Customer Reviews

Pom Poko

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just had the opportunity to finally see "Pom Poko," thanks to Disney's stateside DVD release. Fortunately, the dub is fantastic -- any qualms about "confusing" Japanese folktales and such seem to have been taken care of with the quality translation. The voice actors (only one "name" actor, a very fine/unrecognizable Jonathan Taylor Thomas) acquit themselves quite nicely, and it might be one of the best dubs I've ever heard.

The infamous enlarged scrotums, I'm happy to report, are such a small part of the entire experience that the fact that it was so dwelled on by dozens upon dozens of people for years prior to domestic DVD release is saddening. At first, yes, when a "pouch" is magically (and humorously) transformed into a red rug, it's amusing and a bit shocking. But that feeling wears off almost instantly.

Even though they changed the references of "scrotum" to "pouch," I'm still surprised Disney had the balls (pun intended) to release it, given their standards for "family"-esque (safe and arguably predictable) entertainment. There are a couple glimpses of actual nudity (breasts) and some humans die in rather morbid ways. I'm not inferring that I wish they hadn't released it, for if they had not I would have never seen it. I'm just happy with their decision. For once, at least in recent times, I feel the need to thank Disney whole heartedly.

The film itself is such a pleasure. It moves briskly, contains *beautiful* images and is endlessly entertaining. A large part of it's success is due to the constant narration; as others have noted, it almost seems like an exquisite documentary at times.

The story is simple yet effective: humans are destroying a community of tanukis, and the tanukis do everything they can to help preserve their home in way of transformation. It's often funny and adorable, but what's somewhat unexpected is the amount you'll be moved by their struggle. The ending, criticized by some, almost moved me to tears. I won't explain what happens, but some wise things are said.

As you probably know, the tanukis are somewhat distractingly called "raccoons" in the dub. I'm willing to forgive Disney for this obvious error, though, as they resemble the latter to a pretty high degree. And I'm sure it made it easier on the translators for lip synchronization (two syllables).

Not so surprising: "Pom Poko" was the top box office smash in Japan the year it came out (and Japan's own submission for best foreign film Oscar). Regardless of the minor violence/nudity/inflated scrotums (ahem), this film will appeal to anyone with a heart and a brain. It's not some minor little piece about tanukis humorously fending off humans, even if it sometimes appears to be. It's a major statement about man vs. nature, and it's often beautiful and witty and intelligent, the sort of thing most non-animated films aspire to be.

I know this might sound rash and pretentious, but I watched two films tonight: "Laputa" (Japanese with subtitles) and "Pom Poko" (English dub). Oddly, I liked this film more. Here's hoping that master director Takahata's underrated treasure will win over more viewers, thanks to Disney's recent bare-bones DVD release and the eventual airing on Turner Classic Movies this January.

Fans who remember Isao Takahata best for his relentless tearjerker, GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, could very well react with surprise and shock upon viewing POM POKO. This lavishly animated tale about raccoons battling for their homeland (which was the biggest hit of 1994 in Japan) isn't so much a heartwrenching tragedy as it is an interesting amalgam of humor, drama, and action--all delivered in a way that is daringly original for animation. At times, the viewer gets treated to scenes which recall the one-two-three emotional punch of GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, but even though the tone of the movie is somber, a handful of lighthearted moments elevate the overall production out of depression.

As this is a Studio Ghibli film, production values are spectacular. Backgrounds are painted with a tasteful mixture of simplicity and art, and the raccoons are as cuddlesome as you would expect--especially when they shape-shift from "ordinary" animals to Saturday-morning-cartoon style critters in the style of shows such as CARE BEARS. (If you're scratching your head while reading this, don't be alarmed--according to Japanese folklore, raccoons have the power to transform into anything--including human beings!) The actual animation is as colorful and imaginative as you might expect from a Ghibli movie--and there is one scene where we are treated to cameo appearances by Porco Rosso, Kiki, and Totoro.

While POM POKO has a story to tell and a meaningful message for one to think about, its character and plot aspects may come across as a bit off-putting to viewers expecting a typical animated feature. Indeed, while some raccoons identify themselves with distinguishable names and/or personalities (for example, Gonta is a burly, rough-and-ready raccoon who is always looking for a fight, while Oroku is the "wise woman" of the tribe), the story offers little in the way of character development. In fact, most of the action in the story is narrated (by Maurice LaMarche in English, Kokondei Shinchou in Japanese), which elevates the overall effect of the movie to that of a semi-documentary. For the most part, this approach works to a very interesting degree and is a refreshing change of pace. However, there were some scenes in the movie where I wished the narration could have been reduced a little bit, as it sometimes gets in the way of appreciating the beauty of the visuals onscreen.

