Tonari no Totoro [ My Neighbor Totoro ]

Q: What is Totoro?

He has been called many things from "a giant furry thing" to "a rabbit-like spirit". Basically, he is a spirit of the forest. Totoro is not a traditional Japanese character: he came completely from Miyazaki's imagination. However, he is obviously a mixture of several animals: tanukis (the Japanese version of raccoons), cats (the pointed ears and the facial expressions), and owls (the chevron markings on their chests and the "ooo"-ing sound they make with their ocarinas at night).

The name "Totoro" comes from Mei mispronouncing (she has a tendency to do so, though it wasn't clear in the dub) the word "tororu", which is the Japanese word for "troll". When Satsuki asks her "Totoro? You mean, the Troll in our book?" she is referring to their book "Three Mountain Goats" (The Three Billy Goats Gruff). In the closing credits you can see their mother reading the book to them. Although it's hard to see it on the tape, in the picture book for the movie you can see the picture on the cover shows a goat running over a bridge while a Totoro-like troll looks up from underneath the bridge.

Q: Are the little ones also Totoro?

Yes. They are:

"O" means "large" in Japanese, but O Totoro has been translated as "King Totoro" in the US. "Chu" and "Chibi" means medium and small. However, when people say "Totoro", that usually means O Totoro.

Q: Are there more Totoros?

Some watercolor pictures that Miyazaki painted show a whole CatBus-load of Totoros showing up at the bus stop where Mei and Satsuki wait for their father to arrive.

Q: What is CatBus?

Literally, a bus which looks like a cat (or a cat who works as a bus). ^_^ In Japan, cats are believed to have magical powers to change their shapes if they get old enough. They are called "Bake Neko" (which is also Moon's nickname in "Mimi") . CatBus is a Bake Neko who saw a bus, became intrigued by it, and changed itself into a bus. He's Miyazaki's original design, but some wonder if he was inspired by the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland". Mei following chibi Totoro and falling into a hole in a tree is also reminiscent of "Alice".

Q: What does the destination sign on the CatBus say?

In the scene where Satsuki and Mei saw the CatBus at the bus stop for the first time, it said "Tsukamori". Tsukamori is the name of the forest where Totoro lives. In the scene where Satsuki tried to find Mei, CatBus came to her with "Tsukamori" displayed, changed it between several names such as "Nagasawa" or "Ushinuma", then to "Mei". When they found Mei, it changed to "Shichikokuyama Byouin (Shichikokuyama Hospital)". Interestingly, the kanji for "in" was upside down. It seems that the CatBus wasn't good at kanji. ^_^

Q: What are the Dustbunnies?

Dustbunnies are little black fuzzy things, about the size of a Ping-Pong ball. In Japanese, they were called Makkuro Kurosuke (literal translation would be "Pitch-black Blackie"). In the original, to scare them away, Satsuki and Mei shouted "Makkuro Kurosuke, come out! Or we'll poke your eyeballs out!". This doesn't sound politically correct today, so in the English dub, it was changed to "come out... come out...". Kanta's Granny then told the girls that they were called "Susuwatari" (Traveling Soot), and that they wouldn't do any harm and would soon go away (Susuwatari sounds more, well, professional). Indeed, they moved out of the house to Totoro's tree that night.

Q: What was the girls' mother suffering from?

It was implied that her illness was tuberculosis. In the novelized version of "Totoro" (illustrated by Miyazaki), it was stated that Mom was suffering from TB. Shichikokuyama Hospital, where she was staying, had a good reputation for treating TB, and that's why they moved there. The house they moved into was originally built a long time ago by a rich city man whose wife was suffering from TB. Granny used to work as a domestic for this lady, but the lady died. That's why the house is somewhat different from the other village houses, more Westernized, with gables. This is a bit autobiographical: Miyazaki's mother long suffered from spinal TB, and she was away from home for a long time.

Q: What does the girls' father do for living?

He is a university professor in archaeology. He has to commute to the university in Tokyo.

Q: What is the rope on Totoro's tree?

It is called Shimenawa, made of rice straw and paper ribbons. It signifies that this tree is sacred, part of the nature worship aspect of Shintoism (the native religion of Japan which has elements of nature and ancestor worship) and traditional Japanese cultural beliefs. When the father and the girls bow to the tree, he is literally thanking the spirit of the trees and the forest for protecting Mei. The Totoros are, in a sense, the physical embodiment of the spirit of the forest and trees. You can also see an old abandoned Shinto shrine under the camphor tree and a Torii (a sort of gate for a Shinto shrine) at the entrance to the hill.

Q: What is the little road shrine where Satsuki and Mei took refuge from rain?

In Japanese Buddhism, there is a tradition of building small shrines by the side of the road. These are often erected as a memorial to a child who died, and the figure is that of Ojizou- Sama, a sort of patron deity of children in Buddhism. Satsuki and Mei put their hands together, bow, and ask the Ojizou-Sama for permission to stay there till the rain stops. Also, when Mei is lost, she sits down next to a row of Ojizou- Sama statues: that is Miyazaki's way of telling the audience that Mei is safe, for she is being watched over by these deities.

Q: Where did the story take place?

