Most anime fans remember Isao Takahata best for his wonderful tearjerker, "Grave of the Fireflies", will find interesting this title as well. This lavishly animated tale about raccoons battling for their homeland isn't so dramatic as "Grave of the Fireflies" but is an interesting amalgam of humor, drama, and action delivered instead. At times, the viewer gets treated to scenes which recall the tragic elements , but even though the tone of the movie is somber, a handful of lighthearted moments elevate the overall production out of depression.
As this is a Studio Ghibli film, production values are spectacular. Backgrounds are painted with a tasteful mixture of simplicity and art, and the raccoons are as cuddle-some as you would expect. (If you're scratching your head while reading this, don't be alarmed--according to Japanese folklore, raccoons have the power to transform into anything--including human beings) The actual animation is as colorful and imaginative as you might expect from a Ghibli movie(and there is one scene where we are treated to cameo appearances by Porco Rosso, Kiki, and Totoro.)
While Pom Poko has a story to tell and a meaningful message for one to think about, its character and plot aspects may come across as a bit off-putting to viewers expecting a typical animated feature. Indeed, while some raccoons identify themselves with distinguishable names and/or personalities (for example, Gonta is a burly, rough-and-ready raccoon who is always looking for a fight, while Oroku is the "wise woman" of the tribe), the story offers little in the way of character development. In fact, most of the action in the story is narrated (by Maurice LaMarche in English, Kokondei Shinchou in Japanese), which elevates the overall effect of the movie to that of a semi-documentary. For the most part, this approach works to a very interesting degree and is a refreshing change of pace. However, there were some scenes in the movie where I wished the narration could have been reduced a little bit, as it sometimes gets in the way of appreciating the beauty of the visuals on screen.
Unfortunately, most of the attention that this movie received were some silly controversies about the fact that the movie shows the testicles of the male raccoons, but that was a minor detail if you compare with the charm and the originality of the story. Even when it is not perfect (Some consider this movie a inferior work of Ghibli )this movie was funny enough for me, and is one of the my favorite animes.
