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| Pom Poko : 3 of 5 | |
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6.26.2006
5:20 PM | Link |
 I'm still working my way through my Studio Ghibli DVDs, and now I've finally seen Pom Poko, the story of tanuki versus the humans. The tanuki is a "raccoon dog" that lives in Japan, and is the subject of lots of folklore regarding shape-shifting and, um, their huge testicles. Yes, it's true, and that's what makes it amazing that Disney released this DVD (of course, they changed "scrotum" to "pouch" in the dub, which is even sillier), but there are really only a few scenes where this special power is featured. The plot is about an urban development site outside of Tokyo that starts to threaten the tanuki and where they live, so they train to improve their shape-shifting powers (even enlisting the help of shape-shifting masters from Shikoku) to scare the humans away. They stage a huge parade they call "Operation Goblin", but unfortunately they mostly entertain people rather then scare them (and a theme park developer takes credit for the show!). The animation is spectacular as expected, and I love the way the tanuki are presented in three styles (realistic, anthropomorphic, and cartoon). All of the various shape-shifting stunts are really magical and amazing, and it's fun to see them disguised as humans walking around town (but always sipping energy drinks to keep up their concentration)! This film is filled with Japanese culture, too, not only in the various songs and legends, but all of their various transformations have a story behind them. Unfortunately, none of the individual characters were strong enough to get me emotionally involved, but I still loved this beautiful movie!
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