TheRetroCritic

One of Hayao Miyazaki's most memorable efforts, My Neighbor Totoro introduced the world to a simpler, more kid-friendly style of anime we'd seen from Studio Ghibli up to this point (the film followed Castle In The Sky ) and yet retained all the artistry and creativity we've come to love from the director. This is one film where the story really comes second to the characters. We follow two young girls who move into an old house in the countryside as they discover a hidden place in the nearby woods where these bizarre but friendly spirits live. There's an underlying subplot involving the girls' sick mother which adds some welcome reality to the whole thing and even suggests that maybe these forest spirits are all just the girls' way of dealing with their mother's illness. But there's no need to look too deeply into things, essentially it's just a fun little Alice In Wonderland / Secret Garden -style tale about little girls meeting all sorts of o