Catbus (ネコバス, Nekobasu) (referred to in the film as ねこのバス, Neko no basu) is a fictional supporting character in the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is a large, grinning, twelve-legged cat with a large bushy tail and a hollow body that serves as a bus, with windows and seats covered with fur. The character's popularity has led to a spinoff short film,^[1] toys for children, an art car, and an exhibit in the Ghibli Museum. Catbus is believed to be based on the Japanese bakeneko (化け猫, “changed cat”), an ancient urban legend where cats that grow old learn to shapeshift. In the original Japanese version of My Neighbor Totoro, Catbus is voiced by Naoki Tatsuta, whilst in the Disney English release, Catbus is voiced by Frank Welker, and by voice actor Carl Macek in the Streamline Pictures release.

Character description

The Catbus, a character in My Neighbor Totoro, is depicted as a fantastical combination of feline and bus attributes. It features a large, wide-grinning cat head, twelve legs resembling those of a cat, complete with sharp claws, and a bushy tail. The body of the Catbus is designed to resemble a bus, with a framework that includes a hollow interior lined with fur-covered seats and a shape-shifting door for passenger boarding. The eyes of the Catbus function as headlights, and it has mice with glowing eyes positioned on its upper front, serving as taillights. The fur of the Catbus is orange with brown stripes adorning its back, forehead, legs, sides, and tail. Within the context of My Neighbor Totoro, the Catbus possesses the ability to appear and disappear at will, and can travel to any destination desired by its passengers.^[2]

Media

• Catbus was featured in the short 13-minute film Mei and the Kittenbus, which is shown only in the Ghibli Museum.
• Catbus was parodied on the "Married to the Blob" episode of The Simpsons.
• At Burning Man 2002, a Catbus was a featured art car.^[3]
• In the video game Persona 5, Morgana can turn himself into a bus. He explains that the reason he can do this in the Metaverse is that the Japanese public has familiarity with cats transforming into buses "for some reason", referencing Catbus.^[4]
• An unofficial gravity racer version of the Catbus featured in the London 2019 edition of the Red Bull Soapbox Race.^[5] The 'Team Totoro' vehicle negotiated jumps and other obstacles at speeds over 30 miles per hour to complete the Alexandra Palace course.
• A car resembling Catbus briefly appears in the Cars Toons short "Tokyo Mater".^[6]
• Catbus was used as a design base for the six-legged sky bison Appa on Avatar: The Last Airbender.^[7]

Other references

• The velvet worm species Eoperipatus totoro, discovered in 2007, was named by the scientists because of its resemblance to the Catbus.^[8][9][10]
• In the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Japan, there is an exhibit of a large plush Catbus, which can be played with and entered by children 12 years and under.^[11]
• Catbus has been referenced by Anthrocon staff when mentioning its hotel shuttle service from remote hotels in Pittsburgh.^[12] Commenters have suggested that in this instance, "CATbus" would be for "Circulating Anthropomorphic Transit bus".