My Neighbour Totoro: Writing Crawl

Maricelle Peeters
September 14, 2023

I first started using writing crawls earlier in 2023 and have loved them ever since. So much, in fact, that I felt inspired to create my own writing crawl based on one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies. Take a plunge into the calming world of My Neighbour Totoro while crunching your writing word count goals with this crawl. Enjoy!

Note #1: this writing crawl will give you a minimum of 2550 words, an approximate additional 1380 words, plus 234 minutes (3hrs 54min) of writing total. It is generally advised to take a 2-5 minute break in between each sprint.

Note #2: I wrote this crawl in 2nd person present, with "you" following Satsuki's perspective (the main character in My Neighbour Totoro). I did not want to limit this crawl to fans only, hence it's quite detailed at times while it follows the plot.

Note #3: If you rather use the Google Doc of this crawl, click here!

Anyway! Grab some water, put your cowboy hat on, buckle up and let's begin!

You're driving up the road, with your dad and sister Mei, to your new house. You have some candy with you which you share, one handful per person. Write for 3 minutes as you hand your dad, Mei, and yourself some candy.
You notice a police officer - you're not allowed to drive in the back of a furniture van! Quickly write 60 words to duck under and hide with Mei for one minute, hoping you don't get into trouble.
The man turns out to be an innocent postman. You laugh at your silliness and you both wave him hello. Soon after you arrive at the new place and immediately start to explore! Write for 10 minutes to see what you find.
There’s a bridge with tiny fish in the water, and a tunnel of trees. Parts of the wooden house are even rotten! You're exhilarated; the house might be haunted, and you love it. (Bonus: give a whoop - your writing might need lots of editing but you still love it). You help your dad open up the house and see something glimmer inside. It's… acorns? They seem to be falling from the roof. Write to the nearest 50 words to see how many acorns you find.
You leave the mysterious acorns when dad asks you and Mei to open the bathroom for him. You take the key and walk outside around the house to the bathing quarters. Take a 5 minute break, walking around your home (outside if you can).
You and your sister spot movement in the dark, just as you open the bathroom, and get a big fright. But you're a courageous little child, so you take a deep breath and yell, "COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE". Write 7×10 words as you yell, and again 7×10 words for Mei as she yells with you (140 words total), to scare the creepies away.
Dad enters the bathroom but, like you, he isn't scared. He asks if you can find the ladder to the attic for him quickly. Run! Write fast for 3 minutes as you and Mei search the house for the ladder.
You find the ladder and climb upstairs after warning the monsters you're coming. Upstairs it's dark, but you notice there's shutters on the other side of the attic. Sprint to the nearest 100 words to open the windows!
You slam open the shutters, and again you see those dark hairy balls scutter about and disappear the moment light appears! Thrilled and curious, you let your dad know there's something in the house. You go downstairs, but Mei stays behind. She saw where they went. She scares them from their hiding place, but gives herself an equally big fright as they run for it! Sprint in a torrent of dust bunnies for 100 seconds (1 minute 40 seconds) as Mei is frozen in shock.
All the hairy balls disappear, but one stays behind. Write for 1 minute while Mei pointedly catches the dust bunny, and then another as she runs downstairs to show it to Dad. If you get less than 60 words, write another 30 as she bumps into Granny and makes a detour to dad.
The dust bunny has disappeared from Mei's hands and turned into soot! Granny says these creatures are called soot gremlins and they're harmless. You're fascinated but have no time to dwell on it - there's work to do! You're asked to get the pump going, so you run to the river, fill a bucket of water and pour it into the water pump. You keep pumping until the water gets cold. Time yourself as you write a steady 200 words.
You help pack out all your household into the new house. While you're busy with dishes, the neighbour boy, Kanta, brings you all cake. Take a break to tidy your room or clean something for as long as it took you to write the previous sprint, then grab a snack. Finish your snack before coming back to write.
The wind starts to pick up that evening and a storm blows in, making your house creak and shudder. You're bathing when the wind suddenly ceases. You start to hear creepy noises... Start laughing hard to chase the spookiness away! Write 2x the amount of words you wrote in sprint number nine's 100-second sprint.
