Why is no one talking about Pom poko?
Okay, if there ever was a ghibli movie that went under the raider it would be this one. Directed by anime great Isao Takahata, this movie is not talked about at all. The film seems to get lost in the ocean of great Ghibli films. Why is that? What is it about this piece that just never seemed to break through? Well, let’s explore it further and see if you can find out.
Pom Poko is about shapeshifting raccoons. These raccoons are actually the mythical creature “Tanuki” who you would have seen if you have watched the anime Uchouten Kazoku. These Tanukis are trying to keep the humans around them from tearing down the forest in order to build a city. So it’s a man vs nature kind of theme we got going here. From the perspective of nature.
First, the things I liked. The Ghibli is great, you know it, I know it. There is really no need in discussing it further. The Shapeshifting itself is well done. It flows well and feels nice to watch. The movie is also kind of funny. It is not laugh-out-loud funny, but it gave me some chuckles. The humor is mostly connected to the act of shapeshifting. There is a parade-like thing toward the end of the film. And the visuals and feel of that scene are insane. The shapeshifting is, however, not clear at all. They can change form alright, but they can also manifest physical things like clothes. It makes little to no sense.
The music is nice. Nothing special, but it does the job.
The characters are hard to distinguish from each other. Some of the Tanuki are unique, but I can’t say that I will remember them in a week. The visual design of the Tanuki masters is excellent and I enjoyed them a lot.
The story is not that structured, the Tanuki are just going through the motions. It kind of makes sense since it follows “wild” animals. However, the film is kind of long, and the loose structure does not help it. I found myself looking at my watch more than I would usually do. The story is also only seen through the perspective of nature. It seems so hamfisted since the nuances are gone. Having a man vs nature theme only really works if you show both sides (like in Princess Mononoke). It becomes so bad that one of the Tanuki just looks at the camera and talks about the message of the film at the end. This is horrible and works against the film.
There is also a narrator who more or less constantly talks throughout the movie and it becomes super annoying really fast. There is also a portion of the film dedicated to two of the main cast establishing a family. I thought this subplot took time away from the important part of the film. Mostly because the characters are so forgettable that it is hard to care.
So yeah, the film is not talked about because it is kind of bad. It is funny that Takahata´s other movies were very underplayed and subtle, whereas this film goes the other way.
Hmm….. I feel like I have forgotten something….. I wonder what it could be. Oh yes, balls. Here I am talking about testicles. There are so many of them in this film, it’s quite a feed. They shapeshift their balls and fight with them. At one point they fly with them. They make them into a carpet. The ways in which they use their balls in the film are kind of creative. All the males are drawn, his testicles just hanging out. They don’t have a penis, so a creative decision was made to only draw the balls. I guess it’s to show the feral part of the Tanuki but then go all the way.