Panda! Go Panda!
Dir: Isao Takahata
1972
***
1972's Panda! Go Panda! is an odd little Anime that is a mix of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Pippi Longstocking along with it's own unique and often bizarre humour. Pandas were big in Japan at the time, making a cartoon quite the success. The script is very strange, I believe it is all innocent but the odd things said, the ideas on parenthood and the fact that the little girl keeps showing her knickers every time she is exited do raise an eyebrow from time to time throughout the film. It's fun and strange as many anime films are, you either like them or you really don't. However, the most important thing about Panda! Go Panda! and what makes it so special is that it was the birth of Studio Ghibli. Director Isao Takahata and writer Hayao Miyazaki both went on to create the studio after working together on Panda, a film they are both very obviously still fond of. Papa Panda is clearly Totoro. Parts of Panda! Go Panda! and it's sequel Panda Kopanda and the Rainy-Day Circus can be seen in nearly all of the studio Ghibli films, right up until 2008's Ponyo. It's lovely to see the origins of something so wonderful, it's no where near as good as their Ghibli films but you can see the magic there at times, the seed is quite clear.