Animal Crossing: New Horizons player brings My Neighbor Totoro into the game with custom polish effect

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Recreate Satsuki and Mei’s home from the iconic Studio Ghibli film in Happy Home Paradise

Animal Crossing New Horizons Happy Home Paradise unlocks
(Image credit: Nintendo)

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player has incorporated Soot Sprites from the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro into Happy Home Paradise. 

Shared on TikTok, @batty_batbat used the new polish tool from Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ DLC Happy Home Paradise along with a custom design of some adorable little Soot Sprites to give the effect that the tiny spirits were living inside a cardboard box - just like in the 1988 animated film. 

@batty_batbat

Soot sprites to help spruce up your attics 🙈🖤 I'm honestly so proud of myself for this so if it's already been done I'm sorry 😂 ##animalcrossingnewhorizons ##animalcrossing ##nintendoswitch ##happyhomeparadise ##DLC ##Polish ##sootsprites ##myneighbortotoro ##Totoro ##studioghibli ##Anime ##fypシ ##cute ##bubblegumkk

♬ Bubblegum K.K. - Japanese Version - Hikaru Station & Trifect

To do this, all players need to do is design their first four houses to unlock the polish tool, and then design another eight homes to unlock more polish effects. From there, players will be given the option to add custom designs to the polish tool - that you will have to design beforehand - which they can select from their custom design portfolio. 

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Those of you who are familiar with the works of Studio Ghibli, and legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki in particular, will know that Soot Sprites can also be found in 2003’s Spirited Away, however in a slightly different form. There’s nothing stopping you though from giving villagers such as Cleo, Joey, and Marcel (who all ask for a unique spin on a bathroom) a home inspired by the bathhouse in Spirited Away, complete with Soot Sprites effects. 

If you've found a few issues with both Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ base game and the Happy Home Paradise DLC - there’s some good news. Nintendo recently released a 2.02 patch for the game which ironed out a number of small bugs that either prevented players from enjoying the game to the fullest or accidentally made the software close randomly whilst playing. 

Find out what else you have to look forward to with our Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise unlocks guide. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.