Miyazaki Countdown Part 4 - My Neighbor Totoro

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's second Countdown miniseries on 2023, a podcast first focusing entirely on the works of Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki: the Miyazaki Countdown. To honor one of the living legends of animation, the countdown crew of Scott, Scott, and Jay will watch all 11 of Miyazaki's films to-date, rewinding all the way back to his directorial origins with 1979's action-adventure heist thriller LUPIN III: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, all the way to his then-final film, 2013's biographical epic romance drama, THE WIND RISES. Join us each week over the next 11 weeks, as we build up to what is Miyazaki's self-proclaimed now-final film (we'll see...), the fantasy epic, THE BOY AND THE HERON.

 

In Part 4 of the Miyazaki Countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay discuss one of Hayao Miyazaki's most iconic films: the family anime fantasy film, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. Set in rural Japan in the 1950s, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO captures a slice of life of the Kusakabe family: father Tatsuo and daughters, Satsuki (10 years old) and Mei (4 years old), who recently have moved out of a larger city into the countryside, closer to Tatsuo's wife's hospital, where she is convalescing and recovering from a long-term illness. Satsuki and Mei adapt to their new life: they explore the house in search of "dust gremlins" hiding in the dark corners of the structure; they meet their neighbors - a matriarch named Granny and her children and grandchildren; and one day while Satsuki is at school, Mei wanders into the adjacent forest and stumbles upon a fantastical spirit she names Totoro, based on the sounds it makes as she plays with it. Rather than disbelieve or question her experience, Satsuki is jealous and wants to meet Totoro for herself, and Tatsuo encourages Mei and Satsuki to be watchful for these forest spirits that inhabit the land. The remainder of the film is less a quest to re-encounter Totoro and its fellow forest spirits, and more a compelling case of childhood adventure and a stark reminder that the childlike wonder and innocence of Satsuki and Mei could likely do us all a favor. The countdown crew discuss these notions, share their thoughts on the deeply emotional undertones of the film and its narrative context, and ponder the spiritual elements of Totoro and its fellow forest spirits.