Pom Poko (平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ)

Picture Credit

The Raccoon's territory is slowly getting smaller due to the urban developments, they are losing their home, food supply and population as most of them would die when crossing the highways or scavenging food in the garbage bins. Finally wanting to do something about their situation, they decided to wage war against the developers to stop the construction and clearing of the forest.  There's a Japanese folklore that tells that these creatures are wise, highly sociable and can transform into anything. So they use this ability to fool the humans and create havoc at the construction site. Will they succeed? Will they be able to stop the development and save their home?

This movie delve's more in the Japanese folklore on tanuki or also known as Japanese Raccoon Dogs, and their culture, but it also serves as a reminder, to be considerate of the animal territories and not to destroy their homes.

Release by Studio Ghibli in 1994
Directed by Isao Takahata
Was chosen as an entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film on the same year.

Movie Soundtrack titles can be viewed at Ghibliwiki
Lyrics for the song エンド・テーマ「いつでも誰かが」 (End Theme Always, Someone Will Be...) is available here.
Sample some of the songs you can listen to.

Personal notes:

I remember having sang this children song about Tanuki while I was in the Japanese school during my childhood days. Below is the song you can watch and listen to.

Here is one tale found about the tanuki, A Badger's Bill.

A clip on the Tanuki song


The lyrics of this childrens song can be found at OnMarkProductions

Posted in: fantasy anime,studio ghibli