Aside from this, the biggest controversy about POM POKO seems to be centered on several scenes where the raccoons can inflate and/or transform their testicles(!) for multiple purposes. One particular scene involves a raccoon flattening his testicles against a truck, causing its driver to crash. Such moments may be alarming to children, but it is important to remember that while we see the testicles at times, the movie is, after all, animated. Even still, while a Japanese audience may take such scenes naturally, squeamish viewers in America could react differently. In fact, as a solution to handling this kind of translation issue, the English language version (produced once again by Disney) refers to the testicles as "pouches". That's a somewhat awkward decision, but it sure beats digitally removing the testicles from the scenes they're in.

POM POKO was obviously a nightmare for English dub writers Cindy and Donald Hewitt to translate (especially since much of the movie is rooted in Japanese culture), but I really have to commend them for their efforts. There is some Americanizing here and there, but there was little, if any, that I could find missing in their script. In fact, I was most impressed at how they handled the songs; while at least two of them come across as a little contrived and/or corny, others flow so naturally that you never would have sworn that these were originally Japanese folksongs.

Another interesting aspect of the dub is the voice acting. With the exception of Jonathan Taylor Thomas (star of TV's HOME IMPROVEMENT), the cast consists of veteran performers who are known for cartoon voice work; Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio, Russi Taylor, Andre Stojka, and Clancy Brown, to name a few. Whether this was done to cut down on costs for big-name stars or for avoiding aural distraction is unclear, but when listening to the spirit and energy that the aforementioned voice artists give their characters, it really doesn't matter. For purists, though, the original Japanese language track IS included on the DVD, as is a gorgeous visual transfer (and a disappointingly skimpy supply of extras--the only low point of this otherwise top-notch presentation from Disney).

POM POKO may be an unusual entry from Isao Takahata, and its foreign aspects may not appeal to everyone, but if given a chance, the film offers a colorful display of imagination and pathos as well as an experience unlike many that one will find from ordinary cartoons.

Pom poko is a classics tale of clash between man and nature. Rapid development in the modern world reaches tama hill and the racoons are forced to leave their natural habitat as finding food and shelter becomes harder with each passing day. With nothing seems to be working out for them, racoons decide to unite and scare away the advancement of the modern world by learning traditional art of transforming. Will they be successful in their mission or will they be wiped out by the modern world progress? Will man and nature ever learn to live in harmony? That's what forms the rest of the film in an unusual, emotional and often hilarious ways.

Pom poko is directed by another studio ghibli genious Isao takahata who happens to be hayao miyazaki's long time friend and his senior. Pom poko remains studio ghibli's most strange film till date which is in no way lesser rich and intense than any other ghibli films but few contents in the movie may put some viewers off. The movie has been given a pg rating. It does contain lots of frightening images, ghosts, scrotums and a few references of mating here and there.

Lets now move on to this 2disc dvd release by disney and buena vista. Although it is a 2disc edition but it still is a barebone release. This time there's not even a "behind the microphone" featurette which featured on all previous ghibli releases by disney. It is said that pom poko was the hardest dub for disney as it had lots of songs, hundreds of racoons talking and situations where dialogues were needed not just for the racoons talking and singing but the objects like tv and other stuff in the background as well. Though the english dub is nowhere near the original japanese track, yet a behind the scenes on english dubbing would have made some sense, at least this time.

Pom poko dvd shines when it comes to picture and sound quality. The digital transfer is crisp and flawless. English and japanese, both audio tracks on the disc have been rendered in dolby digital 2.0 surround sound. Only extra feature on disc one happens to be original trailers and tv spots of the movie. Disc two, as usual, contains the full movie in storyboard form which would have made more sense had it been given alongwith the film on the first disc.

Pom poko contains japanese cultural and traditional references and themes more than any other studio ghibli film. It would have been really interesting to see a feature explaining all those in detail. The least expected was the feature on "tanuki" (racoons, as they call it in japanese) which appears on the region2 dvd of pom poko released by buena vista japan.

Pom poko is a comparatively lesser known (to the west) film from studio ghibli which is on par with any of their own fims when it comes to richness and execution of the subject and does not disappoint in anyway. The animation is detailed and flawless and backgrounds lush and breathtaking. People at disney had a hard time just dubbing the voices for the racoons, wonder what the animators at ghibli would have gone through animating them!

Although this dvd is light on extras, yet the set is definitely worthwhile just for the movie itself. Highly recommended to all studio ghibli fans out there (who definitely do not need my recommendation, i'm sure!!!) and to everyone else looking for good cinema with great storytelling.

