My Neighbor Totoro Ghibli Film

1. Satsuki and Mei first discover the nature spirits in the house, but their encounter with Totoro is even more transformative. The initial encounter with the supernatural seems to open their eyes to the other dimension, and eventually they follow their instincts. The girls’ natural curiosity then leads them to examine what appear to be bunny ears beneath the house, but which are really spirits who lure her to a sort of portal under the house. Following the little spirits eventually leads them to the magical dimension.
As a child, I also spent tremendous amounts of time in nature, following my innate curiosity just as Satsuki and Mei follow theirs. I climbed trees, some so big I could sit on their branches comfortably for hours, and personified plants and animals, just as the little girls in My Neighbor Totoro do. Although I have never had the type of supernatural experiences that the girls do, and did not believe I was seeing nature spirits necessarily, I understand the way nature can stimulate imagination and open new worlds of discovery. For example, I used to catch little lizards and play with them and would make up a whole imaginary story about their little lives. Encounters with nature are often magical, bordering on the supernatural, especially with the aid of mushrooms.

2. The role of adults is unique in My Neighbor Totoro, because the adults do not necessarily inhibit the girls’ creativity or exploration. However, adults do seem to symbolize the mundane world, whereas the girls symbolize the bridge between that world and the supernatural. Adults—or at least parents--are not present in Totoro’s landscape. Totoro becomes a sort of guardian figure or surrogate for the girls while they are away from their father. They learn different things from Totoro than they learn from their parents. When the girls do come back from their alternative reality with Totoro, they are forced to reckon with the reality of their mom’s illness. Coming back to reality is painful, suggesting that perhaps the filmmaker wants to show how children escape to either the natural or the supernatural world when the mundane world is too painful. Mei has a hard time dealing with her mom’s setback, and it is only Totoro and his allies—not the actual human adults—who help Satsuki to find her again.

3. My Neighbor Totoro includes several references to Japanese folk culture and especially to Shinto religion and lore. The broad meaning of the film is rooted in a Shinto animistic worldview, in which nature is imbued with a spiritual dimension. Animism suggests that the entire world, even stones and wood, are imbued with life. The animistic worldview teaches respect for nature. The filmmaker shows how the spiritual dimension of nature can be perceived by humans but mainly when humans are in their most innocent or pure state: namely children. Including the real world references also anchors the supernatural with the natural, paralleling the Shinto worldview.

Also, the natural world is itself sacred, precluding the need for elaborate temples. Instead, shrines are used in Shintoism. The film My Neighbor Totoro depicts Shinto shrines exactly as they are in Japanese culture: as being necessarily subsumed by nature. Shinto shrines are always located in natural areas, such as surrounded by trees. The symbol of the shrine is important in My Neighbor Totoro, and represents traditional Shinto shrines scattered throughout Japan. The family in the film makes a point to visit the shrine to pray together. Their prayers are not so much to gods, and not so much to nature spirits, as they are to the totality of life that nature represents. Small roadside shrines exist throughout Japan, and they are depicted in the film such as when the two girls hide in one during the rain and help keep Totoro dry there too. Their friendship with Totoro blossoms when they show the spirit their respect in the shrine. In the same little shrine, the girls see the figure of the child protector deity. Furthermore, the tree is a major symbol in the film and also in Shinto religious worship. Another symbol is that of the crab when Satsuki writes a letter to her mom.