If you go down to the woods today

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki this animated film has English voice acting from Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly and Frank Welker. Two young girls and their father move to a house in the country to be nearer their sick mother and discover forest spirits.

This is a pleasant watch that might not have a huge amount of plot but trundles along at a sedate pace. While the story has some heart to it it is not especially deep but does a good job of dealing with the “sick mother” part of the story without getting melodramatic. As always the animation is nice but slightly less fantastical than some of the other Studio Ghibli efforts.

3/5