The First Movie We Ever Showed My Daughter
Some of our characters hangin’ with some of Miyazaki’s. Jacob made my day with this illustration!
My wife and I watched My Neighbor Totoro several years before our daughter was born. I knew even then, if we had a child, it would be the first movie I would feel comfortable showing her.
I’m a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki, the creative mastermind behind Totoro and other animated gems like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo and my favorite, Princess Mononoke. But while most of those movies have intense moments and complicated storylines, Totoro is perfect for a toddler.
The movie maintains a light, pastoral feel for about 90 percent of the runtime (86 minutes) and has a storyline that’s simple to follow. It’s about two sisters, who are about five and ten years old. They move to the Japanese countryside with their father while their mother is recovering from an illness in a sanatorium. The girls get to know a local tree spirit, Totoro, who is essentially a giant flying teddy bear.
The plot climax happens when the youngest sister, Mae, heads off alone to try to visit her mother. But while her older sister and father are frantically worried about her, we—the audience—know that she’s fine.
There’s really only one moment of palpable tension in the movie. It’s when the sisters encounter Totoro at a dark bus stop. It isn’t a jump-out-and-scare-you kind of moment. It’s just dark and spooky for a minute. However, the mood quickly shifts, and the arrival of the cat bus brings back the ever-present feeling of awe and wonder. (It’s not a bus that’s for cats, but rather a bus that is a cat!)
Check out the trailer here to get a sense for how Miyazaki masterfully blends the beauty of the natural world with music and whimsical creatures to capture the wonder of childhood.
If your kids are older, I recommend exploring all the Miyazaki films. Disney released most of them with well-known voice actors over the past 15 years. My only beef about that is recognizing the voices of actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Kirsten Dunst distracts me from the story—but that shouldn’t bother your kids any.
Here are some other popular ones with links to trailers:
Kiki’s Delivery Service—about a young witch—is another one that’s appropriate for younger kids.
Spirited Away won an Oscar and led to Miyazaki’s big breakthrough in the U.S.
Princess Mononoke contains warfare and violence, but is my favorite for depicting the animistic world of indigineous cultures and spirits clashing with industrialization.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind began my love affair with Miyazaki, when HBO ran an unsanctioned English dub in the early 80s. Next year marks the 35th anniversary of this film. (Check out this symphony performance in Japan from the 25th anniversary.)
Ponyo was a big hit in the U.S. after Spirited Away. It’s one of my least favorites, but kids seem to love it.
The Cat Returns is silly fun.
One last note, Common Sense Media is a good resource for learning more about whether or not a movie or TV show is something that will be appropriate for a child.
This is my favorite t-shirt, featuring a forest spirit from ‘Princess Mononoke.’