Pom Poko Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Pleasantly surprised

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this Studio Ghibli (Sprirted Away) film, as it was the one I had heard the least of. Luckily none of their movies have disappointed me yet, and this is no exception. While it may not come close to Totoro, Sprirted Away and Porco Rosso, it is still a great film in it's own right. This is actually the only film the studio has done that has starred talking animals, which in this case are a group of Japanese Racoons who find ways to stop a construction project taking over their forest. The first thing that caught my eye was the clever transforming animations. Often the Racoon will also change from cartoon style, to even more cartoon styled, and back to realistic style again. This is all done seamlessly, however, and works to the films advantage. Another thing you’ll notice is that, yes, these are Japanese Racoon s and yes, they are drawn accurately to how the Japanese draw them in folktales, so they have big..well, “pouches“. While these don’t distract from the movie, there is one particular scene in the film where they take the role as weapons and,…it’s a very strange thing to see. Of course, this is the only real culture clash I can spot in the film, but this doesn’t make the film in any way not suitable for kids. In fact, I’d highly recommend renting this to watch if you’re an animation fan or a parent who wants something to keep the kids entertained.

Wonderful!

This is the best Studio Ghibli film I've seen so far. It is actually a bit of a morality tale and very touching towards the end. The story is gripping and there is a lot of fun and humour.

However it left me feeling sad about the environmental damage that us human cause, with wild life paying the highest price of all.

The Japanese folk tales that this film is based on make this film both fascinating and magical.

Brilliant all round!