Quick! Someone hail the Catbus! We've got work to do!

Sayama Forest, well known as being the birthplace of Hayao Miyazaki's Tonari no Totoro, is in danger. It should probably come as no shock, but local urban development is threatening to overtake the forest which lies just outside Tokyo.

Now a group of artists and illustrators under the Totoro Forest Project are coming together to raise funds for the Totoro no Furusato National Fund (which has already raised over 3 million dollars and has 1500 members) to help save it. The artists are creating original work loosely inspired by the film. The works will then be sold at auction with all proceeds going toward preserving the 8750 acre wood.

The auction will be held at Pixar Studios in Emerville California on September 6th. There will also be a book and an exhibit to follow soon afterward.

[The image above is the work submitted by my friend Elizabeth Ito]