Ah, now this is a wonderful little film. While I admit that I was skeptical at first, it quickly reveals itself to be a sweet, sad, and humorous story, well worth the two hours it takes to watch it.

As other reviewers have mentioned, there are any number of scenes in this movie that many would consider inappropriate for younger children - but one must bear in mind that what is appropriate for children varies widely from country to country.

The movie focuses on a clan of Tanuki, mistakenly called 'raccoons' in the dubbed version. In actuality, tanuki, or 'raccoon DOGS,' are a species of small-bodied wild dogs, rather like foxes, but closely resembling the raccoons of North America. These are canines, not raccoons, but as few children or even adults are aware of this, the change can be forgiven.

In Japanese folklore, cats, foxes, and tanuki are powerful shapeshifting tricksters, and Pom Poko relies heavily on these old tales. The tanuki change shape with their moods - from the realistic creatures they show themselves as when humans are around, to the cartoonish anthropomorphic caricatures they interact with one another as. In battle, their forms shift from warrior to peasant as the tide turns towards and against their favor.

The story is a familiar one - creatures driven from their homes rally together to oppose the humans - but the goings on are rather unlike anything one would see in an animated movie produced in America. Characters are killed by cars, transform themselves into demons, and use their pronounced scrotums as weapons. And yet it all flows together perfectly, and even the testicles are hardly a bother once one has become engrossed in the story.

I imagine quite a few young children may find parts of this movie upsetting, and the conclusion is hardly the fairy-tale ending seen in so many Disney movies, but any emotionally mature child should have no problem with any of the content. If the presence of the testicles seriously bothers you, the English dub conveniently calls them 'pouches.' (No, tanuki most definitely do NOT have pouches... neither do raccoons, but I doubt you'll care if you're already so afraid of anatomy, now will you?) It's not as if your child is going to use his own testicles as a weapon (and if he does, I'd love to hear about it), and any child who has owned a male animal, or is in fact male himself, is bound NOT to be traumatized by the sight.

Have a little faith in your child, and in the makers of this film, and give it a chance. If you keep an open mind about the other cultures of this world, I'm sure you'll be surprised by this oddly endearing movie.

This is another indication of how surprisingly wonderful the Studio Ghibli films can be. This film brings ancient Japanese traditions to life in a remarkably modern story, told after the fashion of a nature documentary. I loved to see the racoons monkey-wrenching a new development in Japan that threatened their habitat. For open-minded children of all ages, this is a magical ecological fable. For children too young to understand the, um, transforming body parts, or for parents too uptight to acknowledge that an animal's sex organs are perfectly natural to show in what is effectively a nature story, the Disney-dubbed English version of this story calls them "racoon pouches." The Japanese is also included though, and the subtitles for the Japanese version are much more literal.

Out of all the Ghibli films released so far in the United States, this is by far the strangest. At least to American eyes; the tanukis are familiar to Japanese audiences, and this film is steeped in Japanese folklore and Japanese history.
Disney, releasing Ghibli's work stateside, has done its best to translate this odd film. And believe me, they had their work cut out for them! This film is nothing like Ghibli's best-known work, Spirited Away. Because Spirited Away dealt with universal themes like family, overcoming hardship, and childhood fears of abandonment, the story remains gripping despite the odd cultural milieu of a Japanese bathhouse. But Pom Poko leans so heavily on culture that it's jarring stateside, even to diehards like me who know the culture.
Both the original Japanese version, with subtitles, and the English dub is on the same disk. The English version is heavily Americanized - which just this once, really helps. In one example out of many, in the English version, one of the animals says that he feels like Rip van Winkle, while in the original Japanese version, he mentions Urashima Taro - the Japanese equivalent.
Two other noteworthy points about the translation. These creatures are called "raccoons" throughout the movie. However, they're actually tanuki, an animal native to Japan that (if you're a scientist) is more closely related to a dog than a raccoon. But to lay people, they're more like raccoons in all other respects - appearance, behavior, diet, and the fact that they're considered pranksters (just like raccoons in Native American myth). So it makes sense that the Disney release calls them raccoons - for all intents and purposes, they are.
More interestingly, in Japanese myth, tanuki are said to have giant testicles with magical properties. This is shown in Pom Poko - although the English-language version euphemistically refers to the scrotum as a "raccoon pouch." If you have small children in the home, they might not notice that when the tanuki go into battle, the part of them that magically expands looks a lot like the testicles. And if they're old enough to notice, they're old enough to deal with it.
Forgive me if I haven't even got around to descibing the story yet. That's because (at least to me) watching the film is a lot like plowing through this review - there's a lot you have to deal with before you're ready to delve into the story itself.
Pom Poko shows how the tanuki deal with the loss of their forests as humans turn their beloved homes into concrete suburbs. They try to fight back, but despite a few victories here and there, they're overwhelmed, and many of them die in the process.
The story is a fascinating combination of wacky humor, poignant drama and even nature documentary. It's a beautiful film to watch, although it does take some getting used to. The Americanization really does help.
On another note, it would have been nice if the DVD extras had included a primer on the myths surrounding the tanuki, and the animals themselves. No such luck, though. Fortunately, information on the animals (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus) is readily available on the Internet.
I would recommend this movie ONLY for anyone who is already a fan of Japanese animation and Studio Ghibli in particular. For those who are just starting out, I would recommend just about any other Ghibli film instead of this one. There are many to choose from: The Cat Returns, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, and Spirited Away are just a few.

