My Neighbor Totoro (Blu-ray) (Multi-Language & Subtitled) (Region Free) (Japan Version) Blu-ray Region All

A few years later, Blu-ray arrived.

With nearly four times the capacity of a dual-layer DVD, a Blu-ray offers more than double the video resolution of a DVD. Ever since Blu-ray beat HD-DVD and became the prevalent high-definition video format, film companies have taken advantage of new remastering technologies and poured money to create new high-definition versions of older films. These remasterings are sometimes done so well that classic films that suffered from bad video transfers for decades are now getting new leases on life with a new generation of audiences.

Studio Ghibli is one of the companies that has taken great efforts to remaster their older films for high definition, starting with 1984's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 2010. Two years and multiple releases later, the studio finally released My Neighbor Totoro, one of the studio's most defining works (its titular character makes up the studio's logo) and one of my favorite films.

I cannot recall the first time I saw Totoro, which is likely why nostalgia doesn't factor into my love for the film. Instead, my own love for it stems from its ability to make me feel like a child again, taking me back to the days when I could still be enchanted by a film.

The story of Totoro is remarkably simple: Kids move to the countryside, meet magical creatures, and become their friends. Director Miyazaki Hayao captures his audience's imagination with charming moments rather than with the story or technologically advanced animation (the film was entirely hand-drawn). Scenes like the Kusakabe girls' bus stop encounter with Totoro, the appearance of the soot spirits, and the final cat bus rescue have long been engrained in pop culture over the last two decades. They are what make My Neighbor Totoro the classic film it is regarded as today.

I've seen Totoro on various formats (including VHS and DVD), and it has absolutely never looked better than it does right now on Blu-ray. The image is crisp, the colors burst out of the screen, and Hisaishi Joe's score envelope my speakers like never before. With Totoro, Ghibli continues to show consumers that their high-definition releases are not just part of an evil moneymaking tactic, but rather an excellent example of how to preserve classic films. If anyone asks me to show them one film to convince them to upgrade to Blu-ray, Totoro would be on the top of a very short list. It is not only one of my favorite films; it is now also one of my favorite Blu-ray discs in my collection.