DVD
REVIEW: MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
02/28/10
OVERVIEW: MY NEIGHBOR
TOTORO: SPECIAL EDITION - Visionary and
Academy-Award®-winning* director Hayao Miyazaki has created
a heartwarming, music filled and wonderful world in My
Neighbor Totoro: Special Edition, a delightfully animated
family adventure. And now—exclusively in this 2-Disc Special
Edition DVD—never-before-seen bonus features reveal even
more of Totoro’s fantastic world! Follow the adventures of
Satsuki and her fouryear- old sister Mei when they move into
a new home in the countryside. To their delight, they
discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest
spirit called Totoro—who can be seen only through the eyes
of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary
characters—including a cat that doubles as a bus!—and takes
them on an incredible journey. Bring home My Neighbor Totoro:
Special Edition for your family’s DVD library and experience
the timeless classic film critic Roger Ebert calls “one of
the very few that come along that are magical for all ages.”
REVIEW: Hayao
Miyazaki’s masterpiece , “My Neighbor Totoro,” is back and
with the help of Walt Disney , this classic is looking as
captivating as ever. The story for itself is magical, the
characters are original and charming, and the animation and
concept art are as colorful and captivating as any
Miyazaki’s movies. However, what makes this movie so special
is its unique concept of simplicity. Unlike many other
animated movies, where there are always major conflicts
between good and evil, and epic quests; in Totoro we are
just presented with life as it is (or was). Do not
misunderstand me, it is not realistic at all there is
nothing realistic in a huge rabbit- bear looking forest
spirit who travels in a big spinning top, and a big cat with
a bus complex, on the contrary Miyazaki shows us how
magical, wonderful, and difficult life is, while introducing
a magnificent world full of adventurous and humorous
situations that will keep the audience’s attention for the
whole movie.
The new release of Totoro does
not vary much from the previous one released by Disney in
2004, at least not the feature, of course the star-heavy
cast is there like in all of Miyazaki’s translations, and
technically speaking it looks as colorful and detailed as any
re master Disney classic. Where Disney really did a great
improvement was in the special features, this time unlike
the previous release the second disk has stuff worth
watching like The World of Ghibli where there is interviews
to Mr. Miyazaki and how he came up with the story and
characters, plus the interacting experience where there is
not only introductions to the characters for this movie, but
also there are presentation from other Miyazaki’s
characters.
In conclusion, if you had seen
the movie and still do not have it in your collection this
is the right set to buy, if you have not seen it and you
like Miyazaki films like Kiki’s Delivery Service and Ponyo
you will fall in love with My neighbor Totoro. And even if
you are just looking for a great family movie you will not
go wrong with “My Neighbor Totoro.” I could not agree more
with Roger Ebert in this one; he calls Totoro “One of the
very few that comes along that are magical for all ages.”
Review By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English French Japanese
Subtitles - English French
BONUS FEATURES:
Special features wise this release beats its predecessor, it
has actual interesting features about this movie and other
Miyuzaki’s movies. It even has interactive games, the
interviews are also interesting where he explains his
connection with nature and how it inspires him to create
this wonderful worlds.
Original Japanese
Story boards:watch the whole story in storyboards.
It is a good way to see how the director imagine it but I
prefer the animation (1:26:00)
The World of Ghibli:
This is the best feature of the whole DVD it is divided in
two Sections:
Behind The Studio:
which is a menu in itself consisting of 7 different submenus
explaining the process of how the movie became what it is.
This is not your average Making of feature, Hayau Miyazaki
explains himself his concept. There is also three other
submenus were Miyazaki explains his other 3 movies (Ponyo,
Castle in the Ski, and kiki’s Delivery
Service.)(approximately 1 hour)
Enter The Lands:
this is a more friendly and entertaining feature where the
user gets to explore the different lands of Miyazaki’s films
in kikis delivery service ponyo and Castle in the Ski you
get to see an explanation of the different characters and
some clips from the movies. In the Totoro section there is a
kind of test to see which character you are the most
compatible.
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