April 16, 2013. Exactly 25 years ago today, an animated Japanese film called Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro in English) was released. It’s a movie about two young girls who meet friendly forest spirits after they move into a new home.
You may have seen the giant fluffy Totoro before, and you might not even know it! A plush version of Totoro made a cameo appearance in Toy Story 3. Does he look familiar now?
(My Neighbor Totoro via Toho)
My Neighbor Totoro is just one of the dozens of brilliant animated movies made by Japanese filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki, with his production company, Studio Ghibli. It’s also just one of many of his films with an amazing girl power message, in which girls are the heroes.
One of Miyazaki’s first films was Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The main character is a princess named Nausicaä whose love of nature allows her to become friends with the creatures of the off-limit Toxic Jungle that surrounds her hometown. She flies an amazing jet-powered glider around to save the day.
Kiki’s Delivery Service is a better-known Miyazaki film. In the movie, a 13-year-old witch named Kiki uses her flying broom to support herself by running a delivery service with a local bakery.
The list goes on and on, also including box-office hits Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo and Howl’s Moving Castle as Studio Ghibli films with strong female leads.
