We're in the Timeline the 2002 Version of My Neighbor Totoro Has Been Forgotten
While the world busted into the DVD lifestyle in the early 2000s, I was lovingly living in the Stone Age with a VHS player. At age eight, I remember buying a copy of My Neighbor Totoro on DVD before I owned a DVD player, since the only copy of the movie I could ever get my hands on was a Blockbuster VHS rental that I had to fight tooth and nail to acquire. Three years later, I finally owned a DVD player and happily watched the movie when I wanted, whenever I wanted, and life was good. However, I’m pretty sure I own a cursed DVD.
In reality, this DVD is just a forgotten English dub of the movie, though I like to think it’s cursed. My specific copy was created by 20th Century Fox and is pretty hard to find. However, Disney now owns the Studio Ghibli English dub monopoly. With the Disney copies, you are able to watch the original Japanese (the subtitles are the English dub, so it’s pointless), while with the 20th Century Fox, the only option available is English. Of course, since this relic was shipped out in 2002, the movie is not in high definition, but does it really matter? Part of the charm of Ghibli movies is that grainy softness.
My Neighbor Totoro is property of Studio Ghibli
It is impossible to find who voiced the actors on this version. Yes, I could pop my DVD in, but where’s the fun in that? IMDB lists the Fanning sisters as Satsuki and Mei (they voice the two children in the Disney remastered version), and then Lisa Michelson and Cheryl Chase in the 1988 version. At first, I assumed that the 1988 version is what I had, but after watching a clip, I knew those voices were not the ones that have been ingrained into the fibers of my soul. I’m a little annoyed, and perhaps a little biased, but I prefer the voices I grew up with to a celebrity name being slapped on a movie. From a publicity point of view, star power seems like a good idea, but from a viewer’s standpoint, sometimes it’s best to leave this to professional voice actors. Don’t even get me started on the voice acting in Ponyo.
According to several obnoxiously opinionated people on Amazon, the 2002 copy of the dub is where it’s at too. With the Disney version, the plot is slightly altered and the fine nuances are lost to make the movie more family friendly. Frankly, I’m just going on other people’s reviews, I haven’t watched the Disney version in a while. Granted, I assume it’s nothing like the harsh difference between the English dub of Kiki’s Delivery Service and the original script (in the end, Jiji never speaks to Kiki again, only in the dub he does), but it’s probably enough for seasoned fans to notice.
My Neighbor Totoro is property of Studio Ghibli. Cover design property of Disney Entertainment.
Besides the complete erasure of the 2002 20th Century Fox edition of the movie, I also have a bone to pick with Disney and their shitty Hot Topic line. When the Ghibli line first came out I was staring at a shirt and for the life of me, I could not figure out what was wrong with it. After glaring at the shirt for a few good moments, I noticed that the designer of the shirt morphed Mei and Satsuki together. In the movie, Mei is clearly piggybacking on Satsuki’s back as they wait for their father. On the shirt, the girl on the shirt has Satsuki’s body and Mei’s head. After seeing that, I felt like I was in an episode of The Twilight Zone. I even asked a friend, who was working at Hot Topic at the time if she noticed it, and she said I was making stuff up. All the friends who were in the Hot Topic with me at the time lacked the extensive Ghibli knowledge that I had and haven’t even seen My Neighbor Totoro, let alone probably know that whole movie frame by frame. I was even more horrified to discover that’s how the cover of the remastered DVD looks!
Maybe I’m from the Berenstein dimension and the only clue from this life I once lived in is some beat up DVD of my favorite childhood movie. Chances are, Disney just bought the rights and with that took everything else off the market. Overall, though I think my DVD may be from another dimension or cursed, I’m happy I have it. I try to pretend that I don’t get nostalgia but god knows I’m filled with it for this movie.
Edit (7/12/17): Apparently Studio Ghibli originally wanted Mei and Satsuki to be one character and eventually split it into two. Most promotional items still use the original concept sketches. Sounds fake, but ok.
