My 5-Year-Old and I Are Both Obsessed with This '80s Movie (and You Probably Haven't Seen it Yet)

In general, I'd say that my son has pretty typical taste in entertainment for a (soon-to-be) kindergartener —his current favorites include the LEGO Batman movie, anything Pokémon and YouTube Kids explainer videos about volcanoes, how the earth was formed and why various bodily functions occur. So yeah, fun for a 5-year-old for sure, but not exactly riveting stuff for Mom.

But happily, there’s one movie that we can both watch again and again—the 1988 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro. I was introduced to this movie as a young adult and have loved it ever since, and now my kid is just as enamored with the heartwarming and beautifully animated flick as I am.

What makes it so great, exactly? Well, first of all it's 90 minutes long which I think we can all agree is the perfect length for a movie (sorry, Scorsese).

I also love how the drama in the film is so, well, undramatic. I know I said my son is a typical 5-year-old, but he's actually quite a sensitive viewer, and we end up having to fast forward through the "scary parts" of most kid movies. But in My Neighbor Totoro, there are no bad guys to be seen or conflict even—the drama here is mild and manageable for young viewers.

But that's not to say that the film doesn't touch upon real themes. The film centers around two young girls, Mei and Satsuki, who move into a new house and whose mother is sick in the hospital (this is sad, yes, but never overwhelmingly so—it's treated very matter-of-factly because, well, that's real life). It's in this new environment that the sisters encounter a group of magical creatures who live in the nearby forest, including the adorable Totoro. And, well, that's basically it. A few things happen (Mei is briefly lost and the mother has to delay her return home) but really, this isn't a movie about exciting plot points. It's about the whimsical world of these two young girls and how lucky we are to step into it for a short while.

At the risk of sounding a million years old, I also love that this '80s flick isn't overly stimulating like so many TV shows and movies today are. And as an extra bonus, the father figure is the primary parent here (since the mom is sick in the hospital), which is a refreshing take on the trope. But mostly, My Neighbor Totoro is just a very lovely, very gentle film that kids and parents can enjoy together—again and again.