Studio Ghibli Weekend: My Neighbour Totoro

On Friday night we watched Princess Mononoke with kid 1 so on Saturday afternoon we thought we could show kid 2 some Studio Ghibli magic too.  We chose My Neighbour Totoro for its sweet and innocent look at childhood in rural Japan/Ghibliland.


Satsuki and her little sister Mei move to the countryside to be closer to their mother who is in hospital.  They discover all kinds of magical and mysterious spirit creatures live in and around their old farmhouse and they befriend them.  And in return Totoro (the largest and cuddliest of the creatures) and his friends help Satsuki and Mei in their time of need.

Rating: My Neighbour Totoro is a very simple and slow moving story.  Suitable for a 4 year old who needs some down time on a lazy weekend afternoon.  The older members of the family found it too slow but we enjoyed having it on in the background and watching the occasional snippet of Cat Bus or Totoro.  Kid 2 wanted to watch it again the next day and we wouldn't object to her having a repeat viewing.  Except that now she wants a Totoro soft toy... of course!

Naughty bits: Cat Bus is a little scary/creepy at first so if your child is sensitive then My Neighbour Totoro is best left on the shelf till they are older but our 4 year old was not worried at all.  Other than that Totoro is as clean as your house once you have cleaned out all the soot sprites.

Snacks: Corn on the cob

Family In-quotes: "Come out, come out, where ever you are!"

Related Goodies:
Cat Buses in real life
Cat Bus Rail Puzzle Game

Studio Ghibli Weekend: Princess Mononoke

My husband and I first watched Princess Mononoke in our mid 20's Anime phase.  It's a phase that we've not really grown out of to be honest but the volume of consumption has definitely dwindled this side of parenthood.  As Studio Ghibli is one of the more broad audience orientated studios we thought Princess Mononoke would be a good introduction to Anime's often unique form of storytelling for our children so we sat kid 1 down one Friday night so see how it would go down.  She loved it!  We however, didn't find it quite as satisfying the second time around although Studio Ghibli always have a certain magical quality to their productions.


Princess Mononoke follows the adventures of Ashitaka as he travels far from his homeland to find the cure for his curse from the legendary Forest Spirit.  When he arrives in the western forest he finds himself caught up in the battle between the ambitious humans and the disturbed forest creatures led by the beautiful Princess Mononoke and he struggles to help them both live together in peace. 

Rating: We enjoyed the film but we [the parents] probably won't bother seeing it again.  However kid 1 liked it more and would see it again.  The theme of environmentalism is a bit belaboured but it gives a good opportunity for discussion afterward.


Naughty bits: Princess Mononoke is on the more mature end of Ghibli productions.  There is quite a bit of gore and violence and plenty of weird blobby creatures.  This really is for older children or teenagers because the likelihood of nightmares and awkward conversations are rather high if your kids are sensitive or younger than double digits.  The language is mostly clean though and there is not really any sexual content.

If you are unfamiliar with Anime or Japanese film-making you need to be aware that their spiritual outlook is quite different to traditional Western spirituality and this heavily influences the content of their films.  This is fine if you are happy to introduce your kids to different worldviews and perspectives but parents who are unaware of this may find it unsettling.

Snacks: Blue Jelly and marshmellows

Family In-quotes: "Ugh, I smell like a human"

Related Goodies:
Studio Ghibli Museum

Guardians of the Galaxy

With the impending release of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (been and gone in theatres at time of writing!  I'm so behind!) we decided to introduce kid 1 to the original in the hopes that we would be able to squeeze in a trip to the movies to see part 2.  Alas that did not pan out #momslife but we are ready and waiting for the digital release...


Guardians of the Galaxy was a lesser known Marvel comic series until the movie came out.  The Guardians are a rag tag bunch of scallywags who are brought together by accident and band together for their own gain but over time become friends and decide to be a team; just in time to save the Galaxy!

The movie is full of bright colour, crazy action sequences, more quippy one liners than an 80's Schwarzenegger flick and cheap looking but delightful makeup.  The 70's and 80's soundtrack lent a nostalgic edge to the film which gave it an original spin when held up against the plethora of superhero movies being released at the moment.

Rating: We really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy and will watch it again sometime.  It's fun and keeps good momentum.  Even the few slower emotional moments are quickly made light of and it picks up the pace again.  The plot is fairly basic but that's good when watching with younger viewers.

Naughty bits: We were hesitant at first because there is a fair bit of violence and a few scary parts but it turned out that 11year olds are pretty hardy these days and she slept like a chill 11year old after. There is little nudity and most of it is Chris Pratt so husbands be warned...  and there is also quite a bit of coarse language and behaviour so do check the IMDB parental guide before deciding if Guardians of the Galaxy is right for your family.

Snacks: M&M's or skittles and when someone with the same skin colour comes up on screen you have to eat that colour

Family In-quotes: "What are you doing?"  "Dance-off, bro. Me and you."

Related Goodies:
Geek History Lesson Podcast: Guardians of the Galaxy episode 
TV Series