Talk:My Neighbor Totoro/Archive 3

Ambiguous sentence in plot section
This sentence is unclear to me, and I'd like some input from someone who knows about either the original Japanese version or the Searchlight dub (I only own the Disney version of My Neighbor Totoro and my memory of the others is vague):

She meets and befriends a larger version of the same kind of spirit, which identifies itself by a series of roars she interprets as "Totoro" (in the Japanese original dub it stems from Mei's mispronunciation of the word for "troll", tororu).[3]

What does "Japanese original dub" mean? The original language for the film was Japanese, so this must either mean the original Japan release or the Searchlight dub, unless this is my misunderstanding. It's a very minor point, but it seemed odd enough to my ear for discussion. &mdash; Coralmizu (Mizu onna sango15) Drop a line  06:28, 14 July 2009 (UTC).


 * It means the original Japanese audio track. Technically all audio tracks are "dubs", but the sentence should probably be removed all together, since the article should be about the original Japanese rather than from an American-centric perspective (and, if needed, a footnote could be added explaining it). -- AnmaFinotera  (talk · contribs) 06:37, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, my suspicions exactly. I just didn't think it would be worded as vaguely. I probably won't remove it, but if you think it really shouldn't be there, of course take liberty. Oh yes, and sorry about the linkage&mdash;it's usually my practice to do so, I guess I forgot. :-) Thanks, &mdash; Coralmizu (Mizu onna sango15) Drop a line  09:12, 14 July 2009 (UTC).

closing credits

 * The closing credits show Mei and Satsuki's mother returning home and feature scenes of Satsuki and Mei playing with other human children, with Totoro and his friends as unseen observers.

Is it worth mentioning in the article that these scenes are missing (as far as I can see) from the Disney release? —Steve Summit (talk) 13:41, 9 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Reviewed Disney release on UK issued DVD, and version broadcast on channel Film 4 today, and the closing credit scenes are in, and depict the above. I think there's no edits needed. --RedHillian | Talk 12:50, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

Catbus merger
A deletion discussion for Catbus just closed as no consensus with several people opining that it should be merged to My Neighbor Totoro (n.b. including your humble poster). If there are sufficient reasons not to do so, please voice them here. - 2/0 (cont.) 10:38, 9 November 2009 (UTC)


 * The reason why it was closed with no consensus is because the merge was debated, you can see why in the AfD. Some arguements against the merge is that this is a part of multi wiki projects, the article calls the catbus an anime icon, and it was featured in a meuseum exhibit, and that there was even a short Mei and the Kittenbus based on it, plus it inspired others to do work based on the design (Appa from Avatar the last airbender). I say give the article time and let the references fall into place. It has only been 24 hours and you are already saying LETS MERGE, people do have lives and finding references does take time, id give it a few days. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 18:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Its been seven days, not just 24 hours. People had the entire AfD to find sources, and did none. I support the merger as done per the arguments in the AfD. Those who opposed should first produce the actual sources showing notability then discuss a split back out if it can actually be done. -- AnmaFinotera  (talk · contribs) 18:05, 9 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Seven days isn't really all that long to find sources, many of which are likely to be found only offline. That said, there's nothing wrong with merging the Catbus article here until such time as it is larger enough and well enough sourced to be split out again. ··· 日本穣 ? · 投稿  · Talk to Nihonjoe 18:11, 9 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Against merger. Based on what information was found, most people wanted it kept.  Don't delete it, and put a redirect in its place, and claim its "merged".  Is there any information at all that would be copied over if a merge did happen?  Six said Keep, 5 said merge, and the nominator said delete.   D r e a m Focus  03:27, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Looking over the article for catbus my question is how would you merge it all in here? There is no current article for the characters for my neighbor totoro and this character has inspired and even spawned by Studio Ghibli it's own mini episode "Mei and the kittenbus". As for notability beyond Studio Ghibli, the design for the catbus was used as Ive said for Appa in Avatar the last airbender. I understand some of the points here now as there isnt even a character list for some of the more major characters here so why one for Catbus, but that can always be changed to make a character page with a brief descript. of each character. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 21:21, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Well it has been over a month, I am going to remove the merge proposal soon if nobody seriouslly objects to it. A detailed character list though I feel would be a better idea than another potental AfD. Totoro does not even have its own article and it is just as (if not more) of a main character than the catbus is. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 04:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Done. Andy Dingley (talk) 21:31, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Why does Catbus have its own page when Totoro doesn't? Doesn't Totoro deserve a page?206.123.191.246 (talk) 06:02, 9 September 2010 (UTC)


