Since 1990, Studio Ghibli’s Totoro Fund has worked to preserve the region that inspired the setting of Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved 1988 film My Neighbor Totoro. Ghibli recently unveiled a new pair of Totoro-themed T-shirts to benefit Miyazaki’s organization.
Donguri Sora’s new navy and white Totoro Fund Goods T-shirts allow Ghibli fans to show off their love for the studio’s iconic mascot while also supporting a worthy cause. Both shirts feature Miyazaki’s original design of Totoro relaxing on burdock plants, depicted in cute, chibi-style illustrations. Soot sprites, the reclusive spirits of dust and chimney ash featured in My Neighbor Totoro, are also depicted.
Notably, the Totoro Fund previously used this illustration for an exclusive collection of Totoro-themed watercolor-style postcards, which were reintroduced into Donguri Sora’s digital catalog earlier this year. Totoro Fund shirts come in small, medium, large, and XL sizes and have a “ribbed design” that reduces wrinkling. The approximate retail price, including tax, is 3,960 yen (US$24.64) each.
The National Trust of Totoro (renamed the “Totoro Fund” in 1998) was established to protect the Sayama Hills, a lush region located along Japan’s Tokyo-Saitama border. The area, like the setting of My Neighbor Totoro, is dotted with dense forests, reservoirs, and traditional rice farms. For more than three decades, the National Trust of Totoro has collected funds from charitable donors and used them to purchase large portions of Sayama Hills, ensuring that the region’s natural beauty is not marred by industrial development. As of April 2022, the Totoro Fund had preserved over 108,000 square meters of Sayama Hills for present and future generations.
My Neighbor Totoro, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, follows Mei and Satsuki Kusakabe, two sisters who relocate to the countryside with their father after their mother is hospitalized due to illness. While settling into their new home, the girls discover that it, like the surrounding woods, is inhabited by nature spirits who can only be seen by children.
After Satsuki starts school, Mei is playing in the yard when she comes across a small, ghost-like creature carrying an acorn bag. This being eventually leads her to the lair of the film’s titular character, a massive bear-like forest spirit who lives within an ancient camphor tree. Satsuki initially doubts Mei’s story, but she eventually meets Totoro, which leads to a series of exciting and whimsical adventures. Totoro, an internationally recognized anime icon, is now widely adored by fans all over the world.
Viewers in the United States and Japan can watch Studio Ghibli’s entire film library, including the fan favorite My Neighbor Totoro, on Max. Other iconic Ghibli films, such as Princess Mononoke, are set to return to theaters across the United States this year as part of Ghibli Fest 2024. Netflix has made the films available in the majority of major territories, including Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Source – White Totoro Fund Shirt
