketing. [Of course, we "cultists" know it's the style, not marketing.] Miyazaki is a popular animator in Japan. His films have spun off a Disney-like boom in merchandising. If your child likes this movie, be advised you may become suddenly aware of Miyazaki's presence through stuffed animals in toy stores or three books, incorporating original drawings from a trio of his films--"My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service", and "Laputa, the Castle in the Sky"--now in U.S. bookstores. John H Bogan ======================================================================== Subject: 4.) TOTORO review (THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS; May 13-15?; 1993) WRITTEN BY: the Phantom of the Movies FIRST PUBLISHED IN: THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, sometime between May 13 and May 15, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: Andrew Huie, May 16, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 Managed to catch Totoro at the Guild 50th Street [in New York City]. The movie was reviewed by the Phantom of the Movies instead of the regular mainstream critics (he typically does the grade-B through Z movies as well as imported anime) and he panned it rather severely. Here is his review, reprinted without permission: WINGED-CAT HERO WON'T FLY IN THE U.S. (Rating: 1.5 *'s out of 4) While press releases compare the title creature of the Japanese cartoon feature "My Neighbor Totoro" with Mickey Mouse, the mute, outsized feline seems more a benign Godzilla for pre-schoolers. There's no doubt Totoro is a licensing cash cow for its owner, the Tokuma Group, though; in Japan, its bewhiskered image adorns everything from pillows to tote bags. It's unlikely Totoro will score as heavily here. For starters, the cryptic, flying-cat critter who lends young sisters Satsuki and Mei a helping paw takes a backseat to the narrative's more mundane detailing of the girls' adjustment to a new neighborhood. "Japanimation" buffs and fans of animator Hayao Miyazaki's previous, less juvenile-targeted features, like "Laputa: Castle in the Sky", aren't likely to locate enough entertainment value here to keep them awake past a reel or two (though the actress supplying young Mei's shrieky falsetto voiceover prevented yours truly from dozing off). In short, "My Neighbor Totoro" doesn't offer much more than an expanded version of the kiddie programing found on Saturday morning TV. Andrew Huie ======================================================================== Subject: 5.) TOTORO review (THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 14, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Stephen Holden FIRST PUBLISHED IN: THE NEW YORK TIMES, Friday, May 14, 1993 SCANNED-IN & POSTED TO BY: Rafael Brown, June 22, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 23, 1993 The New York Times Review/Film May 14th 1993 (page C14) Even a Beast is Sweet as Can Be By Stephen Holden What will American children make of "My Neighbor Totoro," a Japanese animated film whose tone is so relentlessly goody-goody that it crosses the line from sweet into saccharine? The film creates an idealized vision of family life that is even more unreal than the perkiest 1950's television sitcom. In this storybook world, parents possess infinite reserves of encouragement and patience, and their children are unfailingly polite and responsible little angels. In the English-language version of the film, the actors speak in such uniformly cheery and soothing tones that they could turn even an incorrigible optimist like Mr. Rogers into a grouch. "My Neighbor Totoro" follows the adventures of two little girls, Satsuki and her younger sister, Lucy, who move with their father to a house in the country while their mother recovers in the hospital from an unnamed illness. Their new home is haunted by all sorts of benign magical presences. Among the more exciting moments in this serenely paced film is when swarms of dust bunnies living in the attic flee en masse in a late- evening windstorm. Of the many magical beings who inhabit the property, the most impressive is a mythical creature named Totoro, a cuddly beast that resembles a bear crossed with an owl crossed with a seal, has whiskers and roars gently. Totoro lives in an enchanted hollow at the bottom of a tree trunk. A familiar figure in Japanese children's literature and animated films, Totoro appears only when he feels like it. But those appearances usually coincide with emergencies that require magic, as when a lost child needs to be found or an urgent message delivered. Among other feats, the creature can fly and make giant trees sprout in the middle of the night and then disappear by morning. For transportation, he uses a magic bus that