Your Friendly Neighborhood Totoro

Buena Vista, which holds the American distribution rights for Hayao Miyazaki's movies and those from his studio, Studio Ghibli, has been turning on the publicity machine lately. Cartoon Network has been having "A Month of Miyazaki," showcasing one of his movies every weekend; and last month BV released three Miyazaki/Ghibil films: "Howl's Moving Castle," Miyazaki's latest film, which came out last year; "Whisper of the Heart," a wonderful movie about the frustrations of creativity and adolescence, written by Miyazaki and directed by his protege (who alas died soon after the film was released); and "Tonari no Totoro," known in the US as "My Neighbor Totoro."

"Totoro," which came out in the late eighties in Japan, is probably the most successful Miyazaki movie in the US. In the early '90's, a dubbed version of the movie (produced by Streamline Productions) played briefly in US theatres; and was then released on video by Fox. After it received an enthusiastic endorsement by Siskel and Ebert, it became a popular children's video release. And Japanese merchandise from the film became popular with teenagers both there and here.

The new DVD edition of "Totoro" is worth buying for folks who already have the Fox DVD, for several reasons. First, it's in widescreen format; the Fox release was pan-and-scan. Second, it features both a subtitled Japanese-language version and a new dub, featuring Tim Daly as the father and sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning as sisters Satsuki and Mei. Third, it restores several scenes that were cut from the Fox edition, probably as too culturally specific to Japan (such as shots of Shinto shrines), and thus reflects the director's original intent in regard to pacing and length. (Fortunately, the Fox version retained the charming scene where the father and his daughters, ages four and nine, bathe together in an old-fashioned Japanese bath.)

The movie itself is gorgeous, and highly recommended for all ages. When it came out in Japan, I brought an unsubtitled, Japanese-language copy of it to a friend's house. His then four year old sister watched it, enraptured, even though she could not understand a word of the dialogue. When it was finished, she asked, "Can we watch that movie again?" That's pretty high praise.