A quiet forested area north of Tokyo that inspired director Hayao Miyazaki to create the beloved Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro will become a protected green space with the involvement of the local government and some help from crowdfunding to cover expenses.
The 2.6 billion yen ($20 million USD) project will protect some 7,000 trees in the town of Tokorozawa, reports SoraNews24. Miyazaki lives near the 8.6-acre site nicknamed Kaminoyama, and its preservation has been a pet project of his for some time. The director moved to the area in 1970, years before the 1988 release of My Neighbor Totoro, and recently inspired the city leaders to take up his cause of "Totoro Next Door." The Studio Ghibli-backed crowdfunding campaign will feature five reproductions of background art from the film available for pledges of 25,000 yen each. Both residents of the area and those outside it are encouraged to participate.
During a 2018 walk through the forest with Tokorozawa mayor Masato Fujimoto, Miyazaki shared the importance of the area to his creative process. "This scenery is what gave birth to Totoro," Miyazaki told the mayor. "It's important to me, and it's why I live near here." The director previously invested much of his own money into the wooded grove, and current landowners in the area have agreed to be bought out for the 2.6 billion yen sum.
The five pieces of Totoro background art will be B4-size (10.1 x 14.3-inch), and a run of 1,000 sets will be made available for purchase in September. Additional runs may be added if demand is high enough. In keeping with the theme of the project, each painting will be wood framed.
The magical world of My Neighbor Totoro is also heading to the stage later in 2022. A 15-week run of the Royal Shakespeare Company's stage adaptation will begin on Oct. 8 at London's Barbican Centre. The creative team assembled to bring the story to life include playwright Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer) and executive producer Joe Hisaishi, who wrote the music for several Studio Ghibli films from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to Totoro itself. "...Totoro -- people know that image, his proportions, his expressions, they know it," said Basil Twist, the puppeteer who will bring the rotund Totoro to life on stage. "So it has to be right."
Earlier in 2022, Studio Ghibli shared a gift from the staff at Pixar: a charming piece of crossover artwork. The image shows the Ghibli mascot standing under his signature umbrella with none other than Mike Wazowski and Sulley from Monsters, Inc. right beside him. Initially shared back in 2021 without explanation, Studio Ghibli tweeted it again on May 1 with a wider view showing messages from the Pixar staff in the matting, revealing its source.
Source: SoraNews24