If you walk into Pom Poko expecting the whimsical, breezy magic of My Neighbor Totoro, you’re in for a massive shock. Honestly, most people are. It’s a movie about shapeshifting raccoons (tanuki) who use their... well, let's call them "magical pouches," to fight off suburban sprawl. It sounds like a fever dream. It is. But beneath the chaotic energy and the folklore-heavy antics, Pom Poko is probably the most devastatingly honest film Studio Ghibli ever released. It’s weird. It’s loud. It’s heartbreaking.
Most Western audiences discovered Ghibli through Hayao Miyazaki. But Pom Poko is the brainchild of Isao Takahata. He’s the guy who gave us Grave of the Fireflies. While Miyazaki looks at nature through a lens of wonder and ancient spirits, Takahata is a bit more cynical. He’s interested in how we lose things. Not just forests, but culture, identity, and the very ground beneath our feet. Released in 1994, the film tackled the real-world destruction of the Tama Hills during the massive "New Town" development project in Tokyo. This wasn't just some fantasy setting; it was happening right outside the animators' windows.
The Weird Reality of the Tanuki
Let’s get the "elephant in the room" out of the way immediately. If you’ve seen the English dub, you’ve heard them called "raccoons." They aren't raccoons. They are Nyctereutes procyonoides, or Japanese raccoon dogs. In Japanese folklore, tanuki are masters of disguise. They are mischievous, a little bit lazy, and famous for their oversized scrota. In the original version, these are referred to as kintama (golden balls).
Western censors had a panic attack when they saw this. How do you market a "kids' movie" where the heroes turn their anatomy into parachutes, clubs, and even cozy living rooms? They tried to call them "pouches" or "kinari," but there’s no hiding it. These tanuki are deeply connected to the earth and their own biology. It’s a literal representation of their wildness. By trying to sanitize Pom Poko, you lose the core of the story. The tanuki are survivors. They use everything they have—even the parts of themselves that polite society finds embarrassing—to stay alive.
It’s hilarious, sure. Seeing a tanuki flatten a team of riot police with a giant, skin-based rug is the kind of visual humor you won't find anywhere else. But it’s also a form of protest. The film uses these absurd, bawdy folk traditions to mock the sterile, concrete world of modern industrialization.
A War Without a Happy Ending
The plot is basically a war movie. We follow a community of tanuki who realize their mountain home is being bulldozed to build apartment complexes. They aren't unified heroes. They fight amongst each other. Some want to use violence. Some want to use trickery. Some just want to find a way to live alongside humans by scavenging McDonald’s fries.
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Gonta is the militant leader. He’s angry. He’s red. He wants blood. Then you have Shokei, the elder who tries to organize "The Great Spectacle," a massive parade of ghosts and demons intended to scare the humans into stopping the construction.
The tragedy of Pom Poko is that the "Great Spectacle" works—as entertainment. The humans see the ghosts, the monsters, and the spirits parading through the streets, and instead of being terrified, they think it’s a brilliant marketing stunt. They think it’s a theme park attraction. This is where Takahata gets really biting. He’s suggesting that modern society is so disconnected from the spiritual world that even when a miracle happens right in front of them, they just want to know where to buy the merchandise.
The tanuki lose. That’s not a spoiler; it’s history. If you visit the Tama Hills today, you won’t find a sprawling forest. You’ll find suburban housing. You’ll find the very buildings the tanuki tried to stop. Unlike Princess Mononoke, where there is a sense of balance restored at the end, Pom Poko ends with a bittersweet surrender. The tanuki who can shapeshift blend into human society, wearing suits and working salaryman jobs, hiding their tails and suffering from extreme stress. The ones who can't shapeshift? They live in the shadows, eating garbage, waiting for the end.
Why the Animation Style Shifts Constantly
Have you noticed how the tanuki change appearance? It’s not just a budget choice. It’s narrative.
- The Realistic Style: When humans are watching, the tanuki look like actual animals. Four legs, fur, no clothes.
- The Anthropomorphic Style: When we are in their world, they walk on two legs, wear vests, and talk. This represents their self-perception and culture.
- The Shigeru Mizuki Style: Sometimes they look like simple, rubbery cartoons. This is a tribute to the legendary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, the king of Japanese yokai (monsters).
These shifts keep you off balance. They remind you that the "truth" depends on who is looking. To the developer, the tanuki are a nuisance. To the child, they are a cute story. To themselves, they are a proud tribe with a rich history of song and transformation. By blending these styles, Studio Ghibli forces the viewer to acknowledge the complexity of the natural world. It isn't just "scenery." It’s a living, breathing community.
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The Ecological Grief of the 90s
In the mid-90s, Japan was reeling from the burst of its "bubble economy." The mindless development of the 80s had left scars on the landscape. Pom Poko was a direct response to this. It captures a specific type of grief—the feeling of watching a place you love disappear one tree at a time.
Takahata doesn't give us easy villains. The humans aren't "evil" in the traditional sense. They are just hungry for space. They want homes. They want progress. But the film asks: at what cost? When we pave over the haunts of the tanuki, do we lose a piece of our own soul?
There’s a scene near the end where the tanuki use the last of their energy to create one final illusion. They transform the suburbs back into the lush, green valley it used to be. For a few minutes, the humans see the beauty they destroyed. They see their own childhoods. They see the ghosts of the past. Then, the illusion fades, and the concrete returns. It’s one of the most haunting sequences in cinema history. It’s a funeral for a world that can never come back.
How to Watch Pom Poko Today
If you’re going to revisit this classic, or see it for the first time, don't watch it as a comedy. Watch it as a documentary disguised as a cartoon.
Pay attention to the background art. The detail in the forests before they are destroyed is breathtaking. Compare that to the flat, gray surfaces of the construction sites. Ghibli’s artists were masterfully using color palettes to tell the story of environmental decay. The vibrant greens and oranges of the autumn leaves represent life, while the dull grays of the "New Town" represent a slow death.
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Also, look for the cameos! Because Pom Poko is about the world of spirits, Ghibli snuck in several characters from other films during the ghost parade. You can spot Totoro flying on his top, Kiki on her broomstick, and even the flying ship from Castle in the Sky. It’s a meta-nod to the idea that all these magical things belong to a world that is being pushed out by parking lots and shopping malls.
Final Practical Steps for the Ghibli Fan
To truly appreciate what Studio Ghibli was doing with Pom Poko, you should look into the real-world history of the Tama New Town project. It was one of the largest residential developments in Japan’s history. Understanding that the "war" in the movie was based on a real, losing battle for the environment makes the ending hit ten times harder.
If you are watching with kids, be prepared for questions. Not just about the tanuki "pouches," but about why the heroes don't win. It’s a great opportunity to talk about conservation and how we balance human needs with nature.
Finally, watch it in the original Japanese with subtitles if you can. The voice acting carries a weight and a traditional theatrical style (influenced by rakugo and kabuki) that the English dub occasionally misses. The songs, the chants, and the rhythmic storytelling are vital to the film's DNA.
Pom Poko isn't just a movie about raccoons. It’s a reminder that once the wild places are gone, they are gone forever. We can't transform them back. We can only remember them.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Knowledge:
- Research the Legend of the Three Tanuki of Shikoku: These are real historical figures in Japanese folklore who inspired the elders in the film.
- Compare with Isao Takahata’s Other Works: Watch My Neighbors the Yamadas to see how he continued to experiment with different animation styles to reflect modern Japanese life.
- Study the "Yokai" Tradition: Read The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia by Shigeru Mizuki to understand the specific ghosts seen during the parade scene.