The Small Plants World in The Tilm “My Neighbor TOTORO”

By+A+Meng

"My neighbor totoro" is an animated film directed by hayao miyazaki， the Japanese animation master. The film depicts the Japanese beautiful countryside before the highly developing in economy， that is a world full of fantastic imagination and can only be seen by children. In todays accelerating urbanization， the natural ecologies we were familiar with in childhood are less and less； rewatch the lovely film， we may be able to pick up the taste of childhood from the living plants.

The Softhearted Time Under The Camphor

The film tells a simple story. Xiao Mei and Xiao Yues mother is ill and need to live in the country hospital， in order to breathe fresh air to nurse her health. Father take the two daughters to move to the quiet country form the noisy city， the new home and the surrounding scenery make two little girls happy. Near the new home grows a great camphor tree admired by people. Thanks to this tree， the two little sisters meet with Totoro of magical power and its cat bus.

The camphor tree runs through the whole movie， the little sisters and Totoro play in the silent tree， shelter under the tree， the scenery is calm， serene and sweet. Camphor tree grows not only in Japan， in southern China， its also the most common ornamental tree. Its majestic tall， stretching the branches， poised and graceful， also sends out a light faint scent many people love. The camphor with unique temperament and the film full of tender feeling bring out the best in each other.

The film is sending out the fragrance of the soil， it depicts fine and real life， a lot of scenes of wild flowers， grasses， crops and trees are not drawn in random. If identify carefully， you can tell the common plants in your childhood or even today.

The Yard Surrounde By Wild Flowers

In the film， the two sisters play happily in their courtyard， that is their own small garden， In fact， its a wasted garden， weeds have grown all over. But it can be seen that the former owner built a traditional Japanese garden carefully. The jagged rocks are piled up to build a little pond， a stone lamps is planted. In traditional Japanese courtyard， there is always stone lamps. In the traditional concept of Japanese， stone lamps can not only lighting， the “net fire” of stone lamp can also remove the pathogens， purify all things. As the courtyard has been neglected for too long， the water in the pond almost leaks out， at the bare places in the pond grow full of weeds. In the weeds ， there are tall peduncles， with violet flowers on them. This is iris sanguinea. The iris sanguinea love water， it like to grow at the water side. The violet iris sanguinea may be the ornament plant of the old master， or wild flowers from somewhere.

At the side of Xiao Mei in the courtyard， there are many familiar wildflowers. They bloom harder， perhaps for Xiao Mei arrives. The most attractive are the white flowers of erigeron annuus which are very thin and tall， common in many places. But it is a kind of alien plant， whose hometown is the American Continent. Under the erigeron annuus， some blue flowers take out， those are dayflowers， which also like wet environment， the two small blue flower petals like ears are their typical characteristics.

There are some paths clearly visible in the waste garden. The semen plantaginis loves growing on the road side. The leaves and flowers of this plant has strong thoughness， not afraid of human trample. So it got the name “plantain”， means not afraid of being rolled even growing around the cars. In the grass， there are yellow and white flowers. The yellow flowers are high， their leaves are bending and covered with sharp spines， this is sonchus oleraceus， the “tu” in ancient Chinese is referred to it. Few take it as vegetable， for it tastes bitter， even poisonous milk will seep when breaking off the branches and leaves. In addition， the yellow flowers of dandelion， the three leaves of trefoil， the beautiful spica of plantago lanceolata， the purple flower of field thistle， the inula flower lower than sonchus oleraceus and the common pricris hieracioides in Japan also appear from time to time in the film.

The Tree Hole Of “Delicious Food”

In the film， Xiao Mei falls into the bushes in the tunnel， and finds the “monster” sleeping. Around the tree hole are full of green bushes and colorful flowers， like a land of idyllic beauty. Totoro is living comfortablely in such an environment. Among the plants， those with yellow flowers are buttercup， whose petal has burnish like satin. See its English name- buttercup， small cups with flashing butter； you can see some red fruits in the green， they are like mini strawberry if identify carefully， its leaves are also like strawberrys， this plant is called mock strawberry， they like the cool and humid enviroment； the pink plant is purple pansy， who has a long spur， this structure can help identify the pollinating insects and ensure the accurate pollination； at last， the four petals of white flower is cordate houttuynia， its taste is not pleasing to every one， some take it as food， while some take it only as wild flower.

Fruits And Vegetables In Countryside

There are many country scenes in the film， the green color and the natural feeling make audience feel as touching the beautiful countryside： the flowers， crops and fresh fruits and vegetables make you yearn rural life. There are beautiful hollyhock on the ridge of Xiao Yues neighbor， a grandma. The hollyhock is tall， it will leave white， yellow， pink and red flowers in summer， which can also be seen in China. Xiao Yue and Xiao Mei encounter heavy rain after school， nest to the hid in recess where they get out of the rain is the very popular hydrangea in Japan. The hydrangeas color may change along with the soil Ph， from blue to pink. Its flowering season is just the rainy season， the chaning flower color is quite like the unsetted weather. On the ridge of afternoon， the golden sunflowers indicate a good weather， the open faceplate will follow the sun to roll from the east to the west. One day in the country passes.

In the countryside of childhood， the biggest happiness are the mature fresh melons and fruits in summer. There are cucumbers and tomatoes in the vegetable spot of the neighbor grandma. The shelf of cucumber is not very high. Although the tomato is not vien，its heavy fruits need short shelf to support. In the right， there are corns， Xiao Mei can break them down only with the grandmas help. The eggplant are blooming， tender eggplants will soon can be eaten. The rural life is drawn carefully by the director， real and memorable. Todays child can rarely see the vegetable spots， it may be hard for them to guess the riddle “purple stem leaves purple flowers， purple flowers turn into purple melons”.

"My neighbor totoro" is a cartoon about childhood and grow up. Like every child， Xiao Yue and Xiao Mei have met troubles and enjoyed happiness in the growth. They see Totoro that cannot be seen by others， its a god of child interest， and a symbol of the spirit of nature. It gives the sisters oak tree sees， as if to pass down the love of nature. The sisters plant the seeds in the yard， means planting hopes of loving nature into peoples heart.