For the past few days the Interwebs have been buzzing about the new trailer for Toy Story 3, which features a brief cameo appearance by none than My Neighbor Totoro. I’m honestly not sure how to feel about this new development. On the one hand, it’s nice to see Disney paying homage to Japan’s most celebrated animator, who’s brought us so many wonderful creations over the years. Still, I’ve been a fan of Japanese animation for three decades or more, and much of that time was spent trying to convince friends and relatives that every Disney work wasn’t automatically better than every bit of animation from Japan. As Japanese anime culture gained influence during the 1990s, Disney had a bit of an identity crisis, trying to “beat” anime at its own game with horrible films like Atlantis (heavily inspired by Gainax’s Nadia of the Mysterious Sea), and then there was that business with The Lion King taking more than a little inspiration from Osamu Tezuka’s Jungle Emperor Leo (aka Kimba the White Lion). Somehow, having Totoro show up in an “official” Disney work seems to mark a turning point with the company, an acknowledgement that the animation of East and West are separate entities, but perfectly complementary to each other.
So what do you think about the Totoro cameo? I feel somewhat like finding out two old friends have been banging each other and hiding it from me. ^_^
Totoro makes a cameo in Toy Story 3.
