Customer Reviews

My Neighbour Totoro

5 star:		(213)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

My Neighbor Totoro is one of the greatest animated films ever produced (for children or otherwise). It is a film that devoted fans such as myself love sharing with children and friends (I even teach it in my Children's Literature class.)
----The delicacy of Hayao Miyazaki's tale of two young girls who must cope with the stresses of moving to a new house, neighborhood and school--while their mother is kept in a hospital for a problem they do not understand!--is extraordinarily well-told through delightful and surprising events and beautiful animation. That the girls need the friendship and support of their father, the neighbors and the Totoros (friendly nature spirits) is subtly presented and then heroically answered through Miyazaki's unforgettable imagery.
---But you'll have to trust me on that because a good portion of that imagery has been butchered away through the pan-and-scan process. Not only have the producers of this DVD version cut away much of the visuals but they have also left off the Japanese language track and given us a rather pale transfer.
----English speaking kids deserve to see this better-than-Disney film. They deserve to view the widescreen version and they deserve the option of hearing the dubbed version (if they cannot yet read) OR hearing it in it's original language while reading subtitles. A quality production would offer these things and more.
----This DVD offers a Masterpiece, but a badly Mistreated one----

I love this film, and the english dub is actually quite good. If you have not seen the film, watch it! BUT.. I believe Fox has misjudged its audience and created a DVD that I find lacking. Sure, its animated and made for children but I'm in my mid 20's and do not have any children and could not wait to get this DVD. I was EXTREMELY disappointed to find that there was no original Japanese language track on this DVD.

I know this sounds like previous reviews but I was so disappointed about the missing Japanese track that I had to add my voice here.

Aaaargh. Being a Studio Ghibli fan, I had preordered this
from Amazon as there are few of the Studio Ghibli films
available on DVD.

Unfortunately, what the Amazon listing doesn't make
clear is just how technically bad this DVD release is.

It is a hacked-down 4:3 version, with only a 2-channel
English audio track (no Japanese or other audio). There
isn't even a subtitle track (not even english for the
hard of hearing).

The video and sound quality isn't good either. Also, don't

expect any extras relevant to the film.

As the other reviews (obviously from other editions)
say, this is a great film. However, this is not a DVD
to get.

Intriguing. Interesting story. I watched it once and I can say that I enjoyed it. Not the greatest movie or anything but at least it will keep you entertained and thats all that matters i supposed. Right?

Great animation movie.
The world that only kids can see, feel catches children's attention.
When my nephew was very little, she'd been watching repeatedly.

I have spent the past day wondering what has gone wrong with children's entertainment, particularly American kids fare. This movie is, quite simply, awesome. Granted, there's that one iffy bath scene early in the movie, but I'm willing to overlook it because the rest of the movie is mind blowing beauty. This is the antidote to the usual American kid show, in my opinion. It is subtle, beautiful, simple, and yet complex. It is charming, wholesome, real, and superb. This is the breakthrough film for Miyazaki in America and I can see why.

Given that I've already given a rave review of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO for the recently released FOX DVD version, I won't be going too much into detail about the film on this page. However, I will say that the only thing which will be missing from Disney's long-delayed but finally evitable DVD release will be the dated yet extremely well-done English version by Streamline Pictures. Although that dub is hailed, even by longtime Carl Mecak deriders, as an excellent dub (and I agree wholeheartedly), its sound quality was sadly mono, and not as strong as the recent Disney dubs have been. On that level, it might be nice to grab the FOX release as well.

That said, I'm still willing to give this new English dub a chance. Although I don't think it will replace the Streamline version, I still think it will be enjoyable on its own merits. Produced by the same folks doing the dubs for SPIRITED AWAY, PORCO ROSSO, and NAUSICAA - writers Cindy and Davis Hewitt - (the earlier yet still excellent dubs by Disney, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, PRINCESS MONONOKE, and CASTLE IN THE SKY, were directed by Jack Fletcher), I have no reason to doubt that it will be another worthwhile addition to the top-quality translations Disney made. The voice cast includes two actual sister actresses playing Satsuki and Mei, which is a very clever choice on Disney's part. I bet this'll make them sound all the more authentic. Dakota Fanning is set to play Satsuki, while Elle will voice little Mei. There's no shortage of talent in the cast, either. Timothy Daly (WINGS) is going to be the girls' dad, and, surprisingly, Lea Salonga (wonderful in her performances as the leading role in MISS SAIGON and the singing voices of Jasmine in ALADDIN and the title character in MULAN) will be their mother. I had a bit of trouble adjusting to it, but Carroll has said that she previously played comic and/or supporting roles, so I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt. I expect that, like CASTLE IN THE SKY, there will be unfavorable comparisons from purists between the two English versions (not to mention the original Japanese), but if you're like me, who loves the dubs and doesn't care about what naysayers think, you'd probably do best to ignore these guys and watch the movies however you like.

That said, this new Disney release is said to be including the original Japanese language track (which the FOX release didn't have)... as well as an anamorphic widescreen presentation (the FOX DVD was pan & scan), so this version comes as an unquestionably highly recommended purchase even before it's released. I'll be updating this review when I get my hands on it, but in the meantime, animation buffs, mark your calenders for August 31!

This is one of the most heartwarming films of director Hayao Miyazaki's collection. I have seen practically all of Miyazaki's movies, and I love every one of them. I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone. However, if you want to experience this movie as it was intended to be seen, please wait for a better DVD release. This DVD, by Fox, is missing the Japanese language track (in order to watch it subtitled), and it is full-screen only, meaning the image has been cropped. Disney is set to re-release this movie, perhaps in 2005, so do yourself a favor and wait until then. In the meantime, there's nothing wrong with renting this version of Totoro!

I couldn't wait for My Neighbor Totoro to be released on DVD. When I finally received the DVD, what a disappointment. Its full screen (pan&scan) and the audio is sub par. Fox rushed this out only to capitalize off of Spirited Away's success. Its basically the Videotape edition transfered to disc. Anyone who appreciates the advantages of viewing DVDs and the artistic genius of Miyazaki will be greatly let down. Disney has done a beautiful job on Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky. I only hope Fox will rerelease a better edition of this masterpiece.

I recently watched My Neighbor Totoro in its original Japanese language, in widescreen, with nearly perfect subtitles. It was a great movie, possibly Miyazaki's best in my opinion. Unfortunately, it was a bootleg copy and the respective studios got no money from my purchase.

20th Century Fox lost my money to bootleggers by issuing a substandard DVD aimed at kids. While I don't have an issue with them targeting children rather than older anime fans, they needn't have made a dumbed down release to do so. The only explanation for making a fullscreen-only version is that they meant for this to be viewed by kids, who are customarily distracted by the black bars. This could easily have been a two-sided disc at little extra cost, and they would have sold probably twice as many copies. The dubbing/subbing debate is less crucial, but since the Japanese language track already exists and the script has already been translated into English, it would have been a negligible amount of work to add subtitles, and would have satisfied picky anime fans like myself.

I will buy this movie from Fox when they decide to release the real version.