 * The two are quite separate. Articles on WP appear because individual editors write them, there's rarely a "Grand Plan" for what ought to be here and what shouldn't. So someone has written an article on My Neighbour Totoro and another on Catbus (the character), but no-one yet has felt motivated to do Totoro (character). As you can see, there's no unanimity on whether there ought to be a separate Catbus.
 * If you want to write Totoro (character), then you're welcome to do so. Please read the guidelines on creating your first article beforehand. In particular it needs to be something more than the content already in My Neighbour Totoro, or there will be calls to merge it. Andy Dingley (talk) 08:43, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Year
Going back and watching the film, the calendar on the wall (0:23:10) is for April 1957, not 1958 (unless it starts the week on Monday, but that would contradict the labels on the calendar columns). Besides the calendar being on the page for April, the time of the movie has to be April because of the mention of the holiday, which would be Shōwa Day and the planting of the rice, which takes place at the end of April and the beginning of May. -- 173.72.81.170 (talk) 23:13, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Article for use
Article for use. Erik (talk &#124; contribs) 15:44, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
 * "An Unfinished Project that was Also a Missed Opportunity": Utopia and Alternate History in Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro

cameo appearance in kiki's delivery service
is this true? citation needed?

see here: http://www.eeggs.com/items/54266.html 75.79.140.218 (talk) 08:40, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

To those who think the above is not clear enough, remember that it is the little Chibi totoro and Mei in the doll's house window! --> Totoro Himself (talk) 01:21, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

sinfest
totoro appears in Tatsuya Ishida's Sinfest webcomic (here: http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3708) 75.79.140.218 (talk) 08:40, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Winnie the Pooh
"The film's central character, Totoro, is as famous among Japanese children as Winnie-the-Pooh is among British ones." firstly, this is a pretty subjective statement. secondly, Winnie the Pooh is Canadian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.67.59.249 (talk) 04:24, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
 * It may still be famous in the UK. However that statement needs a source. Who compared it in that way? WhisperToMe (talk) 15:18, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Semiprotection
Both the administrator and named user in the protection message have retired from Wikipedia, not surprising as the protection was imposed in 2008, 4 years ago. Maybe it's time the protection was lifted... --Gwern (contribs) 23:39 7 January 2012 (GMT)


 * Unfortunately, I am concerned about having an administrator unprotect it. I think this article, since Totoro was licensed by Disney and judging by the article's history before the semi protection began, is a target for the banned user and and his sock puppets, as with Ponyo, another film licensed by Disney (for more information, see this long-term abuse report about the user in question). If this article gets unprotected, BF101 will comeback as a sock puppet and vandalize the article again. Darth Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 23:58, 7 January 2012 (UTC)


 * The last action in that report was back in August, if I'm reading correctly. What makes his vandalism worse than the usual vandalism, to justify continuing the protection to 5 years or indefinitely? If anything, from the sound of it his vandalism is extremely easy to spot. --Gwern (contribs) 01:14 8 January 2012 (GMT)


 * The banned user's edits in question can be much worse than the usual vandalism. His modus operandi is performing completely destructive edits to many Disney-related and juvenile-related articles (including the two articles I described above) and/or acts of trolling to users and other articles as possible until the sock puppets have been blocked. BF101 can contradict his own behavior in his own defense before being blocked. His grammar, spelling and syntax as seen on talk pages and edit summaries are poorly written. As a result of these actions, many of the articles that he edited have been indefinitely semi-protected. Because of his location in the Mobile, Alabama area, he had a few ISPs and IP ranges at his disposal. His destructive actions also resulted in him getting kicked off his previous ISPs and other projects from the Wikimedia Foundation as well as Wikia. In his most recent actions (occurring in May 2011 and October 2011), BF101 implemented a new strategy to circumvent semi-protection of his target articles: minor edits were made to unprotected articles using an anonymous IP and a new account would be created to attack other users (including myself). Darth Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 01:34, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Error in picture caption
The caption of the title picture of the movie's cover art states that it depicts Satsuki and Totoro; however, the picture actually depicts Mei (as obvious from her pigtails, dress, hair color, and height). Somebody should change this.

"Japanese theatrical release poster, showing Satsuki (left) and Totoro (right)"

This is in error. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.147.64.47 (talk) 00:38, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Soot Gremlins
The "soot sprites" are actually referred to as "Soot Gremlins" in (at least some versions of) the english dub. Is there a way to unlock the page to get this fixed? LaurieCheers (talk) 18:15, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

The Spirit of the Beehive
I have read a convincing book by Aoi Hiroshi (青井汎), who argued that My Neighbor Totoro is influenced by the symbolism of The Spirit of the Beehive. The source: 宮崎駿的動漫密碼 / 青井汎著;胡慧文譯. 一版. 台北市 : 大地, 2009. ISBN 9789867480996 (This is the Chinese translation I read)

I also look up the Japanese original: 宮崎アニメの暗号 / 青井汎. 東京都 : 新潮社, 2004[平成16].