Success! The soot gremlins decide you're goodly people and they like you, so they leave that night, rising like smoke to the gigantic camphor tree near your house. Write 5 sentences totalling min. 50 words, using the word 'wispy' in one of these sentences.
It's a beautiful morning! You're off on a cycle to visit your mom at the hospital. Write quickly for 3 minutes to push the bicycle with your dad and Mei on it. Jump on and off you go!
Dad cycles along the road until he almost takes a wrong turn. Without your directions he keeps getting lost! Write evenly without stopping for 15 minutes. If you have less than 600 words, Dad took a wrong turn again. Write to the nearest hundred words to get back on track.
Your mom is so happy to see you! She brushes your hair for you and listens to Mei talking about the soot gremlins. Take a 15 minute break and do something for your body (put oil in your hair, cream your hands, clip your nails, wash your face…), or talk and listen to one of your family members, especially the younger ones.
It's morning, at home, on your first day of school! You're making lunch for everyone, but you must hurry or you'll be late. Write 3 minutes quickly as you dish out 3 bento boxes.
You're going to be late! Rush your breakfast, sprinting for 1 minute as fast as you can. Gulp it down and hurry to school! QUICK! If you get less than 100 words, write to the nearest 50 with one hand only as you put your shoes on while running.
Mei, now left by herself while Dad goes through his studies, explores the outside. She keeps wanting to open her lunch box. Write for 12 minutes to help her forget her bento box until noon, and explore.
She finds a couple of tadpoles, and… more acorns! Where do they come from? They seem to create a path. Write to the nearest 100 words in 1-minute bursts as Mei jumps from acorn to acorn, following their trail.
She pauses - is that a creature carrying acorns in a bag? Curious, she chases it and it starts to RUN. Little Mei is determined to keep up, however. Write fast for 3 minutes to try and catch the creature!
The creature tires and hides under the house where Mei can't reach him. He is joined by another and they try to sneak past Mei… But she notices them and resumes the chase! Write quickly again for another 3 minutes to chase them through bushes and into a tunnel of leaves and branches.
Following the tunnel, Mei comes to a big camphor tree and as she tries to climb its roots falls into a hole. She lands in a cosy, quiet hollow with butterflies fluttering around. She finds a big version of the creatures from earlier sleeping comfortably in a nest, and after making an acquaintance, finding out his name is Totoro, falls asleep on his belly, exhausted from all the excitement. Take a nap for 15-30 minutes - you deserve it.
You come home from school, but asking Dad whether Mei enjoyed her lunch box you both realise Mei is not here. You start looking for her everywhere. Write 150 words, saying every person and place name you write out loud, to look for Mei.
You spot Mei's hat lying by the bushes, and following the tunnel through the bushes you find her asleep under the canopy of leaves. You're upset but relieved to see her. Mei is confused - where is Totoro? You have no idea what she's talking about and think she's making this tale up. Write 2 x 5 minutes as she tries to show you the way to Totoro twice.
Mei can't find Totoro and is upset, but you believe her for her sincerity. Dad takes you to the shrine nearby and there Mei discovers the camphor tree by the shrine is where she found Totoro's burrow! Now understanding and happy, you all race home. Don't be a rotten egg! Sprint as fast as you can for 3 minutes.
That night you write a letter to your mom telling her what has happened since you visited. Write 150 words, by hand if you can, to tell her about grumpy Mei and the Totoro, complete with drawings. (Bonus sprint: if you can draw, spend 5 minutes on a sketch of something from one of the scenes you've been writing during this crawl! But five minutes only.)
You're at school again, working hard in class, when Granny shows up with a distraught Mei. You ask the teacher if it's okay she stays with you for the last hour of school, and she lets Mei join you. Write for 10 minutes as you do your school work while Mei draws Totoro to keep herself busy. If you get less than 400 words, Mei distracts you and you have to write an extra 100 words to keep her occupied.
You both walk home from school when it starts to rain. Run towards the nearest shelter! Sprint as fast as you can for 5 minutes.
You find shelter and wait for the rain to pass. As you're waiting, your neighbour boy Kanta brings his umbrella for you. You can walk home in the dry now, though the umbrella has some holes. Take 5 minutes to check your word count for today, or how many pages you have left of your notebook, as you count how many holes there are in the umbrella.
You come home but it's still raining around the time your dad is due to arrive on his bus. You notice he left his umbrella at home and decide to bring it to him. Mei joins you and you two walk in the rain to the bus stop. Take a 15-minute break, walking outside. If it's bad weather, suit up and take a short walk outside.
