STUDIO GHIBLI SOOT SPRITES EXCLUSIVE TOTE
Museum Member Price: $36.00
EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITION STUDIO GHIBLI x ACADEMY MUSEUM TOTE
Susuwatari (Japanese: ススワタリ, 煤渡り; "wandering soot"), also called Makkuro kurosuke (まっくろくろすけ; "makkuro" meaning "pitch black", "kuro" meaning "black" and "-suke" being a common ending for boys names), is the name of a fictitious sprite that was devised by Hayao Miyazaki, drawn by Studio Ghibli, known from the famous anime-productions My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Spirited Away (2001) where, in the former, they are identified as "black soots" in early subtitles, as "soot sprites" or "dust bunnies" in the Streamline Pictures English dub, and as "soot gremlins" in the Walt Disney Studios English dubbed version.
In My Neighbor Totoro, the house the main characters move into is full of Susuwatari, which are rationalized as Makkuro Kurosuke, an optical illusion caused by moving quickly from light into darkness. Seeing that the family is made of good people, the Susuwatari leave the house to move to another abandoned area.
They later reappeared in Spirited Away as workers in Kamaji's boiler room.
The protagonist Sen (Chihiro) befriends a number of them by helping them carry coal. Sen is told that if these Susuwatari are not given a job to do, they turn back into soot. Another character, Lin, feeds the Susuwatari much like farmers feed chickens, throwing handfuls of the Japanese candy konpeitō onto the ground for them to eat. After Sen is accepted among the staff of the bathhouse, chiefly by Kamaji and Lin, the Susuwatari become almost admiring of her, and help her in their small ways.
The products in this collection are inspired by the worlds of Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved films.
These exclusive products were produced with Studio Ghibli in Japan and in conjunction with the Academy Museum’s landmark exhibition on the acclaimed filmmaker—bring a piece of Miyazaki’s whimsical worlds home with you today!
Spirited Away © 2001 Studio Ghibli - NDDTM
My Neighbor Totoro © 1988 Studio Ghibli
