This is "Totoro"↓
This is porcupine ↓
01
This totoro, not the totoro
Speaking of "Totoro", everyone's first impression is probably like this:
It's from Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Totoro.
This image is not a certain animal, but a "combination" of several animals. Miyazaki fused the images of bears and owls (some say it is based on pandas, as will be mentioned later) to create such a "nature spirit".
In the movie, when Xiaomei finds the sleeping elf, it is snoring to ~to ~ro~ So, based on this cute purr, Xiaomei named it "トトロ".
"トトロ", transliterated roughly "Bean Dragon" or "Totoro"; the English also uses transliterations, "Totoro".
In other words, the word "トトロ" has no practical meaning in Japanese.
In 1992, Changchun Film Studio translated the film and called it "Neighbor Totoro"
Not a transliteration, not a paraphrase, so how did "Totoro" come about?
On January 1, 1988, Hong Kong singer Jiang Xinyan released a song called "Friendship Heart Seal", which included the word "Totoro":
There are patrons of the guardian deity in the jungle
It was as if it were close
Totoro turned into my good friend
Quietly give me joy and care
"The Seal of Friendship in the Heart"
Solved the case?
Not yet!
We only know that this song is written by Zheng Guojiang, but is he the one who invented the name "Totoro"?
I don't know...
Regarding the origin of the name "totoro", there is also a theory that someone created "totoro" based on the combination of "dragon" in "bean bean dragon" and "cat" of panda.
Panda is said because Miyazaki has begun to conceive of "a story of a girl and a monster" when he co-produced "Panda Family" with Takahata. And the image of this panda is indeed very similar to "トトロ".
Panda family
But there is a flaw in this statement.
The name "Bean Dragon" is mainly popular in Taiwan. Until 1996, Taiwan still used the translation of "Doudoulong" (the theme song for the animation at that time was called "Doudoulong"), and "Friendship Heart Seal" was released in 1988.
The term "Totoro" first appeared, at least no later than 1988.
"Totoro" design draft
Let's pull our eyes back to the little animal at the beginning.
02
Totoro, why is it called "Totoro"
These are actually two problems
In addition to the "Totoro" in the cartoon, there is also a pet "Totoro". That's the "woolly mouse."
The chinchilla, scientific name "Chinchillidae". Taxonomically , it belongs to the mammalian order - Rodents - Porcupine suborder - Woolly rat family - woolly rat genus.
Yes, it's closer to a porcupine than our common mouse — not to mention a cat.
From the appearance point of view, this animal does not resemble a dragon nor a cat, why is it called "Totoro"?
Because it resembles the "トトロ" in the cartoon!
Look at that little look
It's become popular to call "トトロ" "Totoro".
As a result, the woolly mouse was given the name of "Totoro" in reality.
But that's just the most common way of saying it.
There is another saying on Zhihu:
However, this statement lacks more detailed information (such as the time of introduction) and can only be regarded as speculation for the time being.
In any case, the name "Totoro" was first known in Hong Kong.