Great site for info on the animated film by H. Miyazaki “My Neighborhood Totoro”
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/totoro/faq.html
He has been called many things from “a giant furry thing” to “a rabbit-like spirit”. Basically, he is a spirit of the forest. Totoro is not a traditional Japanese character: he came completely from Miyazaki’s imagination. However, he is obviously a mixture of several animals: tanukis (the Japanese version of raccoons), cats (the pointed ears and the facial expressions), and owls (the chevron markings on their chests and the “ooo”-ing sound they make with their ocarinas at night).
The name “Totoro” comes from Mei mispronouncing (she has a tendency to do so, though it wasn’t clear in the dub) the word “tororu”, which is the Japanese word for “troll”. When Satsuki asks her “Totoro? You mean, the Troll in our book?” she is referring to their book “Three Mountain Goats” (The Three Billy Goats Gruff). In the closing credits you can see their mother reading the book to them. Although it’s hard to see it on the tape, in the picture book for the movie you can see the picture on the cover shows a goat running over a bridge while a Totoro-like troll looks up from underneath the bridge.
