Aug 16, 2008

The Totoro Forest Project


Many of you already know about this event scheduled for September 6, a benefit auction to help preserve the Sayama forest near Tokyo-a place special to many, not least the filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It's the inspiration for many of his films' themes and special sense of mood, especially his endearing "My Neighbor Totoro".

The Totoro Forest Project was begun as a way for some stateside artists to contribute in the best way they could-by creating and donating works of art inspired by the Forest and Miyazaki's totoro(forest spirit) characters. There's also a complimentary blog detailing the various pieces and artists:
Totoro Forest Project Blog

The roster of artists contributing is as impressive as one would imagine given the breadth of both Miyazaki's influence and the center of the event, Pixar. Apparently all the tickets for attending the auction at Pixar are already sold, but online bidding is going to be an option. It's a good cause, and a great chance to buy some amazing art. Here's a couple of examples, courtesy of the blogs linked above:

Bill Cone


James Jean


Tadahiro Uesugi

There's much more to see on the main website. Go have a look. It's a worthy cause in a world of too much development and too few trees and totoros.

1 comment:

mnmears said...

Jenny, thanks for the shout out!

For those interested in seeing the spectacular art in person, much of it will be displayed at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum from Sept. 20 to Dec. 7.