There are few family films nearly as perfect as Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film, ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. It’s a childhood fantasy that deals with growing up, family, and friendship, and is honestly a very whimsical experience. The film seems to have struck a chord with a sect of American audiences since it debuted on DVD here, with the scene of Satsuki and the large Totoro standing outside together in the rain becoming something of a pop culture moment. Totoro himself even managed to make a small cameo in ‘Toy Story 3’, showing just how popular the movie is amongst the Pixar family in Emmeryville. It’s been refreshing to see Disney returning to the Studio Ghibli films over the last few years, restoring and remastering the films to their full glory, and then giving them a stunning blu-ray release. It was only a matter of time until their most popular film here in America finally got the high definition treatment, and thankfully that time is now. Disney has put together a pretty great blu-ray release, with the film looking and sounding better than it ever has, while also giving us a handful of special features as well.

‘My Neighbor Totoro’ revolves around two sisters, Satsuki and and Mei, who leave home and move cross country with their parents, into an old house. Their mother is in the hospital, and the girls don’t quite no how to asses the situation. But as the girls go about their days in the new house, they discover that they aren’t alone here, and discover a group of Totoros, who are adventurous and fun loving creatures who want nothing more to enjoy themselves. But when Mei goes missing, Satsuki sets out to find her sister with the aid of her new friends.