Reference
"My Neighbor Totoro" provided a glimpse into a child-like perception of complex ecological processes, and could be a tool in a ecology or environmental science class to introduce concepts such as competition and ecological disturbances. Early in the film, the children admired the large Camphor tree in the forest near their house. The Camphor was significantly larger than every other tree in the surrounding area, and ecologically, the existence of only one large tree can be attributed to resource inter- and intraspecific resource competition. As individual trees in the fictional forest competed for resources, the competitive plants took up increasing amounts of water, nutrients and space, which over time, led to a thinned population composed of only a few large individuals. The survival of a single lone tree could also be attributed to human disturbance within the forest. When the father sees the large Camphor, he remarks that the tree is "from the time trees and people used to be friends." This statement, although it anthropomorphizes the trees and their capacity for friendship, allows insight into the ecological history of the film's setting. The agrarian neighborhood that the family lives in was likely once covered by forest. As more humans settled into the area, they likely cut down the trees for lumber and fuel, and likely did so at an unsustainable pace. Removal of the largest and oldest trees would shift the age distribution of the populations and create a population dominated by small, young individuals. In addition, when the children discovered the "Totoros" inside the Camphor tree, environment within the tree was portrayed as a much more vibrant and colorful environment compared to the bleak rice farming fields surrounding the girl's home. The rice paddies and mowed fields were representative of highly disturbed areas, and thus had reduced diversity of species. In the film, rather than the monotonous green hillsides in the agrarian neighborhood, which were likely composed of a very limited amount of species, the Totoros' home, which was previously "untouched" by people, was carefully illustrated and the many distinct plants gave the appearance of a greater species richness composed of late-successional species. Although it is a film intended for children, "My Neighbor Totoro" is appropriate for all ages and provides some ecological situations that could be used to spark a classroom discussion. While the existence of "spirits of the forest" may come across as a bit silly to older students, the Totoros served as a plot device to introduce several questions about the "natural" world.
