"My Neighbor Totoro" | Movie Review & Lessons Learned | Life Lessons In FIlm.

You are on the air. Ow! My elbow. My elbow? My elbow. Here you go. Yeah. Welcome back to Spoonsville. We are covering My Neighbor Totoro. Yeah. Yeah. 1988 Studio Ghibli and we put it on because we were just looking for something frantically to watch before, you know, the food was getting cold. Time was of the essence. And we put that one on and I liked it. It was sweet. Very wholesome. I've never seen a movie with such cute ghosts. Would you call them ghosts? I don't know if Totoro is a ghost. I think he's just a spirit. Yeah. I feel like he's a spirit. Yeah. Who knows? Yeah. I did. I liked it. You know. I don't know. It's interesting. Now that I'm here, I'm feeling kind of sad. Oh. Like I'm stifling a waterfall. Stifling? No, I totally do not want to be crying. I remember the first time I talked about how it kind of reminded me of my childhood. And I feel like, I don't know why you didn't feel the same way. Because you pretty much grew up surrounded by a forest. Yeah. No, I had the same thing. Yeah. We would just spend times, especially when we were really young, we got older and we had computers, you know, stayed more indoors. But younger, around May's age, you know, four or five years old, you would just walk along the road or walk into valleys and ditches and forests. Exactly. Yeah. For me, it reminded me of my childhood because I had that kind of childhood. Yeah. I grew up in a place where we were just kids. After school, you just go home, drop your bag, and you just hang out with people, with your friends. Yeah. And you just, you're out and about all day climbing trees or, I don't know, in nature. Very carefree. Very carefree. So I guess that's why I'm now kind of feeling sad. A little nostalgic. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely, it's interesting because I didn't really want to do a review on this because I was like, I don't know what I'm going to talk about. Because really, the plot isn't that deep. It's just some kids, some kids who move to the countryside or rural Japan with their dad and they move into this house. It's very dilapidated and they just have basically adventures with these spirits that they meet. Yeah. Tororo and cute little ones. Yeah. And that's basically it. Yeah. That's literally what happens in the movie. So I don't know. I felt like, so I thought that, you know, what am I gonna say? But I just realized that it's just maybe kind of like an ode to the, to innocence. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Because when you're watching that, for me, when I was watching that, there was a lot of that memory of not that when we were maybe the first two sittings of the movie, I remember I was talking to you about these fruits that we used to have that I can't even remember what they were called, but they were just in abundance because we lived in, in a place that was just really, you know, packed full of nature and vegetation and all these things that were just incredible for a kid. And so Tororo kind of definitely took me back there. It's not just a kid movie. I think that's, when I first watched it, I said that. I was like, this is for kids, but it's for everyone. Yeah. For you as a non-kid, it's definitely something that's gonna remind you of that, the innocence of that time. Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely gonna tap into a whole lot of nostalgia. Yeah. When I first think about it, I'm like, yeah, I liked it. Like, I enjoyed myself, you know, there was like good music, funny moments, cute characters, but, you know, was it, you know, it felt kind of like there really wasn't much there. But when you think about it, like, for me, I'm thinking about it, I actually really like that it wasn't a lot going on. First of all, there was still the backdrop of a potentially serious, you know, their mom being sick, and for most of you, you don't really know if she's gonna, you know, gonna make it or not, which is pretty dark. And then, you know, the kids, like, there are some conversations, some dialogue there that I'm like, this doesn't feel like a kids movie, where the kids are just, like, freaking, they're crying, they're having a hard time, because they're like, what if mom dies, what are we gonna do, you know? It's not really something you see, and I always go back to the Emoji Movie, I haven't even seen it. But I'm like, I can't imagine they deal with that, maybe they do. But, you know, there are some kids movies that, they don't really actually face things that, that intense, you know, and it's one of those where I'm thinking, does a movie like that have to have so much more going on? It can't simply, like you say, just be an ode to, like, it just put you back into being a four-year-old, when you could just spend all day trying to watch seeds grow. Yeah. You know, that was your day, and you would spend it for weeks, and it was fascinating, and you'd love it, and you wouldn't ever get bored, and you could so easily lose yourself, you could get lost in the forest, because you just imagine yourself, like, making imaginary friends, or coming up with these scenarios in your head, and, you know, and at the end of it, you know, there is some cool magical stuff that happens. They hang out with Totoro, the other little creatures, they all have their own umbrellas and everything, and they're, like, making music through these, like, I don't know, conch shell things. With kids movies now, when you watch them, it's like so jam-packed full of jokes and references, and things flashing across the screen, and trying to keep you interested, I guess, but this is, it's nice and relaxed, there's not too much that needs to grip your constant attention, you know? Yeah, one thing I would say for someone going into the movie, it doesn't have a beginning, a middle, and an end. What it is, it's like a moment in time, like a moment in someone's life, like maybe, like, a month of these people's lives, and that's it. You don't know what's gonna, what happened