My Neighbour Totoro

"It's full of benign spirituality, prelapsarian innocence and joyous discovery, all rooted in a carefully detailed reality."

"(The) tone is so relentlessly goody-goody that it crosses the line from sweet into saccharine..."

"Whenever I watch it, I smile, and smile, and smile... a little sad, a little scary, a little surprising and a little informative, just like life itself."

"Miyazaki has essentially padded a television half-hour into a sluggish theatrical feature."

"Its unassuming demeanor belies a thematic foundation built on a faith in humanity rare in contemporary cinema..."

"Miyazaki's ode to childhood is a thing of wonder... the film has a pure spirit that cannot be denied."

"(It) remains an animated achievement almost without parallel."

"Miyazaki... effectively captures the feeling of a child’s life, inside as well as out..."

"It exemplifies Ghibli’s style of fanciful realism..."

"The movie has a lulling, gently wry quality..."