Pom Poko

Reviewed By:  Andrew Kaplan

DVD (2 disks) Walt Disney Home Entertainment

ISBN 0-7888-3401-0

What it’s (basically) all about: In the 1960s, Japan scrambles to build housing for an ever-growing population.  Unfortunately, urban expansion into previously wild areas results in the destruction of the habitat of tanukis, a Japanese animal that resembles a raccoon (and are called raccoons in the English dub).  However, these tanukis—gifted with the art of shape-shifting—aren’t about to be driven from their homes without a fight, and Pom Poko details their elaborate, if ultimately futile, war against encroaching human civilization.

Nitty Gritty: While the packaging from Disney gives the impression that this is a cute tale of woodland creatures for all ages, the truth lies in the PG rating, “for violence, scary images and thematic elements.”  The character designs shift from realistic depictions of tanuki to a more expressive, kid-friendly, cartoony design, which may be confusing for some younger viewers.  Additionally, while many of the tanuki attacks on the humans feature hilarious acts, many others are—literally—deadly serious.  This is a film about cute raccoons like Watership Down is a film about cute bunnies and should be treated accordingly.

Similarly, several of the themes may be over the head of younger viewers.  The tanuki plan for dealing with the destruction of their habitat includes controlling new births to keep their population in check.  Along with a bittersweet ending, this is a film better suited to a teen audience.

In addition to the more sophisticated themes of the movie, it is probably worth noting that the male tanukis’ genitalia features prominently in this film.  Not only are the cartoon raccoons drawn with visible testicles, but it also transpires that these can be enlarged to enormous proportions and used for a variety of tasks.  They used them as hang gliders and parachutes and transform them into boats; they use them to cover the windscreens of trucks to blind the drivers… More sensitive communities may be aware of the constant use of combat genitalia.

Additionally at 1 hour 14 minutes into the film, a group of scared humans throw an idol magazine into the air.  Illustrations of naked woman can clearly be seen in its pages.

Interestingly, the Japanese subtitles seem a great deal more mature and dark than the English dub.  The subtitles paint some circumstances in much darker colors than the spoken English dialogue.  The subtitles also refer to the raccoon testicles as “testicles,” not the “raccoon pouches” of the English dub.  One song about the changing of the seasons in English appears to be about attacking the enemy with raccoon balls in Japanese.  And the subtitles detail the population control program as a plan to remain chaste, while the dub simply states that the raccoons won’t have babies.  (One seems to refer more directly to the act of having sex than the other.)

The DVD also includes trailers for Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Cinderella, and a combined trailer for Nausicaa, Porco Rosso, and Cat Returns.

Extras include Japanese TV and movie trailers, and the complete storyboard for the movie, played over the soundtrack.

Survey says: Because of the sophisticated themes, the somewhat downbeat ending, and one somewhat graphic sequence of a tanuki massacre, this is definitely deserving of its PG rating, and suited for a teen audience rather than all ages.  Except for the visible nude pictures in the flying idol magazine, there is no human nudity.  The frequent use of raccoon testicles as instruments of war may be of concern to some communities.

Personal Ad: I have mixed feelings about this film.  It took about fifteen minutes to get used to the style, but then I became totally engrossed.  I found myself distracted by the “raccoon pouch” stuff, but that’s probably just a cultural thing.  However, about 90 minutes into it, I started to feel as if the movie was never going to end.  The story has a good point to make about environmentalism, but after making it, it proceeds to hammer it into the ground for another forty or so minutes.  Ultimately, both the ending and the pseudo-documentary style it adopts redeem the film, but it’s still a really good 90 minute movie crammed into two hours.