My Neighbor Totoro

you know those memories that seem to get lost until one day a phrase or word brings them to light? this morning, while reading an NPR story, that happened to me. Miyazaki. i was reading about his new movie "Ponyo" and was suddenly struck with the memory of "My Neighbor Totoro."

it was 6th grade and i lived in upstate new york. we were planning a trip down to NYC and Jersey to visit the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Science Museum. it would be a long bus ride with my classmates and our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Townsend, was trying to get us to agree on a couple movies to watch on the road.

every suggestion someone made was booed by the rest of their peers. no one could agree on what to watch. until my friend Chris spoke up. Chris was a "new kid." he had moved to us in january and everyone took an instant liking to him. he was the kind of kid who is attractive, funny, nice, charming, fun to be around, smart, athletic, damn near perfect. even as jaded as i've become about people, i still believe he was perfect. girls and boys loved him equally and he was a friend to everyone.

anyway, Chris pipes up and says "i think we should watch My Neighbor Totoro." i don't think anyone in the room had ever heard of Miyazaki, let alone Totoro before that moment. but suddenly it was all anyone wanted to watch. we loved the idea of this foreign film suggested by Chris. we relished the way "totoro" rolled off our tongues. we chanted it for the next few days until we left for the trip. it became a mantra.

i remember the trip. i remember taking pictures in front of the statue of liberty. i remember re-enacting her pose on the bus ride home with my green foam crown i bought in the gift shop, holding a dr. pepper bottle aloft as my torch and a box of wheat thins as my tablet. i remember the electricity demostration at the museum. i remember begging my mom to get the squished penny as a souvenir.

Totoro, however, has been reduced to a few brilliant images in my mind. i know we watched the movie, i know i enjoyed it. but the movie itself isn't the memory i cherish. never since that day have i seen one person influence a group of their peers quite in the way Chris did. charisma.

and it didn't hurt that shouting "TOTORO!" at every moment drove my poor teacher nearly to the end of her rope.