Whenever the calendar comes out, Amanda Mendoza VanCleave circles the dates.Studio Ghibli Fest, the long-running theatrical revivals of Ghibli films, has taken on a special meaning for her, her three-year-old daughter and her mother, Araceli. Every year, they go to see each Ghibli re-release in US cinemas.“Right when she sees the opening Totoro logo, she screams ‘Totoro!’” VanCleave, 34, says of her daughter. “Everyone in the theatre started laughing, and I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, sorry.’”Though the family discovered the Ghibli films on HBO Max, their outings to their favourite cinema in Austin, in the US state of Texas, became a tradition. Earlier this month, when they went (again) to see Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 anime classic My Neighbour Totoro, they wore matching Totoro pyjamas.“It’s been our thing,” says VanCleave. “Us three girls together.”The passionate fandom Ghibli tends to inspire is well documented, and the consistency of the Japanese animation studio’s features in cinemas – years, even decades after their release – is without parallel in films. Every year, long-time Ghibli fans, as well as new, little ones, flock to cinemas.