This strange creature is still in Japan. Maybe.

Starring: Voices: Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, Leo Salonga, Frank Welker, Pat Carroll, Kath Soucie, Ashley Rose Orr

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Trees and people used to be good friends. I saw that tree and decided to buy the house. Hope Mom likes it too." – Tatsuo Kusakabe

Why watch this? It's a beautiful, panging vision of childhood and imagination.

Plot Summary: When two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei, move with their father to a new home in the Japanese countryside to be closer to their ailing mother in the hospital, they discover that their new home and the nearby woods are filled with strange and delightful creatures. They soon befriend a giant and gentle forest spirit known as Totoro. Totoro and his friends introduce the girls to a world of magical adventures, including a ride aboard the extraordinary Cat Bus.

Dad's Preview: This wonderful film, from the mind of the masterful Hayao Miyazaki, takes us inside the brains of two children who move into a new house to be closer to their ailing mother. When their father boards the bus to work, the children's fantasies, to explore, to learn, to be sad, come to life. They encounter benevolent spirits to accompany them. It's a warm film that will touch your memories of childhood and the joys you had. It will perhaps also flush out some perhaps painful memories, too. Both are a valuable part of who we are. The genius here is that all those thoughts are better dealt with as a big fluffy, bouncy-bellied cat-creature. That should give you comfort.

Studio Ghibli; Toho