Three years later, I now realize I may have misinterpreted that quote.

What the hell are you talking about? Bloodthirsty? Does Totoro suddenly start dismembering little kids because there’s textual evidence of a more transcendent meaning? Oh wait, you probably saw the picture, didn’t read the story, and still made your comment.

And how is this not creative? You’re the one not willing to…

If Totoro is the God of Death, does that make the Catbus Charon?

Not necessarily, a totally innocent thing can be just that, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t at least inspired by something scary, and that kind of thing could hurt the image of the totally innocent thing, so the studios will never admit it. Secrets.

So you’re telling me that if I go to an art studio, for example, and I think that a particular painting means X, and the artist says it alludes to Y, I’m wrong?

Except for the fact that Miyazaki basically admitted that Spirited Away was about prostitution. It actually makes the Totoro theory less believable since he was open with the Spirited Away interpretation.

The bath house is a brothel. Chihiro is a child prostitute.