What is a Fanlisting?
A fanlisting is a list of fans from all countries. The idea of the
fanlistings originated from Janine Mischor, who created The
Fanlistings. I am allowed to call this list of fans a fanlisting
because I am a member of the Anime Fanlistings. For more info, I refer
you to their website.
What is Tonari No Totoro?
Tonari No Totoro is the Japanese title of a movie
that was made by Hayao Miyasaki in 1988. It was released in 1993
in the USA under the title My Neighbor Totoro. Dubs in
Chinese (Long Mao) in French (Mon Voisin Totoro)
and Spanish (Mi Vecino Totoro) are also available. It was
at first intended to be a double feature with the movie Grave
of the Fireflies, because at the time people doubted that a
movie about two little girls meeting a nice monster in the countryside
wouldn't interest anybody. As Grave of the Fireflies is
an adaptation of a very well-known Japanese novel, the producers
knew that it would attract more public - and Totoro came
as a part of the "package".
What is a Totoro?
A Totoro isn't the name of any existing mythical creature,
it's the invention of Hayao Miyasaki. Mei calls the creature that
she meets a "totoro" because she had been reading the
story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and had identified
the monster that she meets with a troll (in Japanese, "troll"
is pronounced "tororu"). However, she mispronounces the
word, and ends up creating the name Totoro. We know that Totoro
is actually a spirit of the forest, just like the Kodamas in Princess
Mononoke. Apparently, in Miyasaki's movies, forest spirits
can take on many forms!
(this information was provided by Nausicaa.net)
