My Neighbor
Totoro
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| When they arrived their new home, they discovered
that there are strange and mysterious things there. They
quickly encountered the black creatures called susa-atari
who occupy dark and quiet places. They are also told by
their elderly neighbour Granny that the village is filled
with stories of wondrous creatures. Soon, the sisters had settled themselves comfortably with their new surroundings. Satsuki has already made a lot of friends at school, but has taken opposition with the boy next door, Kanta, who is also Granny's grandson. While Satsuki is at school, Mei would spend her time in the garden. |
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One day, while Satsuki was at school, Mei wandered in the garden and saw two little creatures (Chu Totoro and Chibi Totoro). She followed them around the garden and when the creatures tried to escape into the forest, Mei quickly followed them. The creatures ran up to the biggest tree and crawled down hole that was near the bottom of the trunk. Mei fell through the hole into their secret home. Mei met a giant creature similar in appearance as the other two. When Mei asked for its name, it replied "To to ro" and Mei decided to call him Totoro. The chase had exhausted Mei and so she fell asleep on the soft tummy of the tree creature. When she woke up, she was lying in the middle of the forest without a Totoro insight. She tried to find Totoro's secret hiding place again, but the hole in the trunk had mysteriously closed without any trace of a Totoro. |
| One rainy afternoon, Satsuki and Mei decided to pick
up their Father from the bus stop. As they waited, Totoro
suddenly came up behind them with his leaf umbrella.
Satsuki offered Totoro her extra umbrella. Totoro is
delighted with his new-found toy. In return, he gave a
package of seed to Satsuki and Mei as a thank-you gift
before leaving on Neko Bus. Satsuki and Mei planted the seeds in their backyard, but as each day passed and the seeds did not grow. They became discouraged. |
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One night, Satsuki woke up to see Totoro, Chu Totoro and Chibi Totoro prancing in the backyard around the plot where the seeds were planted. Satsuki and Mei quickly rushed to join them in their little dance, and the seeds began to grow. As they continued to dance, the seeds grew more and more until they blossomed into a giant tree. To celebrate, Totoro took Satsuki and Mei on a flight through the sky. As they grabbed onto the fur on its tummy, Totoro flew high above the village. However, no one else was aware of the giant tree or Totoro because no one else could see them or the girls as they flew high above their rooftops or when they sat on the tallest branch of the tree playing a little flute. |
It's Neko Bus...
The next morning, the girls woke up in their beds. They peered outside the window to see that the giant tree was gone, but in their place were little green seedlings that had grown and surface during the night.
 Satsuki and Mei continued to be
very happy in their new home and their Mom was due to
visit for the week-end. One hot afternoon, a messenger
arrived with a telegram from their Mother's hospital.
Satsuki hurry ran to the telephone in the village and
learned that their Mother has taken a turn for the worse
and cannot visit as planned. Satsuki tries to put on a
brave front, but she eventually crumbles in Granny's arms
and confessed her fears that their Mother will die. Mei,
seeing her sister's tears, is struck by the seriousness
of her Mother's illness. With a cob of corn she herself
picked earlier in the afternoon, Mei ran towards the
hospital in hopes of seeing her Mother. |
As the evening arrived, Satsuki realized Mei was missing and a search was quickly organized by the whole village. Having guessed that Mei would try to find their Mother, Satsuki called the hospital but she never appeared there. Satsuki realized Mei must have lost her way. In desperation, Satsuki prayed to Totoro to help her. Totoro then appeared and offered Neko Bus to help Satsuki. Neko Bus took Satsuki high above the village by running on top of trees and telephone wires without being seen by any of the villagers. From high above, Satsuki was finally able to find Mei who was crying on the side of the road. The sisters reunited and together, Neko Bus took the sisters to the hospital to see their mother. From sitting on a tree branch over their Mother's window, they learn that the telegram was actually meant to inform them their Mother has gotten well so quickly that instead of just being able to visit for the week-end, she was actually able to go home. The sisters rejoiced to hear the happy news. Before they left, the sisters left Mei's corn on their Mother's windowsill with the writings "To Mother" etched in. |
The sisters then happily returned home and prepared to welcome their mother home.
  Totoro and Neko Bus |
 Mei and Satsuki |
 Mother |
 Father |
| Totoro have lived in Japan from long before the time of man. They eat acorns and other nuts and live a care-free life in the forest. People can't see them but children. Generally they sleep during the daytime, at night they like to play an acarina. They are able to fly and grow plants. |
| Little Totoro is 100 years old Middle Totoro is 600 years old Big Totoro is 1300 years old. He is over 2 meters tall. Back to Bonnie's Fantasyland |
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