111.243.145.24 (talk) 23:27, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

The origin of the name of totoro. not troll. (Japanese version)
Somniloquy of totoro is the cause of the idea of the name in Japanese version.

in the original version, this stems from Mei's mispronunciation of the word for "troll" by Nausicaa.net

The staff of Nausicaa.net does not watch a Japanese edition(lol.60.39.42.118 (talk) 04:06, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

--- Not quite--Mei calls the creature "totoro", and her sister says "like in the storybook." The reference is apparently to "Three Billy Goats Gruff," about the troll who attacks goats crossing a bridge. So Mei is mispronouncing the word "troll" from some European language (the original story is Norwegian). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:643:8401:A805:3023:CF26:7D5E:2EAA (talk) 17:23, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

During the closing credits there is an image of the mother reading a Japanese version of Three Billy Goats Gruff to her children, with a blue totoro on one cover and a goat on the other (as well as the Japanese translation of the title). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:643:8401:A805:3023:CF26:7D5E:2EAA (talk) 17:29, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

Ni No Kuni
I added the reference to Totoro from Ni No Kuni. I have a screenshot of the scene, in case people question whether that NPC actually exists or not. (I admit I'm paranoid because I have a history of having my information removed because people just assume I'm making it up without doing any research whether I am or not) Should I upload the screenshot? Or just leave it as it is? Dartpaw86 (talk) 12:32, 28 February 2013 (UTC)Dartpaw86

Rotten reports
Please see WP:RTMC. It is not a policy but it comes out of many discussions from WP:MOSFILM. Rotten Tomatoes aggregates reviews, and subjectively interprets whatver star rating or grade to create a number and to then turn those numbers into percentages. It is misleading to say Rotten Tomatoes "reports" anything. Rotten Tomatoes does not objectively report. Also it is oddly inconsistent that this article uses the word percent rather than the % symbol (and it is odder still that wikipedians insist on writing "out of 100" for Metacritic scores, which means exactly the same thing as percent but that is a whole other mess) so if someone does change the wording it would be good to change it to 90% although it is a more minor wording change. -- 109.255.20.91 (talk) 23:53, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Wrong soundtrack credits
Not true that Azumi Inoue is the five vocal track's composer. All tracks by Joe Hisaishi, and vocals by Inoue.

Following TKCA-72725 | My Neighbor Totoro Soundtrack Collection - VGMdb, the soundtrack credits should be:

Lyrics by Hayao Miyazaki (19) and Rieko Nakagawa (1, 12, 20) Music Composed by Joe Hisaishi Music Arranged by Joe Hisaishi, Yayoi Hirabe, and Masahisa Takeichi (M-20) Singers: Azumi Inoue (1, 12, 19, 20) and Suginami Junior Chorus (20)

I cannot edit by myself. Please reflect these facts. Thank you. 82.158.159.26 (talk) 16:33, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I'd add it, but the fact it can be edited by anyone does not make it an RS. So I cannot use it. ChrisGualtieri (talk) 04:00, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Poster is a pre-production version
The poster shown is an old pre-production version. It depicts just one girl, who was later separated into Satsuki and Mei (that's why she looks like a younger Satsuki).

I am however unaware if there actually exists a poster showing both girls. Ghibliwiki states that this old version was also used in Japan, even after the Satsuki/Mei split.

I think this should be hinted at in the caption.

Source: http://www.nausicaa.net/wiki/My_Neighbor_Totoro_%28FAQ%29#I_saw_a_picture_of_Totoro_and_a_girl_at_the_bus_stop._Who_is_that_girl.3F — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.194.119.134 (talk) 08:07, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Ref
This is the closest record that Archive has for the interview listed in the article. The two pages existed, but their content itself is unviewable now. Any ideas?
 * I don't know for sure Chris, but when I clicked on that link, it unfortunately didn't work and all I get is a blank screen. By the way, I am thinking about getting this article up to FA with the intention of featuring it as a TFA on April 16, 2018 (the 35th anniversary of the film's release). Also, I think all dead citations should be replaced using the "archiveurl=" and "archivedate=" parameters. However, if we can't find the links, I think we should remove them. Also, there are a lot of good books about Miyazaki and Totoro that can be used as reliable sources. I'll go around and ask a couple of users to help out, such as, one of the WikiProject Film's coordinators, as I belong to that project and also intend to help out as well. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 14:56, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Let's not remove them just yet. My highbeam doesn't give access, but I might have a few connections in some Universities that can pull the archives for me. Since they appeared in English, it may be possible to get them... however I see they were online. This is also a problem for the International Herald since the paper version is a business paper and I did check the dates and found a database which may have it. Not good enough at Japanese to search it though. This one is perhaps the key citation. ChrisGualtieri (talk) 15:22, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I understand what you mean. I am an expert at Japanese obviously. Anyway, having been with the project for 6 years and over 50,000 edits, I managed to improve film articles to the highest degree, such as Summer Wars for example (which has been a GA since 2011). Since this is a film article, we should also comply with the manual of style for film-related articles. Also, I've created a references to use section, since we should use both online and paper references. I think we should ask members of the Film WikiProject to help get involved in improving the article, as this article is one of the project's core list. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 15:32, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi, all. I added content to this article way back in October 2008, and the Daily Yomiuri and International Herald Tribune-Asahi Shimbun came from subscription databases, so there may not be any links, even archived ones, available. This was the original content I added., I can't remember, did I give you an extensive list of references somewhere? I see what's below, but I thought there was more. Erik (talk &#124; contribs) 16:54, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

