We Bare Bears Pays Homage to My Neighbor Totoro

Cartoon Network hosts a slew of shows rich with animation, and many of their artists were inspired to draw as kids. For some of these guys, it was the magic of Studio Ghibli that pushed them towards art, and My Neighbor Totoro is often cited as inspiration fodder.

And now? Well, the Hayao Miyazaki classic has gotten a super-cute homage from We Bare Bears.

Over on Twitter, the creator of We Bare Bears pointed out a scene in a recent episode which paid homage to My Neighbor Totoro. As you can see below, the scene is pretty adorable, and it calls back to the original opening of Miyazaki’s most adorable movie.

The video starts off with a blue title screen featuring the name of We Bare Bears in traditional Studio Ghibli font. It goes on to show Ice-Bear taking a little walk with Chloe Park before moving into a slideshow. The pair are seen hanging out together as they ice a cake and even read a book. And if you play this credits sequence next to the one used in My Neighbor Totoro, you will see how they connect.

As you can see here, the original opening to My Neighbor Totoro follows the same pattern. A title screen opens up to Totoro walking around on a bordered background. A slew of creator names are shown as the images pass. Now, fans can start to make their own Ice-Bear and Totoro crossover which Chong would surely be all for.

If you want to check out more of either of these projects, then you can do so pretty easily! We Bare Bears airs on Cartoon Network and is currently developing a film as well as a spin-off show titled We Baby Bare Bears. As for My Neighbor Totoro, the Studio Ghibli movie is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a special Blu-ray release.

Did you connect the dots with this anime reference? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!