We love everything in the Studio Ghibli vibe. We would live inside each and every Hayao Miyazaki movie (yes, including the scary ones). Living in the works of Isao Takahata would be another matter entirely and we’d probably pass there. Regardless, we’ve always wanted to know what a real-life version of a Miyazaki movie would look like. Luckily, we now have two stage shows to help us with that. Concurrently, both Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro have theatrical runs. Even though the latter has played in London’s West End since 2022, we only now have our first look at big ol’ stage show Totoro himself.
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Nippon TV
The image, which we first saw via Polygon, sure looks exactly like what we’d expect the big guy to look like for the realsies. Given the size of the actors portraying the young sisters, we have to assume Totoro is, what, like 10 feet tall? Jeepers creepers. He bears a blank expression and a leaf on his head to keep the rain off. Delightful and weird. Truly incredible how well the producers of this show have been able to replicate Miyazaki’s iconic look in reality. You can watch the original trailer for the show below.
Youtube Video
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The My Neighbor Totoro stage show comes from the Royal Shakespeare Company and Executive Producer and original film composer Joe Hisaishi – in collaboration with Improbable and Nippon TV – and adapted by Tom Morton-Smith (the Oppenheimer stage production, not the movie) with direction from Phelim McDermott. It will play at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London’s Drury Lane until March of next year. If you find yourself across ye olde ponde, why not see what Totoro’s got going on?
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.
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