My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ Tonari no Totoro^?), is a 1988 Japanese anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced byStudio Ghibli. The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. The movie won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1988.

This has to be one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in recent years. This movie now almost 20 years old, has received a new lease of live from the release of several Miyazaki films referred to collectively as the Studio Ghibli Collection.

It has to be said the My Neighbor Totoro is not exactly a story or plot lead type of movie. There is no over-arching objective to the efforts on those represented in the movie so for a few this could seem to be a total waist of time and you may already be asking me, so whats the point? Well, what if I was to tell you that it may not be enjoyable for the plot, or the lack there of, but simply and purely for the wonderful characters that are so vividly and lovingly represented in glorious technicolour?

For many there will be a sense of confusion around the big bear looking thing that does nothing than yawn and scratch itself and there is a definitely, as with all anime in general, a need to suspend disbelief and reality and willingly enter the world the director has envisaged — or more precisely the world the two girls Satsuki and Mei have inhabited.

What this movie reminds me of, and what I can best describe it as, is if for a moment your grandfather was ready to tell you the best bed-time story you have ever heard, and then too your grandfathers name was Hayao Miyazaki I believe that this is the story he would tell.

All in all, this is just a wonderful story – perfect for everyone and anyone who has even a fragment of imagination. I liked this one so much I bought it as a Christmas present for my young cousins. We’ll see how they respond.