When you need a friend, Totoro is waiting! The sometimes scary yet loveable Totoro, as well as the Cat Bus, are in Bangkok for an exhibition staged by Studio Ghibli in collaboration with Uniqlo Thailand at CentralWorld.
What is Totoro?
It claims that Totoro is actually the God of Death and can only be seen by the dead and those who are close to death. In this theory, Mei drowned in the pond and Satsuki, not able to face the truth, lies that the sandal isn’t her sister.
Totoros are bipedal mammalian creatures that can move around by walking or hopping. They have rotund bodies with relatively short limbs and a short tail. The ears are long and pointed. The hands have five clawed fingers, which allow them to hold objects such as a bag or an umbrella.
The “My Style, My Ghibli, Let’s Lose Our Way, Together” exhibition features displays with calligraphy by the animation studio’s producer Toshio Suzuki and photos of the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka, located in suburban Tokyo.
The latter was taken by Thai photographer Kanyada Prathan, who is the author of The Tale Of Ghibli Museum.
Certain exhibits have been selected for the UT collection, which marks a decade of Uniqlo in Thailand, where the first store opened at CentralWorld in 2011.
The T-shirts’ colourful graphics are based on My Neighbor Totoro (1988), directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli.
The Japanese movie is about Satsuki and Mei, who moves with their father into a new home in the countryside to be close to their sick mother, who is recovering in a nearby hospital. The two young girls befriend a forest spirit they name Totoro, who takes them on adventures and helps them rediscover hope.
The UT T-shirts are sold together with a pocketable white or yellow tote bag.
Uniqlo’s “UT me!” service further allows personalisation with designs incorporating commemorative stamps, as well as Kanyada’s works, or photos were taken at the exhibition, which runs until March 27.