soars and loops over the landscape. And he can be seen only by children. When "My Neighbor Totoro," which was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is dispensing enchantment, it can be very charming. The scenes in which the girls have midnight adventures and witness miracles have the yearning dream-like exhilaration of Mary Poppins's nocturnal adventures with her charges. Too much of the film, however, is taken up with stiff, mechanical chit-chat. My Neighbor Totoro" is visually very handsome. All the action is set in lush Japanese landscapes whose bright blue skies and gorgeous sunsets evoke a paradisiacal garden of earthly delights. Rafael Brown st101900@brownvm.brown.edu ======================================================================== Subject: 6.) TOTORO review (Robert Plamondon, May 18, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Robert Plamondon FIRST PUBLISHED IN: rec.arts.movies.reviews, May, 1993 POSTED TO BY: Ralph Jenkins, May 18, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 The following review appeared on rec.arts.movies.reviews, and for the benefit of those of you who don't follow that newsgroup, I'll post it here. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO A film review by Robert Plamondon Copyright 1993 Robert Plamondon An animated feature film, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki Rated G, 1:25 running time I give it four stars out of a possible five. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is a charming children's film by Japan's leading animator, Hayao Miyazaki. Set in rural Japan in the 1950s, it is a story about two little girls and their father, who move into an old farmhouse and quickly discover that it is haunted. Later, they encounter Totoro, a giant, vaguely rabbit-like magical creature who lives in a hollow in the enormous camphor tree next door. A series of delightful adventures ensue, from magical encounters with Totoro, to run-ins with the boy next door who loses the ability to speak in the presence of girls. Real-world concerns intrude heavily at times: the girls' father bought the country house to benefit their mother, who is recovering at a nearby hospital, presumably from tuberculosis. All these elements are woven tightly together in the movie. One unusual element of the story is how the adults react to reports of magical creatures in the neighborhood. While it's a little hard to tell whether the adults REALLY believe in them, they all take reports of Totoros and Soot Sprites in perfect stride. Not once does Miyazaki trot out the hoary children's literature chestnut of "the adults think I'm a liar, so I'm going to have to save the world by myself." This accepting attitude towards traditional Japanese spirit-creatures may well represent an interesting difference between our two cultures. Originally released in Japan in 1988, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO has been competently (but not brilliantly) dubbed into English. (Many dubbed Japanese films have such bad voice acting that the films are painful to watch. TOTORO doesn't suffer from this problem.) The lip-synch is probably better than in the original Japanese. Unlike the ultra-expensive, all-singing, all-dancing, effects-laden, weak-script extravaganzas put out by Disney recently, the film concentrates on story, characterization, and cinematography. Disney, for example, wanted a wonderful ballroom scene in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and conveniently forgot that the castle was under a curse that changed its appearance to be gloomy and forbidding. Such deliberate errors, always present in recent Disney films, are conspicuously absent from Miyazaki's work. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO hearkens back to an era of simpler, more honest Disney films, like 101 DALMATIONS. Like 101 DALMATIONS, the animation in MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is not as smooth or as detailed as recent Disney works, but it is a classic nonetheless. When watching MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO in a theater, I was impressed at the way the kids in the audience were glued to the screen the entire time. Certain scenes, such as when Mei, the five-year-old girl, discovers pollywogs in a pond, brought smiles to the faces of the adults --but shouts of excitement from the kids in the audience. Miyazaki has their number. The wonderfully detailed characterizaton and the charming story make MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO a delight for adults as well. -- Robert ------------------- Ralph Jenkins UUCP: uunet!m0336%tnc.UUCP ======================================================================== Subject: 7.) TOTORO review (THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, May 8, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Peter Stack FIRST PUBLISHED IN: THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, Saturday, May 8, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: Albert Wong, May 9, 1993 and Mark Newton-John, May 12, 1993 COMBINED, EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 I am rather surprised no one has posted the review Totoro got in the Chron. It got a GREAT review (readers of the Chron will see that the "little man" is sitting up, and clapping, just a step below the best rating, of him jumping out of his chair). So here it is, the review from the San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday, May 8, 1993, copyright. 'Dust Bunnies' Hop to Life in 'Totoro' by Peter Stack Chronicle Staff Critic Verdant springtime in rural Japan is one of the mail charms in "My Neighbor Totoro", a children's animated film from one of Japan's leading film animators, Hayao Miyazaki, whose story of round, fuzzy imaginary rabbits arrived at Bay Area theaters yesterday in an English language version. As in other films by the celebrated Miyazaki--his "Porco Rosso" was a major box office hit in Japan last year--"My Neighbor Totoro" is drawn in an expansive, naturalistic way that makes an atmosphere of trees, rice fields and hills unraveling in the distance a hypnotic shadow character. In some scenes this nature is so delicious it becomes a poetical presence. In "Totoro", the story is literally about shadow figures--the Totoro are bloated and happy rabbits visible only to children. They are central characters--especially an enormous one who sleeps by day and wanders on missions of good deeds by night--in an amusing story about two girls and their father who move to a dilapidated farmhouse to await, with some anxiety, the recovery of an ailing wife and mom in a nearby hospital. Sometimes the big grinning rabbit rides on a 12-legged "cat bus" that whisks along the ground, but can fly or tightrope-walk along high-tension power lines. Exotic and fun. People are kind in this film, and that makes it a treat for kids, at least, and likely for some of the adults who will accompany them to the theater. But the action is a little pokey at times, far from the punchup style of most animated films. Little sister Mei (voice of Cheryl Chase) is an exhuberant, pigtailed preschooler who demands a lot of attention from her big sister Satsuki (Lisa Michaelson), but Satsuki has to go to school, leaving Mei to her own devices. Dad, a university anthropology professor, is a warm hearted man but he has to work a lot. The first indication that life in the country will be extraordinary is when the girls see the run-down farmhouse they will be living in, and find the place loaded with that seems like cockroaches to us. But the kids are able to explain away the critters as mere "dust bunnies" tricking their vulnerable imaginations. As one after another soji (sic) divider is opened to air out old rooms, the figments scurry. But left behind are glimmering, unexplained acorns--the mysterious Totoro's favorite snack. Near the house, a mountainous camphor tree spreads and rises, and it is here that Mei - after wandering through gardens and mossy roots--first meets the big Totoro. He is sleeping like a lamb in a cavern of limbs, and the playful Mei is so absorbed that she too falls asleep. This sets up the first of two frantic searches by big sister, who then gets her own chance to meet Totoro and two tiny Totoro babies. The film--Totoro ultimately helps rescue Mei from a far more perilous adventure--is somber as animated features go. Miyazaki--many childrens' books of his films have been published--has an affection for beautiful pictures that sometimes have the look of traditional Japanese watercolors, composed with utmost simplicity, but revealing manifold shadings. Among imagery most memorable in "My Neighbor Totoro" is a gathering storm segment that is a stunning natural drama of deepening grays. And oh, those fuzzy wuzzies are really cute. [end of article] [Picture of the Catbus just bounding in front of a regular electric train] MNJ notes: All in all, a very good recommendation and review from a non-anime fan. Of course, we anime "experts" cringe at the description of Totoro as a "bunny rabbit", and the dust things as "cockroaches". I certainly hope that the success of Totoro will have Laputa brought out in a larger general release, rather than the small art house theaters of a few years ago. And, of course, the American release of Majo no Takkyubin, Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa, Kurenai no Buta. -- Albert Wong Internet: albertw@netcom.com Compu$erve: 72657,2103 America Online: Al Wong Prodigy: WJTM10B Genie: A.Wong7 