Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko

Overview:

Studio Ghibli is generally synonymous with quality. Led by Hayao Miyazaki and his lifelong friend Isao Takahata, Ghibli has come closer to batting 1000 then any movie studio I can think of. However, if you delve into the more obscure Ghibli films you can find some that while still good...are a little less than perfection. This is definitely one of those.


SPOILERS!


Plot:

The plot of this 1994, Takahata penned Ghibli film is that a community of magical tanuki (raccoon dogs) are being threatened by deforestation and must fight back against the loggers. Basically take the plot of 1992's Ferngully and add massive hairy balls. The tanuki around ... Tokyo are being driven from their homes, having to fight for food, and being killed by hunters and cars. Soon the various clans unite and start trying to chase away the humans using their transformation magic. The tanuki actually manage to kill several humans and celebrate their victory with a party...in this children's film! However, the humans just keep coming back and clearly a more drastic plan is needed.

The tanuki manage to gather ancient tanuki transformation masters from around Japan. The plan is to use a massive series of illusions so terrifying that the humans are driven away for good. However, the amount of magic this requires kills one of the masters and the tanuki retreat. The humans all immediately dismiss what they saw as a bad drug trip or dream. A theme park then claims responsibility and everyone just accepts it without ever questioning how they accomplished the illusion. None of the human characters in this film with the exception of 1 reporter EVER believe that magical tanuki exist. This is despite the fact that the tanuki don't exactly hide their powers. It is the same bullshit skepticism of the humans in DBZ or Seto Kaiba in Yugioh. TV Tropes calls it "Flat Earth Atheism", when a character refuses to believe in magic despite living in a world clearly filled with magic and personally see magic all the time.

Next we introduced to the Kitsune fox tribe of shapeshifters. The Kitsune have learned to disguise themselves as humans and live among them. The kitsune that couldn't shapeshift were killed off, but the shapeshifting kitsune simply accept this as survival of the fittest. It is revealed that the theme park that claimed responsibility is actually run by the kitsune, but then the tanuki steal back their money and the kitsune vanish from the plot without ever really serving a purpose.

It is at this point that different tanuki come up with different plans. One group of Tanuki pull a Lord of the Rings and sail into the afterlife. One group decides to fight the humans and we get easily the dumbest scene in the movie. Instead of using magic, the tanuki simply try clobber the humans with their massive scrotums. The humans don't enjoy being teabagged and start punching the tanuki in the nuts. The scene then fades to black and a narrator somberly explains that all the tanuki were killed...apparently by being punched repeatedly in the nuts. I think this scene was guest directed by Johnny Cage.

The surviving tanuki that can shapeshift are forced to disguise themselves as humans and live like the kitsune, who of course are never seen or mentioned again after their brief introduction. The tanuki that can't shapeshift continue to try live their lives despite the deforestation continuing to get worse and the problem never being resolved. While Miyazaki's films tend to have an emotionally cathartic climax in which the characters learn a lesson, this film by Takahata just kind of...ends. We are however given a moment in which the main tanuki breaks the 4th wall and tells the audience to care more about the environment. Thanks Takahata! We never would have figured out the moral without Tanuki Deadpool. The end!

Art:

The art is excellent and has that Ghibli beauty. However, I'm not sure this film needed quite so many giant balls. Given this IS a film about tanuki so some balls were expected. What we REALLY didn't need was tanuki titties. I'm not just talking Lola bunny in Space Jam boobs, but fully displayed, large nippled, furry boobs aplenty. Thanks Takahata sensei!

Music:

The music is mostly traditional Japanese folk music and is among the highlights of the movie.

Overall:

This movie had some very cute moments, touchingly sad moments, and tried hard to teach the audience a lesson about environmentalism. However, like Takahata's more famous work Grave of the Fireflies, he drives his points home with all the subtlety and grace of a sledgehammer. He tries to forcefully milk tears from the audience and guilt them into supporting his message, respecting and listening to elders in Firefly and conserving the environment in this case. For all its faults, the film still does have its strong suits and I feel it wouldn't be fair to give it less than a 6/10. i would recommend watching, but only if you've already seen all the Miyazaki directed Ghibli films.

It is yet another early 90’s Ghibli movie, this time with Isao Takahata (Gauche the Cellist) behind the helm. Coming in around two hours, for the kind of movie it is, it will seem on the long side of it. The first half simulates a documentary narration and the second half having a bit more “action.”

This film can come off as either having a major environmental message, the message saying to adapt to your surroundings, or even both. Reasons such as this are why Pom Poko could be regarded as one big political statement with talking raccoons sending the message.

It is a story about a ... mountain forest land in Japan succumbing to deforestation and the raccoons are trying to fight back best to their ability. The raccoons, when humans are not watching, essentially become intelligent creatures and have the ability to transform themselves (Japanese folklore). Due to the circumstances, the raccoons try to drive the humans out and protect their land through various means: transforming into ghosts or demons, sabotage, or even throwing a massive scale horror parade.

All animation, art, and music are outstanding in true Studio Ghibli fashion. However, much can be lost due to all of the Japanese folklore, or even the extreme slow pace half of the film has.

This is not one of Ghibli’s best works by any means. Much of the message is sad and takes away from the childish humour the anime is always trying to get across. The slow pacing is unbearable at times as well. Pom Poko definitely takes some patience to watch and ultimately could have been shorter with the same message.

I take back what I said about "The Cat Returns" being the weirdest Ghibli movie. "Pom Poko" gets that award instead.

If you watch this movie, you should know beforehand that it is heavily based in old Japanese folklore about the Tanuki, magical raccoon/dogs capable of transforming themselves and other things who like to do mischief to humans (and yeah, they use their nutsacks). So if you don't know that before watching this film (like me), you'll have a really weird time.

This movie's message is completely about deforestation and how animal life gets affected by that matter. They handle it well, but it's really on-the-nose ... throughout the whole movie, and if it wasn't evident enough, they break the fourth wall to say it themselves. Anyway, they don't portray humans as some devilish, selfish creatures who want to destroy the raccoon's... eh, sorry... the Tanuki's home. Actually, the Tanukis are way eviler when it comes to attacking humans.

As I said before, I had a really weird time watching this, and I was wondering if it was actually a kid's movie. Yes, it's entertaining, fun, and deep, but there are a lot of bizarre moments.

Overall, for Ghibli fans, this is a movie worth checking out, due to its ecologic theme, entertaining story, and charming animation, but too bizarre for casual anime watchers (even though most anime nowadays are way more bizarre than this one).

Okay so, viewing from the art style, motions and everything. It's very great!

I of course can't say it's a bad movie, which it isn't. I do see the purpose of this movie, it's kind of on a view of how it is with todays animals and peoples in ones.
But that the raccoons/animals then can transform themselves into humans and other stuff to like trick them and scare them because they are taking their safe spot, place.

It's a kids movie and me as a teenages enjoyed it very much and I am sure my family would too, it's very amusing, funny and at the same time ... dark to watch- it gets a feeling to it. As I said, it's kind of understandable.
On how animals die.
Humans taking their spot- safe spot innit.

Overall I rate this movie a decent 6/10. It's very amusing and enjoyable and I'd defenitly watch this with my Kids in the Future.