- It was connected to the Kohaku river and (ko)Haku saved her and then the shoes drifted downstream until they eventually hit a pond. The river was then filled in years later.
- Only problem is that the events of Totoro are occurring 1952-1956 (depending how you interpret the calendar behind the mom at the hospital) and Chihiro's time is shown to be contemporary 1990s. Kohaku River (the spirit) could easily be around that long and not age but it would make Chihiro at least in her 50s by the time of Spirited Away! And I do not think that you can stretch Spirited Away to occurring in the late 1950s - early 1960s because the technology was all wrong. The car was too modern for one thing.
- Time flows strangely in the world of spirits. Perhaps Chihiro lost her shoe in the '90s, but it was found in a different time period.
- Much as I like this WMG, Chihiro's lost shoe was shown to be a pink sneaker in a flashback, the shoe in Totoro is a sandal.
- Only problem is that the events of Totoro are occurring 1952-1956 (depending how you interpret the calendar behind the mom at the hospital) and Chihiro's time is shown to be contemporary 1990s. Kohaku River (the spirit) could easily be around that long and not age but it would make Chihiro at least in her 50s by the time of Spirited Away! And I do not think that you can stretch Spirited Away to occurring in the late 1950s - early 1960s because the technology was all wrong. The car was too modern for one thing.
- Wait. WAIT. Are you...? You...Dude? This movie was made long before that series was even conceived!
- ^ Someone's new to WMGs.
- It seems like the spirits have some choice over whether they can be seen or not, even though they usually only choose to appear to younger children. It's possible that Totoro just wanted to be visible to Satsuki for practical reasons, like making certain that Mei would be believed and protected.
Another twist comes with Mei (apparently born 1954). Say Mei marries at some point in the seventies, she may go on to have a family, and there's nothing to stop her doing that with a man named Ibuki. In 1991 (The year of Maya Ibukis birth) Mei would still only be 37, still a perfectly reasonable age to have children, and could well be Maya's mum. Although she may not have directly inherited the family appearance as dominant genes, she may still still carry the gene's recessively and pass them onto Maya, hence Maya looking so similar to Yui.
Also, Totoro is Kaworu's earliest form to appear on earth!
- That leads into some Fridge Horror: Totoro exemplifies how beautiful Japan is, and if this is true, it will all be ruined in a matter of decades.
Alternatively -
Specifically, the big grey Totoro is the dad (or father figure if the spirits aren't biologically related) and the the little ones are his children. They sorta mirror the Kusakabe family. Both Dad and the big grey Totoro are fun loving but protective. Satsuki and the medium blue Totoro are growing up and learning responsibility, and the baby Totoro mirrors Mei's childlike curiosity, as well as their tendency to wander off and explore.
- Or she just has some illness that doesn't involve adultery. Mei might just have lighter hair because she's only four years old; Both of my parents are dark haired, and yet I was blonde as a small child. Also, Satsuki's hair is dark brown, not black.