My Neighbor Totoro is a wonderful family film set in an absolutely stunning Japanese countryside. The movie was directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The movie begins with a father, a working professor, and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, moving into a new home. The mother is ill, and the family is moving into a home that is closer to the hospital that she is recovering in. The home seems to be inhabited by suit spirits. The movie continues to get more fantastical as the youngest daughter, Mei, finds a huge forest spirit named Totoro. The girls form a friendship with the large forest spirit. They lend him an umbrella and in return, he gives them acorns and seeds to plant a forest. Mei goes missing after disturbing news about their mother's health and once again Totoro proves to be a loyal friend by helping Satsuki find her. The story ends happily with the mother healing, and the wood spirits looking on from afar. I would show this movie in my classroom to show my students how Japanese culture differs from American culture. The movie depicts Japanese natural beauty very well. It also shows the traditional style of the Japanese home. The tables are low. The family sleeps on mats on the floor. Satsuki also prepares traditional Japanese meals. The children could compare and contrast their own home and natural surroundings with that of the movie. Furthermore, a second grade standard involves differentiating between fantasy and realism. My Neighbor Totoro has many scenes that are realistic and several fantasy scenes. The children could use a graphic organizer to distinguish the fantasy scenes from the reality scenes. Overall, the movie has strong characters that courageously face a sad problem. The eldest daughter, Satsuki, especially shows courage, strength, and compassion. All elementary schools teach character lessons. We could certainly learn a lot from studying Satsuki.
.