awkwardanime: Awkward Anime Episode 5: Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) I only used this one Gi
awkwardanime: Awkward Anime Episode 5: Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) I only used this one Gif for this movie today. Why? Because for me this Gif sums up everything great about the film. Love it. Seriously, what is there to say about this movie? There is really no need to analyse this movie. It’s not supposed to be this huge cinematic adventure that the rest of the world has portrayed it as. Hayao Miyazaki’s words: “Slay the villain,everybody’s happy. I can’t make those kind of films” This movie is sensational. The idea of a simple innocent children movie with no antagonist in the 1980’s movie industry - not only in Japan but around the world - was simply unheard of. Miyazaki stated himself that as a young animator/director he had a very difficult time convincing the hierarchy to give the green light on a simple animation. As a matter of fact, Hayao Miyazaki first drew up the concept of Totoro as a children’s book. It took 15 years to turn his idea into a full animated feature! Curiosity. That is how I would describe this and numerous other Ghibli works with one word. Curiosity. Miyazaki loves creating “normal” characters that don’t stand out much, UNTIL that spark happens. In My Neighbor Totoro, the inspiration for the “monster in the forest” came from Miyazaki spending time at a “big old house, alone, on top of a cliff by the sea, and I would be in one room but it felt like there were other people living in the other rooms.” As children, even when we’re alone at any age in a house, we all feel it, right? Any little sound makes us believe someone is there, or something. Miyazaki finds that presence wonderfully interesting: “When I would go out for a walk, I thought they would be lonely, so I turned on my radio to entertain them while I’m out!” I honestly am having a hard time trying to figure out what to say here. Just go out, buy the DVD, relax on the couch and watch it. Parents, watch it with your kids. It is a relaxing, art orientated movie. That curiosity of the girls chasing their imaginative minds into the forest. Totoro is the cutest mf ever, though that smile does still creep me out a little! The art in this movie is phenomenal. Nothing over the top. Just girls running through different parts of the countryside. The rain dropping on to the ground, the wind whispering then shouting, swaying the fields back and forth. Simply beautiful. I also want to praise the animators on the angles and the detail of the children’s emotions. The emotions of Mei especially, stood out a lot to me. The animators did a fantastic job, like always! I would love to sit back and watch the people at Studio Ghibli or Chizu just draw out a background for a scene. Have you ever wondered how long it takes? It must take a while! Favourite Scene? Like many people, my favourite scene in this movie is the sisters waiting for their Dad at the bus stop and they look up to see that Totoro is next to them. The sound effects of the rain, the silence. No music, just rain dropping on to the ground, that always gives me goosebumps, relaxes me in a way. “Back then, a story without a hero or a girl with superpowers and the ordinary Japanese scenery as a backdrop was not considered entertaining enough” My Neighbor Totoro. Sit back, relax and adore. The art, the background, and of course adore the stamina of the girls! Like WOW! :D 10/10. A Simplistic Relaxing Adventure. Until Next time, remember to eat those tiny trees… Check out previous Eps: Awkward Anime Episode 4 - Summer Wars Awkward Anime Episode 3 - Spirited Away Awkward Anime Episode 2 - Koe no Katachi -- source link