You arrive at the bus stop to patiently wait for your dad, whose bus should arrive any minute. Mei keeps herself busy exploring around, but soon tires, as it is growing late. She comes to stand next to you and nearly falls asleep on her feet, so you decide to carry Mei on your back. Write twice the amount of words you wrote in the previous sprint (number thirty) to give Mei a piggyback.
She's not terribly heavy, so you manage fine. Just then, you notice lights in the distance. It's a bus approaching! It comes to a stop by the bus station, and lets few people get off… but your dad is not one of them. Disappointed but determined, you wait for the next bus. Write for 20 minutes while you hope it won't be late.
As you wait and Mei is fast asleep on your back, you hear footsteps next to you. You look from under your umbrella, and see Totoro standing next to you! You notice he only has a leaf on his head to stop the rain, so you lend him Dad's umbrella. Write 2 paragraphs (minimum 50 words) as you show him how to open it and hold it over his head.
A couple big raindrops fall from the trees on his umbrella and make a big noise. Totoro laughs at the funny noise, then proceeds to jump, causing the ground to shake… A shower of big drops hammers down on his umbrella, sounding almost like thunder! Write 2% of the word count you've written so far on this crawl (or write 0.5% in words of the character count), your own umbrella catching the thunderous drops as well.
Totoro laughs happily at the noise and Mei wakes up. Then from the distance you see two lights appear. Is that Dad's bus? As it comes closer you realise that, no, it's a Catbus with… Twelve legs?! Write one minute for each leg he has, (1 x 12 =) 12 minutes total. If, once finished, your total word count doesn't end on a number divisible by 12, sprint another two minutes or until your total word count is a multiple of 12.
Totoro gifts you a little bundle and greets you before climbing into Catbus, which then disappears with lightning speed over the horizon. Just then your dad's bus arrives and, still reeling with amazement, you tell him what happened. You saw Totoro! Play this song and write for the duration of the song as you sing and dance your way home in excitement.
Inside the bundle Totoro gave you, there's some acorns and some other seeds too. You and Mei plant the seeds and Mei waters them diligently, but they just won't grow… You write to your mom about this in a letter. For the next 7 minutes, write to tell your mom about the past week's events.
You hope the plants will grow before she comes to visit the coming weekend. One evening soon after, you wake up at midnight to music. Looking outside you see Totoro and his two chibi totoros dancing around the patch of soil where you planted the seeds… You and Mei scramble out of bed, and running closer you realise they're making the seeds sprout with their dance. You join them! Write 400 words as you pull up seedlings in the tree-growing dance.
Working hard together, you pull up and grow the seedlings into one big forest. Then Totoro takes you to the top of the trees where you sit and play flute in the clear summer evening. If you play an instrument, take 10 minutes to practise your instrument and 5 minutes rest. Otherwise, spend 15 minutes resting or napping to this track.
When you wake up the next morning, the forest you grew is gone. You run to the patch where you planted the seeds, wondering what happened, but then notice the seeds have finally sprouted! It worked! Write 100 words in pure child-like bliss and glee, without holding anything back.
It's a warm day and you're out helping Granny pick vegetables. Mei picks a big ear of corn she wants to give your mom when she visits this weekend. You all take a break in the shade. Take a break for 20 minutes; grab a snack or lunch and eat it outside if you can, otherwise take your time to sit in an unusual place (on the floor or on your bed) and finish eating before coming back to write.
Kanta interrupts your break, but not for games. He comes running along with a telegram for you. It's addressed to your dad, but you decide to read it in case it's important. The telegram reads to call the hospital where your mom is. You don't have a telephone so you go to Kanta's uncle who has one. Sprint for 15 minutes as you run there, worried about your mom, Mei following you.
At Kanta's uncle, you nervously dial your dad's number, 31 1382. Write for (3 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 8 + 2 =) 18 minutes. If you get less than 500 words, you accidentally dial the wrong number and need to redial. Write another (31 + 13 + 82 =) 126 words.
You reach your dad and tell him about the telegram. He tells you he will take care of the matter and will call you back after calling the hospital, which calms you. Put your music off if you were listening to any and write the next 10 minutes in silence while you worriedly wait for your dad to call you back.
