And the wrapping makes it extra special.

While fans all have their own personal favorites within the studio’s library of anime films, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of people who love Studio Ghibli love Totoro. Sure, there are more complex and challenging Ghibli works than My Neighbor Totoro, but the cuddly forest spirit embodies so many of the core elements of whimsy and mystery in Ghibli’s storytelling that he’s the de facto mascot for the studio.

So even if Totoro isn’t on the signs for Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum, he’s the first “employee” visitors see, manning the ticket booth as shown in the photo above. He’s there day in and day out, and apparently someone recently decided that he’d earned a reward for all his hard work, as on Wednesday the Ghibli Museum tweeted:

“None of us noticed it at the time, but someone secretly left a present for Totoro at the ticket booth. Thank you.”

So what kind of present did Totoro get?

Acorns, of course! Four nicely formed little acorns, skillfully and artistically wrapped in leaves, just like the bundle that Totoro gives to sisters Mei and Satsuki in the anime.

In addition to a flood of “Suteki!” (“Lovely!”) reactions, Japanese Twitter users have responded with:

“Now I can’t stop smiling.”
“So many positive feelings here.”
“Totoro must have been so surprised!”
“I wish I could have seen the package sitting there on the counter.”
“I wish the whole world could be made up of kindness like this.”

Totoro, as usual, has not made any direct statement, but we’re sure the big guy is feeling as warm and fuzzy on the inside as he is on the outside.

Source: Twitter/@GhibliML
Top image: Wikipedia/UpdateNerd
Insert image: Studio Ghibli
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