In 1988, Studio Ghibli released My Neighbor Totoro — a film that captured the heart of a generation and helped turn the studio into a household name in Japan and abroad. As a tribute to the movie’s legacy, Ghibli is releasing a stunning “Image Board” collection, which includes the first Totoro concept art ever created.
Per PR Times, Iwanami Shoten’s Complete Collection of Hayao Miyazaki Image Boards is a multi-volume series that collects 219 early concept and production drawings created by the titular director. Volume 3, titled Hayao Miyazaki Image Board Collection 3: My Neighbor Totoro, will be released worldwide on March 5, with Kinokuniya US handling the book’s publication in North America. In addition to dozens of never-before-seen Totoro sketches and storyboards, this release contains the image that, according to Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki, ultimately led to the making of My Neighbor Totoro.
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During a lengthy interview featured at the end of the book, Suzuki describes how the original image boards for Totoro were created during Miyazaki’s four-year period at Nippon Animation (1975-1979). During this time, Ghibli’s co-founder honed his animation skills by contributing to works such as Anne of Green Gables and 3000 Leagues In Search of Mother (alternatively titled Marco: From the Apennines to the Andes). While working with Miyazaki, Suzuki noticed one drawing that stood out to him: an image of a little girl standing next to a huge bear-like creature on a dark rainy night. “It all began with this painting of a bus stop in the rain,” Suzuki recounted. “This [was] the pinnacle of what Miya-san and I have been striving for.” Notably, the illustration bears a striking resemblance to Totoro‘s official film poster.
Miyazaki created this particular image after transferring from Nippon to Telecom Animation (1979-1982). Initially, he conceived Totoro as a children’s anime series titled My Neighbor is a Mimin Owl, but this project was ultimately canceled. Suzuki, who rediscovered this drawing after working with Miyazaki on Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, proposed reviving the concept as an animated film. The film was released as a double feature alongside Isao Takahata’s iconic WWII anime, Grave of the Fireflies, which also earned major critical repute for Ghibli.
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Each Miyazaki illustration featured in Volume 3 will be reproduced using high-tech “precision” scanning that aims to accurately recreate the original colors and textures. According to Image Board Collection writer and editor Yoshiharu Tokugi, the book will also present Miyazaki’s artwork with as few alternations as possible in order to preserve each work’s authenticity. “I wanted to make it like a photo book,” he explained. “I suppressed captions, did not include any editorial considerations, and only included information on the materials and sizes…there are traces of tape and thumb tacks. By doing so, it is not a picture of Nausicaa or Laputa, but a picture drawn by Hayao Miyazaki.” Volume 4 of the series, titled Image Board Collection 4: Nausicaa’s Pre-History, will be released in July 2025.
Hayao Miyazaki Image Board Collection Vol. 3: My Neighbor Totoro will be released on March 5, 2025. Depending on the viewer’s geographical location, My Neighbor Totoro is available to stream on Max or Netflix.
Source: Kinokuniya US via PR Times