Fidonet: Albert Wong @ 1:125/2 Mark Newton-John SAC-UNIX (916) 649-0161 ======================================================================== Subject: 8.) TOTORO review (THE SAN JOSE MERCURY, May 10, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Bob Strauss FIRST PUBLISHED IN: THE SAN JOSE MERCURY, Monday, May 10, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: David Goldsmith, 5/10/93 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 Mercury Totoro review text Here is the text of the (2.5 star) review of Totoro that appeared in today's San Jose Mercury (and probably many other Knight-Ridder papers as well). Since I typed it in, you also have to put up with my comments at the end ;-). A LOVABLE ADVENTURE, BUT NO THRILL By Bob Strauss Los Angeles Daily News They do things differently in Japan. Take, for instance, "My Neighbor Totoro," one of the most popular films in Japanese history. Though not without its delights, this cartoon feature is likely to intrigue only the very youngest American children. Parents may appreciate its benign, very G-rated ambience, but for at least half its length--and, unfortunately, the first half--this film is a lullaby for all ages. Translated into English, "Totoro" is the brainchild of Hayao Miyazaki. The press kit calls him the Japanese Walt Disney, but except for the cuddly Totoro creature--a big kind of bunny bear with a Cheshire smile and magical powers--there is no resemblance between the two animators' work. The drawing here is quite pretty and realistically detailed, but the actual animation is as limited as it comes. There is a herky-jerky quality to the characters' movements, and it's rare when more than a quarter of the frame is in motion at any given time. Compared with the swirling kineticism of "Alladin," "Totoro" is practically a still life. It's the story of two wide-eyed little girls, Satsuki and Mei, who move with their father into a country house while their mother is in a hospital several valleys away. They undergo a sweet initiation into pastoral joys--polliwogs, acorns and the like--and some very mild thrills from their new home's uncanny soot sprites. Slightly past the nod-off point of all this, Mei falls, Alice-like, through a hollow tree. She lands on the hibernating Totoro--whom only children can see--and soon, literally, is joining him in flights of fancy. The film has something vague to say about childhood fears of mortality, but mainly it is a celebration of nature and the supernatural. The girls are immensely cute, and there isn't a mean grown-up in sight. Totoro could catch on over here; he has an eccentric grace that calls to mind a big, gray, furry Harpo Marx. You gotta love him. And his movie is lovable, if not exactly the live-wire experience the best American animation can achieve. ------- Well, I don't have much to add to this, but he clearly missed the relationship between the girls, and perhaps the comparison to Disney in the press kit set him off. Also, it's very illuminating as to why some people are turned off by Totoro: it's not frenetic. Some people may want a live-wire experience, but not all of us want to feel like we stuck our fingers in a light socket at every film we see. This review is a bit like saying that Monet is no good because it's not Van Gogh or Munch. I, too, wish Miyazaki's films were done at 24 fps, but that is a small part of what makes up a film, and the other aspects of Miyazaki's work more than make up for it. Perhaps when he can afford a multi-million dollar investment in computers, he can impress critics like this. I hope he's wrong about American kids needing hyperactivity in a movie; based on many that I know, I think he is. It may be a tough sell to their parents, though. David Goldsmith david_goldsmith@taligent.com ======================================================================== Subject: 9.) TOTORO review (SISKEL & EBERT, May 9, 1993) SPOKEN AND ARRANGED BY: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert FIRST BROADCAST ON: May 9, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: Bryan C. Wilkinson, May 10, 1993 and Ryan Gavigan, May 10, 1993 COMBINED, EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 5-9-93: SISKEL & EBERT: AT THE MOVIES Review of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO as rebroadcast on 5-10-93, 12:15 AM, Channel 2 (CBS) Transcript of related portions follows: ROGER EBERT: Okay . . . our next film is a GENUINE (I am capitalizing the words HE emphasizes, not me --BCW) discovery, I think; it's an enchanting and special animated film for children named MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (they both pronounce it "toTOro" rather than the Japanese "TOtoro" --BCW) . . . and unlike MOST animated films which are about