Satsuki and her younger sister, Mei, move to the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother. There they find a habitat of magical creatures called Totoros, with whom they go on extraordinary adventures. Hayao Miyazaki’s breakthrough work explores the empowering effects of the natural world, as well as the need to experience freedom, mystery, and wonder in the face of a rapidly modernizing culture. With its warm animation and absence of villains or fight scenes, My Neighbor Totoro is perhaps Miyazaki’s most kid-friendly film, but is still a work of complex sensitivity in its portrayal of children coping with grief.

Ages 6 and up: features brief mild nudity and scary images.