In Tokorozawa City, Saitama prefecture. Miyazaki lives in Tokorozawa, which is now a bedroom community of Tokyo. Tokorozawa used to be a farming community, surrounded by Sayama Kyuuryou (Sayama Hills). There are still some natural areas left, and there is a group of people who are trying to preserve what's left by buying up the land. It is called "Totoro no Furusato (Totoro's Home) National Trust Movement", and uses Totoro as a symbol character. Miyazaki donated water color pictures of Totoro to be used in pamphlets, membership cards for contributors, T shirts, and so on. Miyazaki also donated about $3 million to Tokorozawa city so that the city could buy up some land which was about to be developed.

Q: When did the story take place?

It was loosely described as the latter part of the 1950s. Miyazaki set the time as "when televisions were yet to be brought into homes".

Q: I saw a picture of Totoro and a girl at the bus stop. Who is that girl?

She's not Mei or Satsuki, but a combination of both of them. When Miyazaki first did the concept for Totoro, there was just one girl who was 6 years old. Many of the early watercolors in "The Art of Totoro" have just this one girl. Before they actually started production, however, Miyazaki decided to split her into two sisters, one older and one younger than the original girl he had in mind. This is shown in the two girls' names. "Mei" is a "Japanized" version of the English word for the month of May. "Satsuki" is an old Japanese name for the fifth month of the year (May). Ghibli has used the picture you're talking about repeatedly, even though it has the "old" concept. They even used it on some of the movie posters. This must have really confused people when they saw the film.

Q: What is the drawing of a crab in the Satsuki's letter to Mom?

It's based on the Japanese folk story, "Saru Kani Gassen (Monkey-Crab Battle)". In this story, a crab plants a persimmon seed, and hovers over the garden every day, waiting for the persimmon to sprout. Satsuki says that Mei is acting exactly like the crab, drew a picture of a crab who looks like Mei, and named it "Mei Gani (Mei Crab)". Since this would make no sense to American children, the dub changed it to "Mei drew this picture for you".

Q: Is "Totoro" available in English?

Yes. It was dubbed by Carl Macek. It was theater released in the US by Troma Pictures in 1995, and the video and LD were released by Fox. It should be fairly easy to find (check the Family section, in addition to the Anime section). It is a very good dub, and even Macek haters concede that they enjoyed it. The English dub is included in the Ghibli LD Box Set, with English on the right analog track. Disney has acquired the global distribution rights for Ghibli movies, including Totoro, and they will redub it.

• Availability page

Q: Is it true that some scenes such as the bathing scene were cut in the dub?

No. Nothing has been cut.

Q: Is it true that the image quality of the dub isn't as good as Japanese LD?

Yes and No. The Japanese LD is letterboxed, while the American LD and videocassette aren't. However, the Japanese LD is a bit darker, so you get a brighter image if you buy the American LD. This problem has been corrected by remastering in the Ghibli LD box set, so the LD in the set has sharper and better images than both the American and the old Japanese Lds.

Q: Will there be a Totoro sequel?

No. Miyazaki doesn't like to make sequels, since he isn't interested in what he has already done.

Furthermore, Miyazaki said that Satsuki and Mei would never see Totoro again. He intentionally put no picture of them and Totoro together in the ending title. Instead, he put pictures of Satsuki and Mei playing with other children. According to Miyazaki, if the two children had stayed there (Totoro's world), they wouldn't be able to return to the human world. Once their mother came home, they became ordinary children. Meeting Totoros once, and knowing that they are there is enough.

Q: Where can I get Totoro toys?

You can buy them at anime importers such as Nikaku Animart in San Jose, The Place in Fremont, and UCI Bookstore.  Kimono My House sells Japanese toys, including a lot of Totoro toys.

There is tons of Totoro merchandise in Japan. If you are really interested, you can buy a book, "Totoro ga Ippai", which catalogues all the Totoro merchandise ever made.

In Japan, many shops sell Totoro goods. Some of them have their own web page. For example, see:

• Country House
• Hullic

These pages are in Japanese, but you can see many pictures of Totoro goods. Unfortunately, they don’t take orders from outside of Japan.

For more information about merchandise in Japan, and how to get them from Japan, visit the very helpful page by WADA Mitsuhiro. For more pictures of stuffed Totoros, visit Mark Johnson's page.

Q: I heard that it was double-featured with "Grave of the Fireflies" in Japan. Is it true?

Yes. At that time, no one thought that people would want to see "a movie about a two little kids and a Monster in rural Japan", and "Totoro" was considered a big investment risk. Still, Miyazaki and the editors of "Animage" wanted to make this movie, which was Miyazaki's pet project for a long time. So they thought up the idea of risk-sharing. "Grave" was a well-known novel, and because of its "educational" value, a certain level of audience could be expected. (Indeed, "Grave" was chosen by many school boards as a movie to show their students - and "Totoro" along with it, since it was in the package.) Suzuki, then the chief editor of "Animage" (now a producer at Ghibli) went to Shinchosha, the publishing company which published the novel "Grave". Since Shinchosha was looking for an opportunity to enter the movie business, they agreed to produce the movie "Grave". Both Tokuma and Shinchosha knew they were going to lose money, but they still went ahead with the project (they did lose money from the theatrical release). So, if it were not for "Grave", there would have been no "Totoro".