Trailer Analysis: My Neighbor Totoro

 Trailer Analysis: My Neighbor Totoro 

The film My Neighbor Totoro captures the story of a family moving into a small rural home near a forest. The film begins with a father and his two young daughters Mei and Satsuki arriving at their new tiny dirty house, working to improve and clean it and ultimately make it into a place they can call home. Mei and Satsuki discover creatures in and around their home including soot sprites, Totoro and the cat bus.

• Soot sprites appear in a few different Studio Ghibli films and are magical creatures made of soot.

• Totoro are forest spirits that resemble a cross between a rabbit and a bear. They come in many shapes, sizes and colors. 

• The cat bus is exactly what it sounds like. A giant cat shaped bus that runs through the grass, hills and even across telephone wires in the film.

            Mei and Satsuki are the only people pictured in the film who can see these creatures which is most likely because they are still young. One thing I particularly love about this film is in multiple instances the characters can make something out of nothing or very little. Such as, fixing up a little house in the woods and creating the young girls creating or finding their own fun in nature.  

I would describe the My Neighbor Totoro trailer as playful, humorous and whimsical. The trailer shows themes that are later reflected in the film such as family and togetherness, and appreciation for nature. In my opinion the trailer aims to persuade the audience to watch their work through evoking emotion. Specifically, nostalgia, joy, childlike wonder and excitement. This trailer intrigues its audience and connects with them using emotional appeal.  

The inclusion of clips that capture Totoro flying, Totoro quickly growing a massive tree from the ground and Mei and Satsuki riding the cat bus evoke excitement from the audience. Mei serves as somewhat of a comic-relief character in this film. The inclusion of clips of Mei chasing the small Totoro and crashing into a bush, Mei getting scared by the soot sprites and Totoro screaming loudly, then Mei screaming back evokes humor from the audience. The theme of family and togetherness is demonstrated by the inclusion of clips of Mei and Satsuki laughing, running and being joyful. The theme of appreciation for nature is demonstrated by clips of Mei and Satsuki spending time in the forest with the creatures that live there including the many Totoro of various sizes. 

Throughout the trailer, there are changes in the instrumentation of the song playing that reflect the emotions the author is trying to convey. During moments of excitement the instrumentation consists of brass, woodwinds and strings. During more tender and gentle moments, the instrumentation consists of only vocals and occasionally some percussion.  

This trailer's narration is phrased like an advertisement for an experience you could attend in real-life, such as an advertisement for a local trampoline park. I think this technique makes the audience feel more connected to the world and the characters the author has created. The script of the trailer includes words such as adventure and journey frequently. This serves to evoke excitement in the audience.  

One quote that stood out to me from this trailer was “An animated adventure for children of all ages”. On the surface, this quote could mean that the content of this film is suitable for children of all ages, as in there is no violence or age rating. However, I interpreted this quote to refer to the fact that everyone is a child at heart. This quote serves to draw in audience members of all ages and give a nod to the viewers who are not children.  

Objectively, I consider this trailer to be effective at achieving its purpose, getting the audience interested in the film through showing the layers of My Neighbor Totoro.  The trailer succeeds at evoking emotions from the audience to connect with, which is accomplished through the music included in the trailer that changes in instrumentation to reflect the emotion the author is trying to convey. The clips and moments in the trailer where also clearly chosen purposefully, and each serve to evoke emotions such as nostalgia, joy, childlike wonder and excitement and draw on certain themes from the film including togetherness and appreciation for nature.  

The narration of the trailer is formatted like an advertisement for an experience you truly could visit and aids the audience to feel more immersed and connected to the world the author has created. Including words such as adventure and journey also creates excitement in the audience. The narration also includes an impactful quote that draws on the nostalgia of the older audience members and plays on the fact that we are all kids at heart. As someone who has watched and enjoyed this film many times, I think this trailer made intelligent choices of what to include that successfully intrigue the audience and reflect the essence of the film well.  

Now I would like to speak less objectively and more candidly. I was a kid who was always running around barefoot in my yard and my neighbor's yard. I ran through the freshly cut grass, built forts on trees, played man hunt, raised tadpoles, chicks and butterflies from eggs, went to the local nature center, got rubs from going down the slip and slide too many times, went on countless bike rides and walked on nature trails. I also had a best friend who lived up the street and was only a few years older than I was. We did everything together and her house was like my second home. I feel deeply connected to this film as I feel that I kind of lived it. I feel very connected My Neighbor Totoro’s world and its characters, especially Mei, the younger, clumsier and naive sister in the film. My best friend, who I see as more of a sister took care of me in a similar way that Satsuki does for Mei in this film. The core of this film to me is the childlike whimsy, the interaction between the characters, the appreciation for nature and the warm feeling of nostalgia I get in my chest when I watch it. The trailer captured and replicated this core, so I consider it to be successful and well made. More than anything, it reached the little girl who ran around her yard barefoot and had dirt under her fingernails.  

Rhetorical Reflection 

Audience: 

I intend this project for anyone who knows and loves My Neighbor Totoro, or those who is not familiar with Totoro and the other Studio Ghibli films. Studio Ghibli can capture nostalgia and whimsy as if they could physically bottle it. As a person who is in a transitional period in my own life, having just moved into my first apartment in a new state I have found myself surrounded by many new responsibilities and stress caused by those responsibilities. In my experience, stress and unfamiliarity can be subsided by being immersed in the worlds of Studio Ghibli films. To me, it feels great to have that escape, and I would encourage you to watch My Neighbor Totoro and other Ghibli films if you are looking for some comfortable, nostalgic and overall feel-good films.  

Purpose: 

I am trying to reflect on the details of the My Neighbor Totoro trailer that work well to accomplish the creator of the trailer’s purpose. That is, appealing to the audience through connecting with them and evoking emotions such as nostalgia and joy. I also aim to point out many of the choices the creator made that made this trailer successful.  

Persona:  

For this work I adopted two opposite personas. At the start of the piece, I am attempting to write in a more sophisticated tone to establish credibility with those reading my piece. Throughout the work I intend to reflect the admiration and love that I have for this film in my writing. Towards the end of the work, I purposefully let my sophisticated persona slip away and talk more candidly about my experiences and connection to the movie.