My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film tells the story of the two young daughters (Satsuki and Mei) of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan.
The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film in 1988. It also received the Special Award at the Blue Ribbon Awards in the same year.
The movie and its titular character, Totoro, have become cultural icons. My Neighbor Totoro ranked 41st in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010, and Totoro was ranked 18th on Empire's 50 Best Animated Film Characters list. A list of the greatest animated films compiled by Terry Gilliam in Time Out ranked the film number 1. A similar list compiled by the editors of Time Out ranked the film number 3. The character made multiple cameo appearances in a number of Studio Ghibli films and video games and is recognized as one of the most popular characters in Japanese animation. Totoro was ranked 24th on IGN's top 25 anime characters.