My Neighbor Totoro / Referenced By

My Neighbor…Turkey?

My Neighbor Totoro has been remembered by many 90s children, because of the distribution of the Streamline Pictures English dub by FOX^note. As Totoro is the mascot of Studio Ghibli, and that people who grew up in The '90s are now adults, it is common to see some references to Totoro, as well as other characters from the film, in some media.

Examples:

Anime and Manga

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: In one of the extras for Volume 7, Hahari mispronounces Toruru's name as Totoro, while the crew debate on what Totoro is supposed to be in Chapter 71.
Gintama: Often will characters in Gintama talk about how the movie My Neighbor Pedro made them cry. It's about a girl whose younger sister was kidnapped and the literally Dirty Cop Pedro has to help her look. Many were surprised to find out that Miyazaki actually likes Gintama and enjoys its parodies of his films.
In the anime adaptation of His and Her Circumstances, Tsubaki and Aya play a prank on Tsubasa by telling her they saw a huge Totoro doll walking by.
Hyakunichikan!!: In Chapter 18, Totoro is one of the movies Shuuto suggests he and Chiho watch.
March Comes in Like a Lion: Momo is a big fan of an obvious Totoro expy named Bodoro, and she tends to mistake Nikaidou for him due to his similar shape.

Film - Animated

Pikachu's Rescue Adventure: Snorlax, a Pokémon that is frequently compared to Totoro (see video games section below), was voiced by Totoro's VA Hitoshi Takagi in the original Japanese version as a Casting Gag.
Song of the Sea: Director Tomm Moore has stated that My Neighbor Totoro was a prominent influence on the film. In particular, the scene where Ben and Saoirse ride on Cu's back to get home, while accompanied by Mac Lir's fairy hounds, is meant to homage the Cat Bus ride in Totoro.
Toy Story 3: A Totoro plush toy is among the toys in Bonnie's room.
Turning Red: Director Domee Shi has stated that Totoro was a major influence on Mei's panda form as an iconic grabbable giant animal that you just want to rub your face in.

Film - Live Action

10 Cloverfield Lane: A Totoro toy is shown in the film.
In the Taiwanese dub of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, because Mary Poppins isn't a particularly well known pop-culture figure there, the line swaps her out with Totoro.
Xiaoming from Ming and Ming has a Totoro - themed pencilcase.

Literature

In Mouse (2017), Anna's old bedroom has a handful of stuffed Totoros on the bed.

Newspaper Comics

In Retail, Lunker dresses up as Totoro for Halloween one year. Totoro fits his character so well that Donnie suggests Lunker actually is Totoro.
Cooper: That would explain a lot.

Television

The South Korean survival drama series Squid Game features a giant doll of a elementary school-aged girl dressed similar to Satsuki.

Pokémon: Snorlax was long believed to be based on Totoro, but is later debunked as Word of God is the creature was based on their game designer Kōji Nishino◊. Nonetheless, the developers were amused with the rumor and Snorlax's later introduced pre-evolution, Munchlax◊, was indeed designed with Totoro as a reference.
In Persona 5, while not mentioned by name, My Neighbor Totoro is implied to be the reason Morgana (who resembles a cat) can turn into a Citroen-model car.
In Team Rose's storyline in Sonic Heroes, Big uses his parasol to descend as Amy and Cream hang onto him, directly referencing a similar scene in the film involving Totoro, Satsuki, and Mei doing the same thing.

Questionable Content: Dale has a Totoro poster framed by his front door that appears in several comics. Marigold also wears a Totoro hat to the Nerd-Con.

Western Animation

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Word of God is he modelled Appa after the Catbus, another multilegged fuzzy creature who serves as transportation for child protagonists. Appa's toothy mouth, yawning and ability to fly also evoke Totoro himself.
Bob's Burgers: In "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal", Bob drinks some absinthe and has a hallucination based on the tree-growing scene, with a cooked turkey as Totoro.
One of the anime/video game characters seen during class roll call in Drawn Together episode "Foxxy vs. The Board of Education" is Totoro.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023): In “Moon Girl’s Day Off” one of the scenes in the photoshoot is a recreation of the bus stop scene with Devil as Totoro.
Robot Chicken: A sketch from "May Cause Immaculate Conception" has Totoro having lost too much weight, much to Satsuki and Mei's horror.
The Simpsons:
- "HOMR" begins with the Simpsons attending an animation convention, and the Catbus is visible on one booth.
- "Married to the Blob" features a hallucination sequence with various Simpsons characters as parodies of characters from Miyazaki films; among them is Otto as the Catbus.
South Park: An episode has Cartman befriending a demon lord and them singing Totoro's theme song while flying.
We Bare Bears:
- Among the movie scenes reenacted by the Bears in "Shush Ninjas" is Grizz as Totoro flying on his umbrella, with Ice Bear and Panda as Mei and Satsuki.
- "The Demon" homages the credit sequences for Totoro.