There’s nothing wrong with the Disney dub of Totoro (although you can sure find people complaining about it online...) its just that the Macek version is better and I was very familiar with it for many years before Disney released theirs.
Why the Macek version is better is, to me, two things.
The songs are sung by a woman who sounds like a kindergarten teacher and the Disney version sounds more “belted out” or kinda Hanna Montana-informed. Pop starish. Loud. I like whatever grandma sang the Fox version more. She understood the quiet nature of the movie better.
The dad has some dialog that makes him sound cooler and this is key since the dad being cool, a gateway between the forest magic and the kids, is absolutely key.
I have no opinion which is more accurate and I don’t care, it’s for the kids. I don’t usually watch translated anime.
The biggest problem with this and all Macek dubs is the sound quality which is muddy and mono which really hurts the sections with more expansive music. I wonder if anyone has the tapes...I would love I make 5.1 ver of the Macek dub.