My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro is a sweet, good tempered animated film that shows the simple joys of life, and the little things we often miss in our busy world. One example of these things we often miss are the feelings of warmth and comfort from our parents. As children grow older they tend to move away from those feelings. Miyazaki helps remind us what those feelings were like. A good example of this is in the scene when Mei stumbles into the magical forest and meets Totoro for the first time. In this scene we see Mei peacefully sleeping on the belly of Totoro while calm music (instrumental version of the epilogue song) is playing in the background. Juxtaposing this scene is a shot of the rice fields as well as a snail to show that time is slowly passing by.

Although this film does express the possibility of Mei and Satsuki losing their mother, the film still presents an optimistic message that everything will be alright in the end. We see signs of assurance during the climax of the film when Mei gets lost trying to visit her sick mother. One example of assurance is when Satuski herself is able to seek Totoro for help. In this scene, Totoro's cheerful expression of wanting to help is a sign of hope and confidence that everything will be fine. What also makes it assuring is the fact that audiences already have a sense of what Totoro is capable of. Another example of assurance is when Totoro summons the catbus. Rather than heading to Mei's location, the catbus changes the destination to "Mei" showing that they will definitely find her. Although not as obvious, there is also a sign of assurance that Mei would be safe when we see Mei sitting down all alone. In this scene, Mei is sitting next to a row of statues. Traditionally, these religious statutes are represented as protectors. The most reassuring scene in the film is probably the epilogue since it does show that the mother is doing fine.

An interesting thing to point out is the use of music. As mentioned earlier, the epilogue song is actually first introduced when Mei first meets Totoro. When we hear the song again in the epilogue, we feel not only a sense of reassurance but we are also reminded of those feelings of warmth and comfort.