Totoro Origami

The origami beneath is my own conception. I created it in a calm and happy day, which of course made me think about the excellent animation of Hayao Miyasaki : My neighbor Totoro. Later, in a train, I reconstructed the origami and wrote down each step. And here is at last the definitive version, photographed in details.

Other Totoro foldings exist on the net, and I certainly do not intend to impose my own as the official one. Everybody should be free to choose, adapt, and create. And by the way, if you do a folding of your own, or a variant on this one, do not hesitate to contact me, I'm interested!

My thanks also goes to Zülal Aytüre-Scheele, for her book « L'encyclopédie des Origami », published by Fleurus. Some may recognize a variant of the beginning of the rabbit origami... which indeed inspired me with its large ears.

The folding below is of average difficulty. Don't pay attention to the number of steps, many were precisely added only to give more details. My intention is of course to enable everybody to make her/his own Totoro!

As usual, the origami starts with a square.

Fold it along the diagonals

Unfold...

... and return it. Now fold it along the sides, this time.

You should get this: the centers as mountain folds, and the diagonals as valley folds.

Now wrap the paper into a small square, the previous folds should make this natural.

Don't do that. This photo is here only to show you another basic form. This is what you get if you do the previous steps the other way around.

So, let's use the small square. Ensure the opening is on the bottom. Now fold the sides toward the center.

Fold and unfold the top, and crease the fold well.

As shown on the photo, unfold the bottom...

...to close the figure on the top.

Return the paper. Then fold the bottom corner toward the center.

Fold it the other way around, inside the figure.

Now return the paper again.

Turn one of the flaps...

...so as to fold the corresponding side of the square as shown, toward the center.

Do the same on the other side.

Close the figure.

Put it upside-down, without returning it.

Turn one of the flaps again.

And fold the flap itself toward the center, as shown.

Close the figure...

...to do the same...

...on the other side.

We'll now make the tail of Totoro. Fold the bottom point toward the center.

Open the sides so as to lock the point inside.

Close and squash well.

Now fold again the tail of Totoro toward the center. For example, by putting the point of the triangle on the line, as shown.

Return the paper.

Fold the ears toward the bottom...

...and unfold pretty points toward the top. It's up to you to choose the ears direction and size. I personally like vertical external borders, but some may prefer other directions.

Crease the folds well before this step. It's about folding inside the ears, so they don't show up neither on the front nor on the back.

Here is the result from the front side...

...and from the back.

Still from the back, unfold now the tail and one of the flaps.

Fold one of the flaps toward the exterior, so as to make an arm. The folding starts below the ear, but stops before the border. The further it is from the border, and the higher will be Totoro's belly. But the arms will be smaller too, so it's up to you.

Do the other arm the same way.

And close the figure.

Also close the tail, to visualize where is the bottom.

Now correct the global shape, by folding the sides under the arms. As said above, the arm folds don't go up to the edges. This is to higher Totoro's belly.

Fold the sides under the arms inside...

...on both sides.

Return the figure. Here is Totoro from the front...

...and here again. We'll now smooth the head angles...

...like this, seen from above. Simply fold inside the corners between the ears and the arms, so as to make the shoulders.

Here is the result from the back....

...and the front.

As mentioned earlier, the ears directions change the final look. Here is another folding, where this time the ears interior is vertical.

And another one again, where the arms and belly are higher.

The same, on the back (He is dressing up).

And here he is...

...smiling from the top of a branch!

Copyright (c) Nicolas Brodu, 2003. This Totorigami is free for anybody to use and copy, and should remain so according to the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence.