My Neighbor Totoro (VHS, 1994)

Departing from the action-oriented plots of his previous films (NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND and LAPUTA, CASTLE IN THE SKY), Japan's most beloved animator, Hayao Miyazaki, provides a slower-paced, stunningly realistic portrayal of life in the countryside. When their mother is hospitalized because of an unspecified illness, two young sisters spend a summer in the Japanese countryside with their father. The children's strange new environment turns out to be a natural wonderland filled with exotic real-life creatures and a trio of furry, woodland sprites who can only be seen by children. The film evokes both the terrors and wonders that children can experience unbeknownst to adults--a feeling the young Miyazaki knew only too well after his mother was hospitalized because of spinal tuberculosis. With homages to ALICE IN WONDERLAND and MARY POPPINS, the second film from Studio Ghibli delighted audiences and put the young animation studio on firm financial footing.