References to use
Here are some sources we can use to help improve the article:
 * I'll order the first one from my library. Second one I can easily get my hands on through the inter-loan system. The third I can also get my hands on through the loan system. I'll be stretching my ties rather thin since I already ordered the anime critique one... but I'll go tomorrow and see if I can drag up the others. A DVD of particular importance - the 2010 Disney release on 2 DVDs contains special features including the relevant excerpt from the TV special which could prove useful. I also found some footage of Miyazaki in 1989 for the airing of Totoro, while very brief it does give a line about how he was disappointed that his imagination wasn't able to grasp Totoro fully... or at least that's what I got out of it. Berkley also has some interviews which may prove helpful... so I'll be checking those out.
 * I want this film at FA as well. Let's work together on it. Should make it much easier to produce a higher quality article as a result. My last collaboration resulted in a superior article which contained twice as much information in a mere 3 days (during a stalled GA) and I can proudly state that Wikipedia has better coverage than any other site as a result of such intensive work. Though to be fair, it may take a few weeks to grab the materials that I need to do this article properly. Or do you already have those works? ChrisGualtieri (talk) 15:33, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I think working on the article together definitely sounds good to me. :-) But I think we may need previously uninvolved editors to get involved and provide input on the matter here as well since Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia; I am going to notify WT:FILM of this matter. We should use some databases like EBSCOHost to search for articles related to Totoro. I use Google Books and Google Scholar to search for articles related to that matter. I think we can also create a themes section too from the scholary material, since we don't have one already. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 15:41, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I recommend WorldCat.org too. This shows 1, 2, 3 (shown above), and 4. When using Google Books, I recommend filtering by year (like from beginning of 2012 to end of 2012) to see the best results in each year. Erik (talk &#124; contribs) 16:59, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I'll order the first one from my library. Second one I can easily get my hands on through the inter-loan system. The third I can also get my hands on through the loan system. I'll be stretching my ties rather thin since I already ordered the anime critique one... but I'll go tomorrow and see if I can drag up the others. A DVD of particular importance - the 2010 Disney release on 2 DVDs contains special features including the relevant excerpt from the TV special which could prove useful. I also found some footage of Miyazaki in 1989 for the airing of Totoro, while very brief it does give a line about how he was disappointed that his imagination wasn't able to grasp Totoro fully... or at least that's what I got out of it. Berkley also has some interviews which may prove helpful... so I'll be checking those out.
 * I want this film at FA as well. Let's work together on it. Should make it much easier to produce a higher quality article as a result. My last collaboration resulted in a superior article which contained twice as much information in a mere 3 days (during a stalled GA) and I can proudly state that Wikipedia has better coverage than any other site as a result of such intensive work. Though to be fair, it may take a few weeks to grab the materials that I need to do this article properly. Or do you already have those works? ChrisGualtieri (talk) 15:33, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I think working on the article together definitely sounds good to me. :-) But I think we may need previously uninvolved editors to get involved and provide input on the matter here as well since Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia; I am going to notify WT:FILM of this matter. We should use some databases like EBSCOHost to search for articles related to Totoro. I use Google Books and Google Scholar to search for articles related to that matter. I think we can also create a themes section too from the scholary material, since we don't have one already. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 15:41, 5 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I recommend WorldCat.org too. This shows 1, 2, 3 (shown above), and 4. When using Google Books, I recommend filtering by year (like from beginning of 2012 to end of 2012) to see the best results in each year. Erik (talk &#124; contribs) 16:59, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

ocarina?
Is this the ocarina we see them playing?--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 05:41, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 April 2015
According to Jerry Beck, we may have an answer as to who voiced Totoro in the Streamline dub. "I don't have any memory of recording a voice for Totroro himself. What I do recall is that we had a policy to use the original Japanese track for such vocal "sound effects". If we didn't, my guess would be Greg Snegoff (he also voiced the Dad - and did miscellaneous background voices when needed)." Therefore, please change "Unknown" in the Streamline column for Totoro to either Hitoshi Takagi or Greg Snegoff.

Palmer7 (talk) 03:58, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Looks pretty "unknown" to me. Reach Out to the Truth 04:30, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. —  10:45, 20 April 2015 (UTC)