ESL Movie Guide Worksheets on "My Neighbour Totoro" - Studio Ghibli

A movie-guide worksheet for My Neighbour Totoro pairs blank film-info and character-description fields with a character-perspective diary writing extension.

Year groups: Secondary and Sixth Form, Lower Secondary, Years 8–13
Pages: 3
File type: PDF
Preparation: Print ready

Updated Jul 04, 2025

Subject: Formal Writing, Creative Writing, ESL, Vocabulary, Writing, Language Development, English
Topic: ESL, English Second Language
Resource types: Writing Prompts, Worksheets, Worksheets & Printables
Preparation: Print ready

From the author

About this resource

ESL Movie Guide Worksheets on "My Neighbour Totoro" - Studio Ghibli - Japanese Animated Film

This English Second or Foreign Language (ESL EFL TESOL) teaching resource is a 3 page printable PDF movie guide for "My Neighbour Totoro - Studio Ghibli" (1988 Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli) is designed to help English as a Second Language (ESL EFL TESOL) learners. This teaching resource can be ideal for post-movie activities and is ideal for Middle School and High School students, from 7th to 12th grade. This ESL EFL TESOL (English Second or Foreign Language) Movie Guide Activity can be great for newcomers and any English language learners, making it an amazing teaching toolbox to use in ESL EFL classrooms, language centres, or by tutors around the World.

Within this ESL EFL Movie Guide on "My Neighbour Totoro - Studio Ghibli" (1988 Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli), ESL EFL TESOL teachers can find the following English Second or Foreign Language (ESL EFL TESOL) film activities:

General Information – Students fill in key details about the film, including the director, genre, release year etc.
Vocabulary Builder – An activity dedicated to new words and phrases, to improve ESL EFL students’ English vocabulary
Character Analysis – Students describe the main characters, helping them practice descriptive language and comprehension.
Movie Timeline Activity – Students arrange scenes in chronological order to enhance their understanding of the storyline.
Favourite Scene Reflection – A writing activity where students describe and explain their favourite moments from the film.
Movie Review Writing – Learners express their opinions in a structured review, improving their evaluative writing skills.
Creative Writing Activity – Students imagine themselves as one of the characters and write three diary entries from that character’s perspective, deepening their connection with the storyline.

This "My Neighbour Totoro - Studio Ghibli" (1988 Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli) movie guide is designed to create an enjoyable and stimulating learning experience for intermediate advanced ESL students.

ESL with Alan is an amazing Teaching Resources Store which aims to support English as a Second or foreign Language (ESL EFL TESOL) Teachers, Educators and Tutors around the globe (be it online or offline) to achieve their students' learning objectives while creating an enjoyable and stimulating learning environment. Never Forget! Learning is fun, So should English! Always

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Record basic film information (director, genre, voice cast, release year) for My Neighbour Totoro.
Describe each of seven named characters from the film in the student's own words.
Write a three-part diary entry as one of My Neighbour Totoro's seven characters, retelling three scenes and capturing that character's thoughts and emotions.

Teaching tips

Because most of the Totoro worksheet is open-response with only the film-info fields, the seven character names, and the diary prompt pre-labeled, walk through the blank sections with students before they watch so they know what each one is asking for.
The character list (Satsuki, Mei, Granny, Kanta Ōgaki, Father, Mother, Catbus) can double as a pre-viewing character-name preview for students unfamiliar with the film.
Since the three-page diary extension calls for a longer written response than the rest of the guide, save it as a follow-up task once students have finished the film-info and character sections for My Neighbour Totoro.

Skills covered

Film-information recall — students record the director, genre, voice cast, and release year.
Character description — students write a description for each of seven named characters.
Perspective-taking narrative writing — students retell Totoro scenes in first person as one of the film's seven characters.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What does the closing diary-writing task ask students to do for My Neighbour Totoro?

Imagine themselves as one of My Neighbour Totoro's characters — Satsuki, Mei, or another cast member they connected with — and write three diary-style pages, each representing a different scene, retelling events from that character's point of view.