The magic universe of Totoro - The Spirit of Nature

It's time to take a step forward and immerse ourselves in the wonderful world of Totoro, populated by various magical creatures.

Let's start with Totoro, or rather, the Totoros. Yes, because the spirits Mei calls "Totoro" are three: O-Totoro, Chu-Totoro, and Chibi-Totoro. First of all, where does the name Totoro come from? Totoro is not, in fact, the creature's name itself, but the one Mei gives it. Mistaking it for a Troll, instead of calling it Tororo (the Japanese pronunciation of Troll), she mistakenly calls it Totoro (Ken, 2018). 

O-Totoro is the star of our tour, the one depicted on the Studio Ghibli logo, and also the most famous and represented of the three. Chu-Totoro, on the other hand, is a much smaller creature but with the same appearance and colors as the better-known Totoro and can be understood as a still immature version of the larger creature. Finally, in the film, we also observe Chibi-Totoro, certainly the smallest and also the simplest of the three in design. Its ears and body shape are reminiscent of its larger companions, but its body is much more like that of a little sprite than that of the larger Totoros. From a mix of fan speculation and statements made in interviews by Miyazaki, it is thought that the three Totoros are actually an evolutionary stage of the same creature, which is even said to start from the small forest spirits (Kodama) that appeared in the film Princess Mononoke (1997), set 400 years before Totoro. According to Miyazaki's statements, the ending shows a small Kodama remaining to protect the forest that will one day be Totoro's (Okada, 2020). 

We can define Totoros as guardian spirits of the forest. Many have tried to find a direct inspiration for them, but it seems that Miyazaki mixed many concepts from Japanese folklore, producing something new and original. Totoros are, for all intents and purposes, both Yokai and Kami. In the animistic concept of the Shinto religion present in Japan, kami (literal translation: Gods) are effectively spiritifications of objects; indeed, there can be Kami of the mountain, of the river, or as in the case of the film, Totoro can be defined as a Kami of the Forest (Composanto, 2018). At the same time, however, Kodama are effectively Yokai, which according to Japanese tradition are spirits or living creatures inhabiting natural and non-natural places. Yokai inhabit many legends of Japanese tradition and can be compared to Western monsters. If Totoro was a Kodama that transformed over time, this would make it both a Yokai and a Kami, a particularly unique situation.

The other fantastical creatures present in the film also have unique characteristics and are noteworthy. In the early stages of the feature film, we are immediately introduced to the Susuwatari (soot sprites), small black creatures that take refuge in the crevices of the old house where the family has moved. These small creatures, which also reappear in the film Spirited Away (2001), come directly from Miyazaki's imagination, not directly inspired by any specific creature, although theoretically they could be defined as tsukumogami, types of Yokai that arise from objects over a hundred years old and can take any form (Okada, 2020). 

Finally, one of the most iconic creatures in the film is undoubtedly the Catbus: a gigantic cat shaped like a bus that transforms into different sizes and shapes, hosting Totoro, Satsuki, and Mei and transporting them through the countryside by flying. This creature is perhaps the one most inspired by various sources. The Catbus's smile certainly recalls the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, but the inspiration is entirely based on Japanese folklore. The Catbus is effectively a yokai, a feline spirit that enjoys playing tricks on humans by transforming into many forms, as shown in videos at the Ghibli Museum where it appears as a train or a submarine (Okada, 2020). The reference Yokai would therefore be the bakeneko, traditionally very old and rather large cats with abilities that allow them to transform and deceive humans. 

_{Image Credit Totoro Evolution: https://wotakuexchange.com/post/115 
Images Credit Susuwatari and Catbus: Imdb - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096283/?ref_=ttmi_ov}