Hangin’ With the Totes
“My Neighbor Totoro” is an animated classic in which nothing much happens, but we love it anyway. We discuss how the movie is all about children’s fears of change, ponder the differences between subtitled and dubbed versions, and contemplate corn as a cure for tuberculosis. CREEPY!
Listen to this episode (1 hour, 26 minutes)
Show Notes
Steve Lutz’s synopsis:
“Two girls and their father move into a crappy old house by a big tree. Some black Koosh balls run away from them. They meet a giant bipedal sloth. They frolic and stuff. Dad’s bus is late, the sloth steals their umbrella, and a frog burps. Later their mom maybe has a cold so they take a cat bus, which is what it sounds like, and find out that, yep, it’s a cold. They leave their mom some corn, but my people call it maize. The end.”
“My Neighbor Totoro” on Amazon
Hayao Miyazaki on Amazon
The Incomparable #84: Wind is the Enemy
Please join us for Jason and John’s survey of the films of director Hayao Miyazaki. Even if you don’t have kids, like animation, or care about Japan, we think these are some of the greatest films ever made. From “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” to “Spirited Away” and “Nausicaa,” we cover the highlights (and oddities) of his filmmaking career.
The Incomparable #131: Professor Siracusa’s Anime 101
John Siracusa assigns us two animated films from director Satoshi Kon, “Perfect Blue” and “Millennium Actress.” Then we watch them! Featuring: What to look for in Anime tropes, blurring of reality and fantasy, when animation is better than live action, and the lovingly rendered start-up sequence of a Macintosh Performa.
