TOTORO FOREST IN DANGER!
Sayama Forest (also known as Totoro Forest), the forest that inspired My Neighbor Totoro is in danger. It's on the outskirts of Tokyo and is being threatened by urban development. Mr. Miyazaki has been running an organization to help buy and protect this forest for several years now. There's a charity effort going on to preserve the forest at this site:
Over 200 top international artists from animation, illustration, and comics are donating artwork especially created for this cause. On September 6, 2008 Pixar Animation Studios will be hosting an art auction event featuring all these wonderful pieces of art. It will be held from 5pm to 9pm. Tickets will be available soon. If you are interested in the paintings or in the purchasing of any to support this cause, please look at the gallery at the Totoro Forest Project web site. You can also make a donation of the amount of your choosing.
In addition to the auction, there will be an art book of the auction pieces and an exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California.
All funds will benefit theTotoro no Furasato Foundation.
I would hate for this forest to be lost to us forever for the sake of more housing. Which will no doubt be too crowded and overly expensive. What about the animals that live there? What about the children who've never had a backyard to run around in, let alone seen a forest? Tokyo is fast becoming a place with little to no trees. This is a rare patch of green amidst many streets and buildings. This is an important part of Earth and something that everyone should experience. Nature is vital to life. This forest inspired My Neighbor Totoro, an amazing anime movie by Mr. Hayao Miyazaki himself. It's a childhood memory and symbolizes hope and imagination for me. I don't want to see something that inspired so much simply disappear.
And like Enrico says in his blog:
❝Miyazaki San has been (and continues to be) such an inspiration to so many of us - a huge influence on me that’s for sure - so we thought it’d be nice to give something back for all the years of wonder and magic he’s given us.❞
Over 200 top international artists from animation, illustration, and comics are donating artwork especially created for this cause. On September 6, 2008 Pixar Animation Studios will be hosting an art auction event featuring all these wonderful pieces of art. It will be held from 5pm to 9pm. Tickets will be available soon. If you are interested in the paintings or in the purchasing of any to support this cause, please look at the gallery at the Totoro Forest Project web site. You can also make a donation of the amount of your choosing.
In addition to the auction, there will be an art book of the auction pieces and an exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California.
All funds will benefit theTotoro no Furasato Foundation.
I would hate for this forest to be lost to us forever for the sake of more housing. Which will no doubt be too crowded and overly expensive. What about the animals that live there? What about the children who've never had a backyard to run around in, let alone seen a forest? Tokyo is fast becoming a place with little to no trees. This is a rare patch of green amidst many streets and buildings. This is an important part of Earth and something that everyone should experience. Nature is vital to life. This forest inspired My Neighbor Totoro, an amazing anime movie by Mr. Hayao Miyazaki himself. It's a childhood memory and symbolizes hope and imagination for me. I don't want to see something that inspired so much simply disappear.
And like Enrico says in his blog:
❝Miyazaki San has been (and continues to be) such an inspiration to so many of us - a huge influence on me that’s for sure - so we thought it’d be nice to give something back for all the years of wonder and magic he’s given us.❞