contrived plots and lots of action and . . . explosions (gestures) and excitement, this one tells an absorbing (clip starts: Mei being woken by Satsuki at the start of the tree-growing scene), even an inspiring story about two little girls that move with their father into an old house at the end of the woods. (new clip: Mei chases Chibi Toto) And one day one of the girls sees a tiny Totoro, which is a mythical creature which lives in the trees. (clip continues unexplained: Chibi tries his vanishing act) Notice how well-drawn and visualized the animation is there, and how nicely the color works; and look at the quiet, magical way THIS scene develops (new clip: the bus stop scene), as the girls wait in the rain for their father's bus and the giant Totoro (pronounces it right here by accident --BCW) quietly joins them: (clip continues again: up to water dripping on Totoro's nose) (clip cuts ahead to arrival of Nekobus) Finally a bus DOES come--not their bus, but TOTORO'S bus: (clip continues: the Neko bus meows a mechanical-sounding meow--no wonder Chuck Solomon [who actually likes anime--like Laputa--and reviewed Totoro for the LA Times on May 7, 1993] thought it half-mechanical!--and Totoro gives his repayment for the umbrella to the girls) The very fact that this movie is about two young girls is unusual, I think, boys are USUALLY the heroes of animated features . . . I liked it not just as a children's film, but for ITSELF; very few films come along that are magical for ALL ages, and are WHOLESOME, and SANE, and INTELLIGENT and entertaining--and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is one of them. (clips end) GENE SISKEL: Gee, you make me sound like a terrible person for NOT recommending it, but then . . . (cut off) EBERT: YOU DON'T?!! SISKEL: No, I thought it wa . . . (interrupted again) EBERT: YOU'RE JOKING . . . ! SISKEL (who will get progressively more defensive and look on-the-spot, from here on): No no, I thought it was a GOOD LOOKING film . . . and in just the way you said . . . EBERT: Yeah . . . uh-huh. SISKEL: . . . but it bored me right off the top with the stuff which you didn't show, because we didn't have clips of it (oops, Troma, shame shame shame! --BCW), and that is the WHOLE THING about the little DUST BALLS . . . er (makes a cute gesture indicating the Susuwatari, for description) . . . EBERT: Mmm-hhm, mm-hmm. SISKEL: . . . that they see in their house, and I was so uninterested in that, and thought that it was so . . . and that took about a half an hour out of this picture . . . EBERT: Oh, but that wasn't . . . (pauses) SISKEL: I wa . . . (stops as Ebert finishes, shakes head) EBERT: . . . that was just a very MINOR part of the first half of the . . . SISKEL: Well, I tell ya, it really bored me. That was . . . that was one thing, and I . . . I do like a couple of the things that you mentioned (begins gesturing more); I like the bus at the end, the "CAT . . . BUS", and the idea that a cat as a bus (EBERT, grim, nods in agreement) is a really cute thing. And I DO like that it's quiet, and you do make good comments about the difference between this animated film, a more GENTLE animated film than the kind of (gestures) "roustabout-kind of pictures we get, and I . . . (cut off) EBERT: Well I found . . . SISKEL (continuing): I . . . I just didn't . . . I was (quietly) bored. EBERT (over SISKEL): I found it fascinating, and I think looking at it, if I could, through the eyes of a kid, or remembering what I was like as a kid . . . SISKEL: Yeah. EBERT: . . . the fact that these two people, and their dad, are going to go live in this house, and it's a new house, and it might be HAUNTED, and it's next to the big WOODS, it's stuff like that (which) 'is (sic) really FASCINATING to me if it's handled intelligently, and another thing I like is that the characters in the movie LOOK REAL, I mean when the, the (sic) little girls shout, their mouths get real big (does wide hand imitating gesture that reminds me of when Mei was trying to describe Totoro's grin --BCW), and it's not like the little kind of (makes hand gesture a la a hand puppet such as Kermit the Frog--I wish Jim Henson could have lived to see this film, sniff --BCW) "Barbie doll characters" that you get in a lot of animation films that . . . SISKEL (over EBERT): Yeah! Well, you know . . . EBERT: . . . don't have any individuality, you know . . . SISKEL: You know, saying that it's BETTER than Saturday morning T.V. is EASY, but . . . (cut off) EBERT: Oh, but IT'S MUCH BETTER than THAT . . . SISKEL: Well, I KNOW that, I KNOW, but . . . EBERT: This is a REAL treasure! SISKEL: Well, I didn't think it was that special, we have, well you know, films about girls--we have LITTLE MERMAID, and Belle in Beauty and the Beast, I don't