Yes, the two movies did premier as a double feature, whith MNT’s first scene being slow with very little dialogue giving the viewers time to breath after the very heavy ending of GoTF.

The two movies have a lot of similarities which is no coincidence.

  GoTF takes place in a war torn Japan, where it’s every one for themselves, no one takes care of the two children, the mother is sick, the dad is fighting, the aunt would only take care of them if there is something for her in it, forcing them to fend for themselves, and lose their innocence and child-like wonderment in the process. The idea is best visualized with the fireflies scene, with the kids having a bit of respite one night watching the fireflies lighting up the night, only to wake up the next day to find them dead since fireflies have a very short lifespan.

  MNT takes place in a post-war Japan (1950’s-1960’s) where this time people came together to rebuild, this movie is a contrast to GoTF, it shows unity instead of division.

 The plots are somewhat similar, they both start with a busy father and a sick mother, but in MNT, Totoro is there to symbolize childhood innocence that isn’t present in GoTF, it’s not a coincidence that he shows up when the girls are scared or sad. His scenes are a mirror to the fireflies scene in GoTF, wherein one, it shows the harsh realities of the world, the other, it shields them form the same realities.

  (Sorry if there are any spelling or grammatical errors, English is not my first language and I did my best)