I recorded Pom Poko on our DVR when Turner Classic Movies did its salute to Miyazaki. My boys, ages 8 and 5, watch this over and over. The themes can be a bit mature, but there is nothing here to find objectionable. As for the "pouches," my boys didn't realize what they were until I spilled the beans -- and then they thought it was hilarious. This isn't the best in the Ghibli canon, but it's a fine movie and still better than most of the dreck Disney, et al., churn out for kids and families.

I am frankly astonished (and pleased) that Disney is actually bringing this strange, complex, wonderful film out in the US. It's a very sophisticated look at how societies balance (or not) urban development and the natural world while touching on issues of ecology, displacement of aboriginal populations, and even terrorism. It's also a very entertaining parody of historical documentaries on TV (the pompous Japanese title is: "Heisei-era Raccoon War Pom Poko"). I can't wait to see what Disney does about the male Tanukis' magically transforming, er..., parts, since I believe their deal with Ghibli doesn't allow edits.

I just watched this wonderful anime for the first time yesterday. I am a fan of all Studio Ghibli films, plus I have a great interest in Japanese folklore, especially Tanukis and Kitsunes.

I gave the film only 4 out of 5 b/c of the English translation...
Tanukis are NOT raccoons- nor do they have any relation what-so-ever to raccoons! Tanukis are a real animal in Japan, known in America as "Racoon-Dogs" i.e. DOGS that resemble raccoons or badgers. They are in the wild CANINE family, though like Foxes, cannot interbreed with other canines.
They should have just kept the word 'Tanuki' in the film. Or used Raccoon-DOG if they didn't want to keep the Japanese species name.
So constantly hearing the Tanuki referred to as 'Raccooons' took away alot of the spirit & folklore of this film.

Also, you should know that this is probably not a film you want your young children to watch unless you do not mind them seeing cartoon animal testicles.
Like the legends of the magical Tanukis, the male tanuki have large testicles that they can enlarge (alot) and use as weapons, parachutes, blankets, etc.
Though the English translation tries to cleverly cover up what they are by calling them "Raccoon Pouches" *rolls eyes*

Aside from the American translations ruining Japanese folklore, this is a great film about survival told from the viewpoint of the Tanukis. Their land, and their numbers, are drastically disappearing due to humans paving over the forests to build houses, roads, etc.
The story is told very well, and makes it seem possible that some animals can have magical, shape-shifting powers while cleverly hiding from man.

Pom Poko. I would like to save a lot of people a lot of letter paper that would otherwise be used to send complaints to Disney about this film: If you don't like the thought of your children watching a film where a raccoon can inflate his scrotum large enough to obscure the windscreen of a lorry, you really do not want to buy this film.

On the other hand, if you can accept that in Japan these creatures are thought of as having special powers to shape-shift at will (hence numerous well-endowed Tanuki statues dotted about the Japanese landscape) and that the whole testicle/shape-shifting thing is just treated as a matter-of-fact traditional belief over there (unlike in the west where the population would be 50% giggling and 50% writing letters of complaint), there is a good two-hour film here with jokes, romance, action and an unexpected complexity and warmth. Some imagery such as in the parade may scare some small children though, and anyone who believes that those things really are 'pouches' (as they are referred to in the US dub) needs a quick chat with their doctor.

Do not think however that everything will make sense - as mentioned, the film draws heavily on eastern folklore and has bhuddist/shinto symbolism everywhere. The English dub is pretty good given the subject matter but there are a couple of bits that probably will confuse people simply because of the culture clash. Overall though its pretty coherent, and the subtitles do include a literal Japanese translation option this time.

Extras-wise the DVD is let down - I dont know if anyone looks for more than a few seconds at the second storyboard disks rendering them pretty obsolete, but also unlike the other Ghibli releases, this one has no 'Behind the Microphone' either, or any featurettes translated from the Japanese like Nausicaa and Spirited Away had. You get a couple of the original trailers and thats about it - which is why this review dropped a star.