Studio Ghibliis renowned for its family-friendly films, and most of all for its beloved mascot, Totoro, who has become something of a symbol of Japan as a whole. However, Totoro’s origins are quite different from how the character turned out, and it all has to do with, surprisingly,Princess Mononoke.
Princess Mononokecame out in 1997, but Hayao Miyazaki actually started working on the movie much earlier; 17 years earlier, in fact. The idea forPrincess Mononokechanged a lot between that first version in 1980 and the actual movie, with one of the biggest changes being the deletion of a character who looks suspiciously similar to Totoro.
Miyazaki Revealed His Prototype Totoro in a Book
Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke: The First Story” Uncovers a Lot
In 1993, the early version ofPrincess Mononoke, from 1980, was released as a book with some beautiful watercolor illustrations drawn by Miyazaki himself, known asPrincess Mononoke: The First Story. This book was later translated and brought to the US by VIZ Media in 2014, offering Western fans their first look at Miyazaki’s early draft.
The story of the book follows a samurai who is weary and lost after fighting in a long war. He runs into a cat-like spirit creature, or mononoke, which saves his life.However, the mononoke makes a demand in return: to take the samurai’s daughter’s hand in marriage, placing the man in a serious dilemma.
The mononoke in question happens to look shockingly similar to Totoro.While a little less round and a bit more cat-like, the mononoke has Totoro’s distinctive grin, making the comparison immediately obvious. The story goes on to be a bit likeBeauty and the Beast, with the man’s daughter bonding with the mononoke over time.
Elements of many Ghibli films can be seen here; the daughter is quite likeChihiro fromSpirited Away, for example, in her determination to help save her father no matter the cost. The proto-Totoro is obvious, and the looming threat of war, overshadowed by fantastical and supernatural magic happenstances, is pure Ghibli.
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While no one was interested in developing Miyazaki’s story in 1980, he says that this book ended up shaping the next decade of his life, driving him to bring elements of the story to life in his works. Totoro was obviously taken from the drawings for this book, altered, and shifted until taking on the familiar appearance he has today.
Although Totoro started out as a scarier version of the friendly giant, even thePrincess Mononoke: The First Storyiteration of Totoro isn’t really a bad guy; while he does demand the samurai fulfill his promise and bring him a daughter to wed, the mononoke in the story works hard to help the daughter save her father and protect her.
It’s definitely hard to imagine this early version ofTotoro being Ghibli’s mascot, though, as he might just be a little too dark for the kids. Perhaps Totoro’s image was softened as soon as it was decided thatMy Neighbor Totorowould aim at a young audience.
Still, had Miyazaki gotten his original script made, the iconic Totoro would be a far more terrifying and powerful figure than the kindly forest spirit thatStudio Ghiblifans know and love.