think that it's that unusual to be about little girls. (review ends) [Going into a commercial, the camera shows Ebert shaking his head at Siskel, as in "What in the hell are you thinking?"] [Later in the show, in the wrap-up:] EBERT: . . . and earlier in this show, I had high praise for My Neighbor Totoro, the Japanese import that's one of the most enchanting children's films I've seen in a long time. And if I were to pick my favorite *American* animated film . . . [Ebert talks about the laserdisk release of Pinocchio] CAPSULE REVIEW RECAP at end of program: EBERT: . . . a split decision, though, on My Neighbor Totoro, the new Japanese animated film--I thought it was ENCHANTING and magical, Gene thought it got off to a boring start. SHOW EPILOGUE (segment at end of program where they can get a last word in after the capsule review): EBERT: And Gene, of those I think the one you should REALLY give a little more thought to is MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (actually, he seems to pronounce it correctly more of the time than I realized-- BCW), because I think it's a wonderful movie, and if you're not going to take your little girls to see it, I'LL (gestures) take 'em! SISKEL: That sounds great, I'd love to see two little Siskels argue with one Ebert! (The rest is irrelevant, though I'd kill to hear what they were saying after the music started up. It looked like Gene was trying to pursue dumping his kids on Ebert--hey, maybe Roger will tell us if he does when he makes his Chicago review of the film . . . --BCW :) -- Bryan C. Wilkinson --bryooki@chinet.com (almost as fun as doing the OPP script...) Ryan Gavigan ======================================================================== Subject: 10.) TOTORO review (VARIETY, May 10, 1993) WRITTEN BY: Leonard Klady FIRST PUBLISHED IN: VARIETY, May 10, 1993 TYPED-IN & POSTED TO BY: Eric Walker, May 11, 1993 EDITED & RE-FORMATTED BY: Steven Feldman, June 21, 1993 VARIETY magazine has a review of TOTORO in their May 10 issue (one of their most important issues of the year, as it focuses on the Cannes Film Festival), but the review is less praiseworthy than the L.A. Times. VARIETY reviews its movies from a marketing and businessman's point of view, and their forecast for TOTORO is bleak. [TOTORO has been officially rated G by the MPAA.] Troma, purveyors of such unusual and fitfully crass entertainments as "Toxic Avenger" and "Sgt. Kabukiman," are off on a different and difficult rocky path with the animated Japanese kidpic "My Neighbor Totoro." Displaying no more than adequate TV tech-craft, the simple family saga poses no threat to the commercial dominance of Disney cartoonists. U.S. box office prospects will be fleeting, likely no more than a blip among the upcoming product onslaught. Apparently a popular household character in Japan, Totoro is a furry forest sprite with powers ranging from the mystical to the superhuman. He can only be seen by children, though adults recall his memory fondly. The story centers on two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei, who move to rural Japan with their professor father. In a far-off city hospital, mom is rec uperating from an unnamed ailment. Not only is the tale of a rare wholesome stripe, but is virtually absent of dramatic tension. Instead, it largely concentrates on the journey of wonderment in which the girls discover a new environment and the creatures, both real and fanciful, of the region. They are indeed cuddly and have a few tricks that are mildly diverting. Obviously aimed at an international audience, the film evinces a disorienting combination of cultures. The characters, despite obvious Japanese names, have Anglo features. But instead of a 1950s TV neighborhood, they live in unmistakably Asian dwellings set amid rice fields. Writer-director Hayao Miyazaki has essentially padded a TV half-hour into a sluggish feature. The rigid backgrounds and limited movements appear dull and crude when viewed on a large screen. -- review by Leonard Klady [My own comment: Whatever complaints you may have with the opinion of the movie itself, I must admit that their prediction of a short box- office life for TOTORO seems accurate--unfortunately--considering the huge number of big-budget wannabe blockbusters being foisted on the public this summer. America is going to be subjected to one media blitz after another for JURASSIC PARK, SUPER MARIO BROS., the re-release of Disney's SNOW WHITE, THE CONEHEADS, THE FUGITIVE . . . and Troma simply doesn't the cash or the marketing genius to compete with this. Like it or not, it's likely that by the time the movie disappears from theaters, most parents still will never have heard of Totoro, much less considered taking their kids to see it.] --- Eric Walker