Pom Poko is an animated fantasy film from japan that is directed by Isao Takahata and was produced by studio ghibli in 1994. The movie which is referred to as Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko in Japan has a more engaging but quite sad address since it tackles eco issues, culture, heritage and its interaction with mankind. The subjects of its narration are tales, jokes, and quite serious things told by a tanuki, a creature of Japanese mythology that is commonly called a “raccoon dog” in English.
Synopsis
“Set in 1960s Japan, Pom Poko narrates events that occurred after World War II and below the Tama Hills, which is located on the outskirts of Tokyo. Such tanuki are a little different from the others since they can do composition based magic that allows them to take a shape of virtually an object, any human or even an animal. Tanuki, dogs whose history and culture most tanuki ears to accompany them are ofound in Japan also celebrated as a village god. Tanuki specializes in deception and transformation. However, in the cosmos of Dakuora or the voice of Pom Poko, the rapid urban spread restrained their existence.”
The story starts with a picturesque tanuki society peacefully residing in the forests of Tama Hills. However, their peace is cut short when they see massive apartment blocks and new roads built on their land. The reason behind such human encroachment is the rapid growth of population in Tokyo, which has been encouraging people to live in the city since Japan benefited from a boom after the World War, leaving the beautiful forests being gradually chipped away and the tanukis with an ever-shrinking area to live in and sources of food.
Out of desperation, the tanukis opt to unite and prevent the processes of development. They start commandeering the efforts to resist development under the guidance of old people belonging to different clans with their own viewpoints, like Shoukichi who acts as a head of one of the clans. Shoukichi is also one of the leading characters, a young tanuki who is brave and Sule advises him the people of modern times. Another important old man, Tsurukame, an elder tanuki, he is also a community leader but uses traditional insights and experience to lead.
Initially, the tanuki attempts to stop the progress by creating chaos and frightening the workers but are gradually disillusioned because such childish fooling won’t stop ever-increasing pace of development of the construction. To save their home from being destroyed, they resolve, however, to go even further in the use of their shape-shifting powers so that they perform detailed haunting and illusions to frighten humans more. Some of their transformations include the casting of visions and other objects of supernatural activities that are based on the former Japan ghost storytelling traditions.
The tanuki are unforgettable during the final part Tanuki plays tricks on the humans and describes the clouds and other things. All the while, a staggering tanuki parade in various forms provides a wonderful distraction. Surreal figures and forms appear, as if drawing from the depths of Japanese mythology. And some of them even try to alter the environment around them too if need be. Even these attempts of theirs do not succeed because the constructs themselves treat these incidents as strange developments that have no bearing on the overall project. Some of the tanuki manages to overhuman by distortion tanuki and some even feels pity for them but these peoples are too less to make any impact.
Things are getting worse, and a rift appears in the tanuki community. The attitude toward humans is different: some believe in peaceful solution and try to accustom to the new city beauty while others support the idea of using guns and knives. However, some tanuki give up their magic nature and surrender to the ways of men. And this is its own conflict as it demonstrates the clash of cultures and thoughts amongst generations within the community, which further develops the story arc.
Seeing no other alternatives, the tanuki call on powerful masters who can change shapes and are from the distant lands. These old tanuki who are able to shape change, join the fight to recreate one last epic illusion: that of a celebration with giant over the top spirits and monsters from Japanese culture. With this show, they convey the deep sorrow for the loss of nature in Japan as something that requires the greatest respect. Such spectacle, gorgeous and frightening though it may be, manages to do little against the all-seeing eyes of construction which remains uneased.
Over the years, increasing numbers of tanuki are forced to leave the woods that they once considered their homes. Certain individuals die, as they do not find means of relocation leading to their death. Others completely change in appearance and retain their human shape which allows them to assimilate in society. Some tanuki who do not wish to or are unable to leave the forest convert into animals that have no speech and can’t shape shift either, accepting themselves staying as pathetic creatures in the remaining bits of forest.
In one of the final scenes of the movie, one of the tanuki who lives in the vicinity of humanity tries to revert back to his original tanuki shape. He notices the audience and inquires about his home and what he yearns for, a place that he seems to have lost. The film comes to conclusion in an ironic way where one is reminded of a time in history that was full with nature and animals before civilization tried to take over these aspects.
Cast & CrewInformation
- Director: Isao Takahata
- Producer: Toshio Suzuki
- Studio: Studio Ghibli
- Writers: Isao Takahata, basing his story on folklore, Japanese
- Music: Shang Shang Typhoon
- Main Japanese Voice Cast
- Shoukichi – played by Makoto Nonomura
- Oroku – played by Nijiko Kiyokawa
- Gonta – played by Shigeru Izumiya
- Tsurukame – played by Gannosuke Ashiya
Themes and Symbolism
Pom Poko, like most mov<ies, has a story but it also touches on social issues. The entire scenario of the struggle of the tanuki portrays the tanuki struggle in general as an allegory of contemporary social angst. Takahata employs tanuki folklore as a link between nature and modernity They tale Allah and address how Japan amalgamates nature and culture during the late 1900s.
The tanuki’s realizations of change point towards the country’s forced adoption of modernization at the cost of cultural and spiritual identity. The make believe they create to scare people showcase Japanese mythology, enhancement of storytelling genres and cultural understanding of the importance of myths. Also, in a bid to highlight the special powers that the tanuki had, Takahata stressed that there exists magic in nature and in all living things; a force that man rarely appreciates.
The film’s use of tanuki as shapeshifters is perhaps most compelling considering how they are depicted in the film, as an ideal-both magical and mundane. This stylistic decision then speaks to the overall theme of cultural identity and evolution in the feature as the tanuki aim to reconcile their innate nature with the requirements of a contemporary environment.
IMDb Ratings and Reception
In the IMDb charts, Pom Poko earns fairly favorable scores at around 7.3 out of 10. This may cater to a much ranged audience. Heavy criticism has been directed against the film but also praise for the nuances of Takahata where he often selects the harder matters to deal with. Unlike other Studio Ghibli works that appear to be more fantastical and/or adventurous in nature, Pom Poko seems to tackle issues in the real world though employing elements of fantasy and folklore.
Opinions of the audience have been quite diverse, for instance, several users reported that the film’s characters seemed to them more slowly paced than other animated movies, but for the majority its message and original plot construction style was successful. Some tanuki shapeshifting and other aspects of Japanese mythology may be lost on tanuki folklore inexperienced Western viewers, but for those wishing to discover it, the film is absorbing, albeit poignantly at times.
Pom Poko is definitely a complex film that blends elements of humor, fantasy and sadness. The theme it features, concerning nature conservation and caring for the environment, as well as the conflicts between the past and the future, is also universal and appropriate. Even though there is a clear message regarding modernity and the destruction of culture and nature, this film focuses on the power of tradition and its preservation through history and places culture as an important attribute.
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