Totoro Fever

My Neighbor Totoro is our new favorite family movie. The kids ask for this movie every Saturday night. They're lucky it's a great Hayao Miyazaki movie. (For those of you who don't know Miyazaki, he's a Japanese manga artist who has directed and animated lots of anime movies--Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, and, most recently, Ponyo.) B and I love Totoro, so we don't mind watching it over and over again.
Of course, Elina has started to draw Totoro, along with the 2 main female characters, Satsuki and Mei. The pictures are so cute. The kids sing the Totoro song all the time. Elina even has a print out of Totoro taped to the wall next to her bed. It's a serious Totoro-fest over here. If you have kids, you might want to think about checking out My Neighbor Totoro. The story is simple, but cute. And you can't help but love Totoro...he doesn't talk, but he's adorable. He kinda looks like a cat, kinda looks like a bunny. I don't know, but he's supposed to be a cute forest spirit. Miyazaki loves to explore human relationships with nature, so his movies always have a magical, enigmatic feel to them...but everything is really beautifully portrayed.

Speaking of Miyazaki's "magic," I think I might be one of the few people who didn't like Ponyo. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't. Ponyo is about a goldfish named Ponyo who befriends a 5 year old boy, Sosuke, and wants to become a human girl. There were too many aspects of the movie that weren't explained (hence, the enigma part of Miyazaki, I guess). I also thought the ending was too odd. Ponyo and Sosuke are supposed to kiss to show they love each other so that Ponyo can become a real girl. First of all, Sosuke is 5 years old. Does he really know what love is? And the kiss they end up having looked like it was a total accident because it seems like Ponyo slips out of Sosuke's hands and then her lips hit Sosuke's lips on her way down. Wha-?? Maybe I didn't interpret the movie properly, but to me it wasn't that great. Am I wrong, people? Somebody help me out here.

Don't get me wrong-I have loved a lot of Miyazaki's other movies and I'm a big fan. I'm just so glad that My Neighbor Totoro is now a favorite in our household!