What yokai is Totoro based on?

Some claim Totoro is based off of specific Japanese folk creatures like Koropokkuru. And a few years ago, a wild conspiracy theory categorized him as a 'god of death.

What creature is Totoro based on?

So Totoro isn't any other kind of animal, even though Chibi Totoro is bird-like. They're not exactly birds, even though Totoro-Oh seems to be able to fly. They're like nothing anyone has ever seen before. They're an innocent and sweet creation from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

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 type of mythical creature is Totoro?

Satsuki, the older girl in the film, calls Totoro an “obake”, which translates to ghost or monster, and he's not a recognised kami, although he lives in a sacred tree on the grounds of a Shinto shrine. For what it's worth, Miyazaki defines Totoro as a woodland creature who eats acorns.

Is Totoro God of death?

The dark side supports that Mei dies when she gets lost, and Satsuki, not being able to live with this, opens the death's door in order to reunite with her. Totoro is a Death God who came in order to take them. By the end of the film both girls are dead and, sadly, their mom will join them soon.

107 My Neighbor Totoro Facts You Should Know | Channel Frederator

What are Susuwatari based on?

Susuwatari (Japanese: ススワタリ, 煤渡り; "wandering soot"), also called Makkuro kurosuke (まっくろくろすけ; "makkuro" meaning "pitch black", "kuro" meaning "black" and "-suke" being a common ending for boys names), is the name of a fictitious sprite that was devised by Hayao Miyazaki, drawn by Studio Ghibli, known from the famous ...

Is Totoro a Kaiju?

So is Totoro a yokai? It isn't found anywhere in Japanese folklore, so technically no. (And I wouldn't want to compare Totoro to Godzilla as a kaiju, anyway.)

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 are the black balls in Totoro?

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 does Totoro symbolize?

Totoro exists as a metaphor to explain some of the mysteries of the world through the eyes of a child. Totoro, the king of the forest. Totoro is far and away the film's most interesting — and adorable — device: he is nature personified in a giant, fuzzy, cat/rabbit-like Snorlax.

What is the mom in Totoro sick with?

Trivia (25) The film is partially autobiographical. When Hayao Miyazaki and his brothers were children, his mother suffered from spinal tuberculosis for nine years, and spent much of her time hospitalized. It is implied, yet never revealed in the film, that Satsuki and Mei's mother also suffers from tuberculosis.

What are the little Totoros 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".

What does no face represent?

In an interview, Miyazaki reminded us that Japanese spirits do not have a form, so each spirit, including No-Face, is really just a representation of that god or spirit in a more solid form. "Japanese gods have no actual form: They are in the rocks, in pillars, or in the trees.

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.

What is wrong with Satsuki and Mei's mom?

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 Spirited Away or Totoro better?

That's a common opinion: Ghibli's films have been repeatedly nominated for Best Animated Feature Oscars, but Spirited Away is the only winner. And apart from My Neighbor Totoro, which gives Ghibli much of its marketing iconography, it's the Ghibli title Americans most seem to recognize.

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 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 are soot sprites called in Totoro?

Susuwatari, meaning "wandering soot" in Japanese, or simply soot sprites or dust bunnies in English, are little spirits created by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. They make appearances in the animated films "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) and "Spirited Away" (2001).

Is ponyo based on a myth?

Ponyo takes its basic setup from a combination of the Japanese myth “Urashima Taro” and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” Unlike Disney's animated 1989 version of the Andersen story, in which the narrative is driven by the titular character's desire to join human society and marry a prince, ...

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.

What does the Totoro cat bus say?

What does the destination sign on the Catbus say? In the scene where Satsuki and Mei saw the Catbus at the bus stop for the first time, it said "Tsukamori". Tsukamori is the name of the forest where Totoro lives.

How old is Mei Satsuki?

In MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, it's 1958 Japan, and 10-year-old Satsuki (voiced by Dakota Fanning for the English-dubbed version), 4-year-old Mei (Elle Fanning), and their father (Tim Daly) move to the countryside where their mother is hospitalized with a long-term illness.