Totoro Original and Limited Edition Art

The guardian of the forest, Totoro has the power to fly, make plants grow and call the neko bus. He can only be seen by children. A grey, friendly forest spirit, at least three meters tall. Totoro is Mei's mispronunciation of torōru, Japanese for troll. There are two similar, smaller creatures in the film, 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". (These names do not appear in the film itself, but are used in ancillary materials.) My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film – which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi – 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 for Best Film in 1988. The film was released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States by Tokuma Japan Communications' US subsidiary in 1993 under the title My Friend Totoro. In 1988, Streamline Pictures produced an exclusive dub for use on transpacific flights by Japan Airlines. Troma Films, under their 50th St. Films banner, distributed the dub of the film co-produced by Jerry Beck. It was released on VHS and DVD by Fox Video. Troma's and Fox's rights to this version expired in 2004. The film was re-released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 7, 2006 and by Madman on March 15, 2006. It features a new dub cast. This DVD release is the first version of the film in the United States to include both Japanese and English language tracks, as Fox did not have the rights to the Japanese audio track for their version.