When it aired on NTV, the ratings went off the chart.” 3. 'Out of all the movies made by Ghibli, Totoro had the worst opening box office,' Suzuki said in the anniversary DVD. My Neighbor Totoro didn't become a commercial success until it made its way to Japanese television, though. This idea was ultimately approved, and the two films premiered together in 1988. The latter film was being backed by publisher Shinchosha, which at the time was more established than Tokuma Shoten, the publisher that funded My Neighbor Totoro. In order to win over financiers, Suzuki suggested that My Neighbor Totoro be shown alongside another Studio Ghibli film- Grave of the Fireflies-as a double feature. Also, I wanted to prove that a movie like this could be successful.” 2. I wanted my movie to be peaceful, tranquil, and innocent. 'Entertainment back then was all about guns, action, and speed. 'Back then, a story without a hero or a girl with superpowers, and the ordinary Japanese scenery as a backdrop, was not considered entertaining enough,' Miyazaki said in an interview featured in the 30th anniversary edition Blu-ray. Miyazaki's previous feature films were set in fictional or unidentified places, and My Neighbor Totoro was the first one to take place in Japan. The setting-rural Japan in the 1950s-was also problematic. “Distributors simply didn’t believe there was an audience for a story about two little girls and a monster in modern Japan.” Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki tried again in 1987, but the financiers and distribution executives “didn’t think the furry giant could take off, literally or figuratively,” wrote Maureen Furniss in Animation: Art and Industry. However, Miyazaki was still making a name for himself back in the early '80s, and his initial pitch for My Neighbor Totoro was rejected by the Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co.

Hayao Miyazaki has been called the “Walt Disney of Japan” for his impressive oeuvre, which includes Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Academy Award-winning Spirited Away (2001). The idea for the film was initially rejected. The English dubbed version features real-life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning as the voices of sisters Satsuki and Mei, who uncover a world of forest spirits and curious creatures when they move to the Japanese countryside with their father. Here are some things you might not know about this magical movie. The Studio Ghibli production, which was written and directed by legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki, debuted in Japan in 1988 under the title Tonari no Totoro before making its way to the U.S. My Neighbor Totoro is one of those rare films that both children and adults find enchanting.

My neighbor totoro mei