My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
★★★★ — My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
There are films you watch for yourself, and then there are films you watch through someone else's eyes. My Neighbor Totoro falls firmly into the second category for me, because my daughter is absolutely mad for it, and sitting beside her while she watched it made me see exactly why. This is a film that does something genuinely rare: it makes you feel safe. Not in a dull, anodyne way, but in the way a good childhood memory does. Warm, specific, and a little bit magic.
Hayao Miyazaki's story is a quiet one. Two young sisters move to the countryside with their father, close to the hospital where their mother is being treated. And from that modest setup, something extraordinary blooms. The film isn't really about plot in any conventional sense. There's no villain to defeat, no ticking clock, no grand stakes. It's about the texture of childhood, the way small things loom large, the way imagination and reality bleed into one another when you're young enough to let them. And right at the heart of it is Totoro himself, this enormous, sleepy, ancient forest spirit who becomes the girls' unlikely companion.
Totoro barely does anything, if you think about it. He stands in the rain. He rides a cat bus. He helps some seeds grow. But he has this quiet, comforting presence that absolutely sticks with you long after the credits roll. There's a stillness to him that feels earned rather than empty. He doesn't need to explain himself or prove anything. He simply is, and somehow that's enough to make him one of the most beloved characters in animation history.
The animation is, frankly, stunning. This is the classic Studio Ghibli hand-drawn world at its most lush and detailed, all dappled sunlight through forest canopies and rain drumming on an umbrella and the satisfying creak of an old farmhouse. I've enjoyed the early Miyazaki work before, having spent time with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Kiki's Delivery Service, but there's something about the countryside setting here that gives the animators room to breathe in a way that feels special even by Ghibli standards. Every frame looks like it was made with love rather than just craft.
What really gets me is how perfectly it captures the way children actually experience the world. The older sister's protectiveness, the younger one's fearlessness, the way both of them treat the extraordinary as completely, matter-of-factly normal. There's no wide-eyed gasping at the magic. They just accept it, the way kids do, and that instinct feels absolutely true to life. My daughter watching it was the proof. She didn't question Totoro for a second. Of course he's real. Why wouldn't he be?
My one small reservation is the ending, which arrives quite abruptly. The emotional threads don't all get tied up in the way you might expect, and I can see that frustrating some viewers who want a proper resolution. But honestly, the more I sit with it, the more I think that might be the point. Life at that age doesn't resolve neatly either. Things happen, you carry on, and the magic stays with you even when you can't explain it.
Four stars. A genuine gem, and I'd have given it more if the ending had landed with a bit more weight. But as an experience, as a feeling, it's very nearly perfect. And if you've got a child who hasn't seen it yet, clear an afternoon and watch it together. You'll thank me for it.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 1988 | Watched: 2025-04-15
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Kids · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · HBO Max
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Hayao Miyazaki: Castle in the Sky (1986) · Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) · Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
More from Japan: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Blue (1993) · The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More fantasy: Viy (1967) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
