My Neighbor Totoro

Yesterday I watched my second Miyazaki film I got for Christmas, My Neighbor Totoro, and although it was definitely aimed at children (which isn't the case of some of his better-known films), it was surprisingly better than his other lesser known work. The best comparison I could make between this and one of Miyazaki's other films would be to Kiki's Delivery Service, as both more or less tell a simple story not all that unlike the sort you would find in a Saturday morning cartoon. Naturally, both films have a more artistic appearance, better voice acting, and a sense of grandeur, but neither really try to aspire to much more than a pretty cartoon.

That said, My Neighbor Totoro's characters aren't annoying (actually, they're quite loveable), the magical elements in this story (Totoro and his sidekicks) are really intriguing, and the story seems to flow better than in Kiki's Delivery Service. So, while it's no Spirited Away or even Nausiacä of the Valley of the Wind, it's as close to being up there as it could be.