For most people, Studio Ghibli is synonomous with master animator Hayao Miyazaki, but this isn’t actually the case. The studio has another master animator, Isao Takahata who is almost as well respected in Japan as Miyazaki while not quite achieving the same international reknown. Reviewed here are two Studio Ghibli films from Takahata. It should be noted that his films tend to be darker than Miyazaki and Pom Poko is a good example of this, while My Neighbors the Yamadas mostly throws off that cloak while still presenting something unique.
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The Movie
The story of Pom Poko is pretty standard fare, but pretty much nothing you see on the screen will be ordinary. The original Japanese title is
Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pompoko and while my wife is at a loss of how exactly to translate the title completely, she says “The Time of the Racoon
War” is good enough, and a lot more descriptive. This is the tale of a community of raccoons on the outskirts of Tokyo who find that a master-planned development is to be built in their forest. Raccoons have always lived around humans but this will tip the balance too far and drive them to destruction.
Pretty standard environmental fair, and certainly something we’ve seen in a recent films from Studio Ghibli films (e.g., Princess Mononoke,
and to some degree Howl’s Moving Castle, both from Miyazaki).
To the American unfamiliar with Japanese tradition and folklore, there will be nothing standard about this movie, however. Japanese traditions load a
lot of baggage onto the raccoon and Takahata doesn’t shy away from presenting all of it. First of all, raccoons are a shapeshifting species (along with
foxes) and this gives them quite a bit of unexpected ammunition in a battle to evict humans from the neighborhood. Then there is another aspect of raccoons
in Japanese culture that Americans will find a bit startling. I’ll break the ice by sharing a chant sung by the raccoons after a victory.
Our golden balls swing and swing
Even though there’s not a breath of wind.
The baby raccoon sees our balls,
and swings his, too…
Before you start giggling at the double meaning, you should know there is no double meaning. Yes, they’re singing about their testicles. According to folklore, the Japanese “tanuki” racoons have huge
testicles and they’re not bashful about them. It won’t be difficult at all to discern the male raccoons from the female (not that they’re sexual
at all, the testicles are just there). Throughout the film little bits of folklore will drift by under your nose unless you have the knowledge or a friend
to help annotate the movie as you watch (an example: in Japanese folklore foxes shapeshift into attractive women and seduce men).
Unfortunately, the film drags on a bit too long at two hours and is too focused on exploring mythology and fitting in sight gags. Despite the quality of
humor and message, some will find it too much of a slog. This will almost certainly be true of young children, who probably shouldn’t watch the movie for
other reasons as well. The movie is not all fun and games, and both humans and raccoons experience the consequences of this “war.” By the end of the movie,
when it seems the entire arsenal of Japanese ghosts and goblins is being paraded before us, you’ll either be completely entranced or on your way to a nap.
The voicecasting for the English language dubbing is well done and match well to the Japanese cast, showing that even on second tier Studio Ghibli titles,
some effort is being put into it. For the best experience, though, I would recommend watching it with the original Japanese sountrack and subtitles. The
subtitles provide a more accurate translation of the Japanese than the English dubbing does (since it must be adjusted to match mouth movements).
The Goodies
As with the Hiyao Miyazaki two-disc DVD sets from Disney, the second disc for Pom Poko includes a “Behind the Microphone” featurette with the
English-language voice cast, a collection of Japanese commercials and trailers for the film, and original storyboards. While these may be of interest to
a select few, most will find nothing of interest in them.
Video, Audio, Interface
The picture quality isn’t anything that will blow you away, generally looking somewhat flat and washed out. I can’t say how much of that is due to the
transfer and how much is that this is just the way it looked theatrically. The menu interface uses animated backgrounds without long sequences before the
next options appear.
The Final Evaluation
Pom Poko is definitely not intended for young children, earning its PG rating, and kids younger than 13 or 14 aren’t likely to have the patience
for some of the slower stretches, though they’ll be able to appreciate much of the humor in the first half. For fans of animation, getting just about anything
from Studio Ghibli into your DVD collection is a must but the story and wit is enough to make it worthwhile on its own.
DVD Information
Bonus Features:
- Behind the Microphone featurette with English-language voice cast.
- Trailers and commercials (Japan)
- Original storyboards
Technical Specifications
- Region 1 encoded
- 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio
- ASIN: B0009MAO3M
- Original Japanese and dubbed English language soundtracks
- Closed captioning for the hearing impaired and English subtitles
- Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $29.99
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The Movie
Though it was released as a theatrical feature, My Neighbors the Yamadas is not really a movie. It is a collection of short vignettes depicting
life of a middle-class Tokyo family. Drawn is a spare, barely-there style, each member of the family is still a fully realized creation. Where Pom Poko
will give you a crash course in how different Japanese can seem when viewed through its folklore, in many ways this movie is a crash course in realizing how
similar everybody can be. There are cultural differences but things are also many constants.
The scenes vary in length from a couple minutes to almost 15 and sometimes feels like the Blondie comic strip was transplanted to Japan and then
made into short bits to show between TV shows. While some segments may seem repetitious, the nature of the film lends itself to viewing over multiple sittings.
The DVD should be suitable for most members of the family though with younger children it will be necessary to use the English language track while older
children and adults would be better served with subtitles and the Japanese soundtrack.
The Goodies
A “Behind the Microphone” featurette is offered, using four of the principle English-language cast members (James Belushi, Molly Shannon, Daryl Sabara,
and Tress MacNeille). There is also a browsable gallery of storyboards, though they tend to be so small (four to a screen) that much detail isn’t available,
and it also seems somewhat moot to see the storyboards for a style of animation that feels like a theatrical presentment of storyboards. TV commercials from
Japan are present as well. Unlike the other Studio Ghibli DVDs with all the extras on a second disc, this title manages to keep everything on one disc with
the movie.
The Final Evaluation
My Neighbors the Yamadas is really a hard to to predict who will like it. For many it may just be too understated while others will be completely
charmed. If you have a good collection of Studio Ghibli DVDs then this is definitely a worthy addition while others who may be interested might just rent
to check it out first before buying.
DVD Information
Bonus Features:
- Behind the Microphone featurette with English-language voice cast.
- Trailers and commercials (Japan)
- Original storyboards
Technical Specifications
- Region 1 encoded
- 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio
- ASIN: B0009MAO3M
- Original Japanese and dubbed English language soundtracks
- Closed captioning for the hearing impaired and English subtitles
- Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $29.99