He calls you back soon after with sad news. As you walk back home you find Mei, who lost you on the way, and you tell her the visit planned with your mom is cancelled because she got sick again. Mei refuses to accept it, saying it's not fair. You get frustrated with her and call her a baby. Write 200 words furiously to run home, Mei following in wails.
At home you hang the laundry with Granny, haunted by thoughts. They said it was just a cold, but so they did last time and she nearly died. She could die for real this time… You burst into tears, Granny trying to comfort you. Write for the duration of this song on repeat while you cry in granny's arms, until you reach the nearest multiple of 200 and have calmed down. As you sob, Mei sees you from inside the house.
After drying your tears and finishing with the laundry, you notice Mei has disappeared. You don't see her anywhere in the house. Sprint a quick 100 words while you run around to look for her in the garden.
She is nowhere to be found, and the neighbours also haven't seen her. You grow worried. You remember how you yelled at her earlier… Write 5 paragraphs totalling a minimum of 200 words to get the whole village to start looking for her everywhere.
While searching for her, you think of the corn Mei picked and wonder if she would try to bring it to your mom at the hospital. Sprint for 15 minutes as you start running down the road to the hospital to check if she's there. After a while you decide to take your tattered shoes off to run better. Close any distracting apps and websites, put your phone on mute and toss it away if you haven't already.
The sun starts to set. You've been running for hours now… None of the people you meet has seen Mei, which likely means she got lost on the way to the hospital. Then Kanta comes running and tells you they found a sandal in the water. Run as fast as you can to Granny to check if it's Mei's sandal, sprinting for 20 minutes.
You arrive completely out of breath. Granny shows you the sandal, but it takes a few moments before you can say anything. You're still panting, gasping, from running for so long so far. Take a 5 minute breather and catch your breath.
It's not Mei's sandal. Everyone lets out a sigh of relief - she's not drowned! But it is getting dark and Mei has still not been found. Desperate to know where Mei is, you run to the camphor tree and ask to see Totoro. You then run into the hollow where you had found Mei sleeping, hoping it will take you to him. Write 300 words to traverse the darkness of the underbush tunnel.
Your request was granted! You bump into Totoro and tell him what happened. Kind as always, he gladly helps you out and seems to have a solution. He takes you to the top of the trees and BELLOWS out into the air. Sprint as fast as you can for 2 minutes, then write again the amount of words you just wrote as you hear the echoes of a meow coming from the horizon.
It is Catbus! Summoned by Totoro, he lands on the tree and agrees to take you to Mei. You climb in Catbus and he RUSHES away. Over the fields, across brooks - even forests open before you! He is faster than the wind itself, it seems. Attempt a 50-headed-hydra (500 words in 5 minutes) as you fly through the landscape towards Mei.
You find Mei sitting next to the road with her ear of corn, unscathed but exhausted. You call out to her, and once Catbus lands onto the road you run towards her. She is so happy to see you, and you her. You give each other a big hug, forgetting the fight from earlier. If you failed the 50-headed-hydra from earlier, write another 100 words here to reconcile with your sister. Otherwise, go make yourself a comfort hug-in-a-mug drink and take a well-deserved 5 minute break.
Seeing Mei's corn ear you ask her if she wanted to give it to mom in the hospital. When she nods yes, Catbus offers to take you there! You gladly accept, climb in and soon arrive at the hospital, sitting on a tree outside your mom's window. You find your dad is visiting your mom. Put your music off and write 200 words as quietly as possible to hear what they say.
You overhear them saying your mom is only ill with a minor cold and she will be out of the hospital in no time. You put Mei's corn on the windowsill for your mom and leave without your parents seeing you. Write for 2 minutes without looking at your screen/notebook, as you disappear from view and go home to Granny.
Your parents find the corn with the engraved message "for mommy". Awe-struck, they believe it to be yours. Days later, you and your sister and some other kids are playing around at home together with your mom, Totoro watching from a distance. Put on the credits song and write for the duration of the song, singing or humming along if you know it. You finished the crawl! Well done!!

The End.

This crawl took me a lot longer to create than I thought, but I love this movie and am happy I got to make a crawl for it. <3

My Neighbour Totoro: Writing Crawl

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