How do you spell Totoro?

My Neighbor Totoro (Japanese: となりのトトロ, Hepburn: Tonari no Totoro) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten.

What does Totoro mean in English?

Totoro actually comes from Mei mispronouncing Tororu, which means troll in Japanese. This comes from a book Mei had read, which turns out to be the traditional Norwegian troll story Billy Goats Gruff, as can be seen in the end sequence which contains mother and that book.

What God is Totoro?

It claims that Totoro is actually the God of Death and can only be seen by the dead and those who are close to death.

Is Totoro the God of Death?

The legend goes as follows: Totoro is the God of Death, and anyone who can see him is either dead or close to dying. The affirmation is strong enough on its own. We know Miyazaki looooves metaphors, and Studio Ghibli seems to have a weak spot for gods and spirits.

What kind of animal is Totoro?

For what it's worth, Miyazaki defines Totoro as a woodland creature who eats acorns. Neither a bear nor a giant racoon, Totoro is a kind of loveable blunderbuss that gives the girls magic and love when they are missing their invalid mother. He's the kind of imaginary friend we all wished we had.

How to Pronounce Totoro

Is Totoro in spirited away?

There is no concrete evidence that all the films exist in the same world, though minor characters do cross over. For example, the soot sprites who appear in the first act of My Neighbor Totoro, later appear in Spirited Away.

What is the main message of Totoro?

Miyazaki understands that kids may not bear the weight of reality that adults do, but that the darkness of life, and even death, affects little ones as well, no matter how hard adults try to shield them from it.

What are Totoro powers?

Apparently a popular household character in Japan, Totoro is a furry forest sprite with magical powers ranging from the mystical to the superhuman. He also can only be seen by children, though adults recall his memory fondly.

What is Totoro tattoo?

Totoro Tattoo Meaning

The obvious meaning of the Totoro tattoo is to give the person with the tattoo a sense of nostalgia. We've also gathered that the Totoro Tattoo symbolizes sincerity, spontaneity, belief in miracles, optimism and an obvious interest in Japanese anime.

What are Totoros little friends called?

There are two similar, smaller creatures in the movie, also referred to as totoro; the big grey Totoro is named "Ō-Totoro", or "Miminzuku", the middle is "Chū-Totoro", or "Zuku", and the smallest is "Chibi-Totoro", or "Mini". These names do not appear in the movie itself, but are used in ancillary materials.

Is Totoro a rabbit or a cat?

He has been called many things from "a giant furry thing" to "a rabbit-like spirit". Basically, he is a spirit of the forest. Totoro is not a traditional Japanese character: he came completely from Miyazaki's imagination.

Why is the mom sick in Totoro?

Yasuko Kusakabe is a supporting character in My Neighbor Totoro. She is the mother of Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe, and the wife of Tatsuo Kusakabe. Presumably, she suffers from Tuberculosis; her sickness being the reason why she and her family moved to the rural country side.

Is Totoro in Toy Story 3?

“Totoro has a cameo appearance in “Toy Story 3,” he acknowledged. “We do little homages in our films, and we thought it was a very appropriate homage to let [Miyazaki and his film company] Studio Ghibli know how much they mean to us.”

What do the acorns mean in Totoro?

They're seeds for trees, and food for animals. Miyazaki doesn't tell us that, but we know it, and so do Satsuki and Mei. The acorns lead to the soot sprites. They're NOT natural objects, at least not in the REAL world. They're creatures of fantasy, the first ones we see in the film.

What Totoro means in Japanese?

One of those words is トロル (tororu, meaning “troll”), which she pronounces as トトロ (totoro). The name of the film and the fluffy creature we all love is just Mei's way of pronouncing troll.

Is Totoro a rabbit?

Totoro is a forest spirit with whom Mei and Satsuki befriend upon relocating to a new house. Though not exactly a rabbit, one theory suggests that Totoro was created based on a mixture of a number of different animals including tanukis (the Japanese version of raccoons), cats and owls.

What are the black things in Totoro called?

The Soot Sprites (すすワタリ, Susuwatari, lit. "Travelling Soot" a.k.a. "Mak-kuro Kurosuke") are spirits that appear in the films My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. They are small, round balls made from the soot that dwells in old and abandoned houses and leave black dirt in their wake.

What is the tree in Totoro?

Sacred trees

The giant camphor tree in which Totoro lives is another nod to the Shinto-inspired pantheism. A recurring motif, the sacred tree – or, to use the Shinto term, shinboku – is decorated with shimenawa (a rope used to mark sanctity) and towers over Satsuki and Mei's family home.

Why is Totoro so popular?

With its strong emphasis on Japanese culture, it is understandable why My Neighbor Totoro is more popular in Japan than in the United States. That's not to say that the film has not found an American following. The film is incredibly popular among viewers who are interested in animè, filmmaking, and animation.

Can adults see Totoro?

No adult ever even sees Totoro or the Catbus, though they may feel their presence in the lilt of strange music on the air or a gust of wind (this may even extend to viewers; I'd seen Totoro countless times, but it was my 3-year-old son Liam who pointed out to me that the gust of wind that blows the firewood out of ...

Is Totoro a goblin?

Sometimes Miyazaki refers to Totoros using a Japanese word translated as “goblins,” although he clarifies that they have an “easygoing, carefree” attitude and don't try to frighten people. Sometimes he denies they're spirits and insists they're “animals,” pointing out the resemblance to owls, cats, badgers, or bears.

What color is Totoro?

Totoro appears as a large furry creature with grey fur and beige belly with grey arrows on his chest. He has pointy ears, long whiskers along with large paws with long claws.