before, you don't even know why they're moving. You know they're moving to the country, but you're not sure. I assume that they'd move there because the mom got sick, and maybe it was cheaper to go to rural Japan. I thought that that was what was gonna be uncovered, but they don't even talk about that. You just see them moving there to this house, and that's about it, you know? So it is really just a moment in time, and I think, for me, the movie was much more about the innocence of childhood. Yeah. Things like them moving to this house that is completely dilapidated, you know, and, but they're super excited about it. They don't even realize these things, which, you know, once you're an adult, you have your own house. I'm like, oh my god, people, people are coming over. I have to do this, and I have to do that. We have to, we can't have people come in before I put the, you know, living room together. The dad, he spends a lot of time putting the house together. They help where they can, where they're making a game out of, like, swapping and swabbing the, swabbing? Yeah, swab the deck. Yeah, they're swabbing the floor. They're running back and forth and cleaning up the floor and everything, but, you know, once they more or less get it together, he's doing work. He's missing all the totoro stuff. They're flying around. They're growing a giant tree. They're singing. They're making music. He's not noticing any of it because he's stuck in work, right? But the kids, I mean, but he's also, I think, it's sweet, too, because he still holds on to a bit of his childhood, too, where he's able to connect with his kids. He's like, I think they're just making up random stuff about making imaginary friends, but that's cool. If they're having a good time, that's great, and he's willing to play along with it. I think the dad is really great because he doesn't, he's not one of those dads who's like, oh, that's not real, you know, you gotta be serious about life. There are no things. Better start growing up. Yeah, there isn't anything, you know, like totoro, that doesn't exist or whatever. He just goes along with it. I like that. I think that's the mark of a very good parent, you know, and they're very responsible kids, honestly, and so you can, you see also that part of her kind of having to grow up and also the fact that the mom isn't there and is sick. They're just, there are certain things that are nudging them towards growing up and yeah. The hood of the adults. Yeah. It's just kind of nice that it didn't have that, yeah, that it wasn't predictable in that way. I didn't really know it was gonna happen. They end up kind of, quick, we need to get to mom, so they have to find Totoro, they have to find May, they have to get the cat bus to send them to the hospital, but in the end, she was recovering, so they didn't need to do that, but they still were worried, you know, and then they, in their minds, they maybe overblow things, but they're also, understandably, they're getting a call, right? It's that misunderstanding of like, yeah, we probably didn't need to call you guys because she's doing okay, but then that scares them. They're like, we're getting a call from the hospital, so yeah, that's what you write, though. It's day in the life, but nothing wrong with that. It doesn't need to be a grand narrative, you know? Right now, I'm definitely like in deep thought about my childhood. It's crazy. It's definitely, I almost wonder if, whoever wrote it, I wonder if they were kind of remembering just that, I don't know, a moment in their own lives. Yeah. Like when you're around five, you're not really thinking about, there's so many things that you aren't thinking about. Life is super magical. Everything is so big and wonderful and exciting, and I don't know, I definitely miss that time. Yeah. Oh, my God. Getting super emotional. Even things like making friends, you know? I remember May has to, wants to, ends up going to school with Suzuki. Oh, yeah. She wanted to spend time with her, and the teacher just allowed them, and the kids were so nice, and you know, nobody was being mean or anything like that. And I was just thinking about how much easier it was when you're a kid to just interact with people, because I guess at the time, there weren't a lot of things that were forming your needs as a human being, and the most basic platform for interacting with anyone was just that you were a human, and that's it. Like, you're a person, we can be friends. And so, but now, it's just so much more complicated. Even if you don't really want it to be complicated, the world changes you, right? As you grow up, there's just so much more added to you as a person, and it will determine who you can really reasonably interact with seamlessly and comfortably. So, yeah, and that really means life is much more complicated. So, I definitely, now thinking about it, am reflecting, feeling a lot more nostalgic for youth than I thought going into the movie. For childhood. Nostalgic for childhood. Yeah. Which has its place. I think it's nice to have movies that do that. And I like that there's some supernatural elements, but it's not a lot, you know? And it's just, it's, it's, everything's just, you know, gentle. It's very gentle. It's a very gentle movie. Yeah. It's mild in a good way. It's sweet. Yeah. Music is nice, but again, it's just, it kind of complements the movie. Yeah, the music is great. It's just super, ah, just, it just takes you back. Yeah. Definitely just takes you back. Yeah. Now I'm going to, after this, I'm going to cry. Yeah. Because I'm remembering my childhood and I want it back. Yeah, what would you rate it? I would say... 10 out of 10. Yeah, 10 out of 10. Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad I finally saw it. I've been, I've been meaning to see it for a while and you know they sell those Totoro plushies. Big squishy... We'll see. Yeah, maybe a pillow? We can get a Totoro pillow? Maybe a pillow, yeah. Okay, cool. Can I get a cup of Totoro? Not a cup though. Okay, let's say goodbye. Bye folks. Goodbye.