-Written by John Cajio.
Pom Poko is a film that does not suck. A poignant and still relevant story about the environmental dangers of overdevelopment, Pom Poko is sure to move you—if a sluggish set up doesn’t put you to sleep first.
The tanuki (Japanese Raccoon Dogs) of the Tama Hills are in danger of having their habitat destroyed by humans for new developments in suburban Tokyo. Led by the hotheaded chieftain Gonta (Shigeru Izumiya/Clancy Brown); the more patient Seizaemon (Norihei Miki/J.K. Simmons); the young, smart, but occasionally naive Shoukichi (Mokota Nonomura/Jonathan Taylor Thomas); the wizened elder Tsurukame Oshō (Kosan Yanagiya/Andre Stojka); and the stern tanuki matriarch Oroku (Nijiko Kiyokawa/Tress MacNeille), the tanuki strive to put aside their carefree natures and regain the power of transformation in order to fight back against the ever-encroaching developers.
Writer-Director Isao Takahata undoubtedly had multiple options available for handling the primary theme of environmentalism. I like the path that he chose here in Pom Poko. It results in an immensely strong, poignant, and imperfect ending. Takahata chooses a more mature path—one that seems natural. There is division early on amongst the tanuki about how to drive the humans away. Some, like Gonta, advocate for outright violence, while others, like Shoukichi, advocate for more peaceful means. But the great majority are just along for the ride one way or the other.
Over the course of the film, violent and nonviolent paths are explored by the tanuki and the consequences suffered by the humans and the tanuki are real and heavy. Gonta’s choices result in loss of life while Shoukichi’s choices require a sustained campaign that’s too much for the tanuki to maintain for the long haul (made abundantly apparent when winter approaches). And there’s the war of attrition underlying it all as the tanuki lose members more frequently to animal traps and encroaching vehicular traffic as the humans continue to take over larger swathes of land. There is a real weight to these choices so that when the tanuki come together to make one final push at the end, one is almost certain to be moved by both the simplicity and the audacity of their choice. Perhaps the greatest tragedy in this film are the consequences that follow the tanukis’ last stand. Changing one’s inherent nature is brutally hard.
The biggest thing holding Pom Poko back is the film’s sluggish first half. This is not a speedy film by any stretch (something applicable to most Studio Ghibli films), but there is a distinct difference between films like Takahata’s previous effort, Only Yesterday, which is deliberately slow and this one. Only Yesterday may be slow, but it does not feel slow. It is well-paced and every moment serves a function. Pom Poko feels slow, especially in its first half. There are many scenes in that first half where the tanuki are all gathered together and debating the best course of action. Too many. I don’t think it’s coincidental that the film picks up considerable steam in the second half when there are far fewer of these group meetings and debates.
Pom Poko is a Studio Ghibli film through and through. It offers a lot of gorgeous things to look at from brilliant static backgrounds to wonderfully animated, and anatomically correct, tanuki. The music is distinctive without being distracting. The story itself is a terrific, humorous, heartfelt, tragic, and poignant look at the intersection of nature and civilization. It’s a shame that the first half moves as slowly as it does. It would have been another brilliant feather in Isao Takahata’s cap with his previous films Grave of the Fireflies and Only Yesterday. While Pom Poko does not quite rise to the same level as those nigh perfect films, it is still a very worthy entry in Studio Ghibli’s oeuvre.
Written & Directed by Isao Takahata.
Starring: Mokota Nonomura/Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Shigeru Izumiya/Clancy Brown, Norihei Miki/J.K. Simmons, Kosan Yanagiya/Andre Stojka, Nijiko Kiyokawa/Tress MacNeille, etc.
8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING (IT DOES NOT SUCK)
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