Mr Neighbour Totoro play with tweens/teens?

[Thematic]

I'm thinking of booking kids theatre week tickets for Mr Neighbour Totoro. But my kids are 11 and 13. Are they too old for this one? My eldest loves Anime hence my thinking he might be interested. Anyone been with kids this age?

I'd go with you if they say no! I don't actually know anything about the show but it's a fabulous film. I'd say go for it.

Went with my 16 year old DD, we both absolutely loved it. We loved the film and it has somehow captured the spirit of that - pure magic. There were children and adults of all ages when we went. It's a great theatre with really good views from all seats

Thanks. My two are boys, do you think that's likely to make a difference in whether they'd like it? We haven't seen the film.

My children who are between 28 and 34 would probably still love to see this if it wasn’t billed as a children’s show they all still love anime films. I am sure your boys would enjoy it.

It's absolutely AMAZING !
Does help if you've seen the film and know the story but it's a fantastic stage show.
I recommend watching the film with them to see if they like it.
Do they generally like Studio Ghibli films?

It's not "billed as a children's show" 🤔

@Needmorelego I just assumed it was as OP wondered if her sons were too old for it, even better if not

@Evenstar children would enjoy it but it's definitely one for all ages.

I’m 49. I took my kids (both age 24).

great show.

Loads of boys in the audience when we went. A 20-something male colleague went and said it was the best thing he'd seen on a stage!

Mine were 14, 12 and 9 when we went - we all loved it (as did DH and I - aged 46).

Definitely not just for kids or for girls. My DH and DS 14 loved it as much as me and my two DDs 17/18. And I don't even like the Ghibli films (the rest of the family do).

It is a glorious adaptation of a wonderful film. If they are older, there’s a whole deeper level on which you can look at it (without giving any spoilers, it is set in rural Japan in the 1950s and the shadow of the nuclear bomb is a background theme that wouldn’t be obvious to small kids, but is a really interesting discussion point for teens).

My 18 year old went with her dad and loved it. They went for a Japanese meal after!

It's absolutely fantastic, DSS came with us & he was 18. We are all fans of the film though. Agree that it's the best thing i've seen on stage

We took DDs 19, 20 and 22 to it and we all loved it. DD3 immediately booked to take her boyfriend too. The production is fantastic.

My boys are 14&8, we went at half term and everybody loved it, I would really recommend going!

My Dd (26) took me to see Spirited Away last summer. There was a huge age range, from little kids(who unless they could read wouldn’t follow the dialogue) to older than me (64) I’d say the tweens was the most represented age group. And lots of boys.Are there tickets left? SA sold out fairly quickly. Go, it’ll be amazing.

I don’t think there’s much point in seeing it if they haven’t seen the film, and if they’ve never been interested in the film I don’t see why they’d be bothered by the play.

DD has loved the film since she was very small and went to see the play with DH (also a big Studio Ghibli fan) when she was just 15 and loved it.

I took my 9 year old dd to see it, it was too long for her and she said it was boring when asked afterwards.

For context, she watches a lot of (age appropriate and carefully screened) anime and while Ghibli is classic nostalgia, it's slow and tame compared to what she usually watches so only of limited interest to her.

My dh and I are big anime fans but I find Ghibli twee and while I enjoyed the staging, they ruined the suspense of my favorite bit which peed me off

Theatre is so much better than film. I loved Totoro when I saw it at The Barbican the staging was so clever. In our group was two 70 year olds one 40 and children 6 and 8.. All really enjoyed it, the 8 year old felt it was better than the Lion King which he had recently seen.

The theatre was full of adults when I went maybe about 10 children in the whole theatre.

Its definitely not a kiddy show.

Fantastic show - both DC loved it

@Thematicthe film is a Studio Ghibli classic & the stage adaptation is really magical. It is universally loved by all ages BUT I’d be wary of an 11 & 13 yr old seeing it 1) without having seen & liking the film first & 2) & expecting an anime for teens. It’s a story set in childhood - one of the main characters is a 4-5yr old (maybe even younger) who screams & shouts like a little girl & a teen boy might find it too babyish. It’s not - it’s about (as all Studio Ghibli films are) much much more - but if they don’t know what they’re in for they might not really “get” it. The magical & enchanting part may appeal to a younger audience or at least one who have already got an attachment to the original imo.

Have they seen the film? We went to the Barbican last year with late teens kids who grew up with Totoro and they LOVED it, but I would say some of the younger kids in the audience didn’t quite get it: I think the production is more angled at older audiences. I also think some of the magic is seeing how cleverly they manage the shift from
film to theatre. We loved it but we are huge Ghibli fans!

Did you go op ?