Pom Poko

Dir: Isao Takahata

1994

****

With its roots firmly in folk-law, Pom Poko is one of the more bizarre additions to the Studio Ghibli collection for anyone outside Japan. Pom Poko is the sound that Tanuki (a sort of Raccon type dog) makes when they beat their own bellies like a drum. This ancient and mythical drumming is called Tanuki-bayashi and has been written about in Japanese legend and while it remains a mysterious phenomenon, Ghibli declare that it was the Tanuki all along. The Tanuki are fun, playful and somewhat mischievous and have the power to transform into whatever they like, thanks to their understanding and skills in 'illusion science'. How this 'illusion science’ works is never explained but it generally involves the creatures pulling out their testicles and wrapping themselves in their own ball sacks. This is genuinely from real Japanese folk-law. Unlike other shape-shifting animals, particularly foxes, the Tanuki are not threatening and are a peaceful species. The Tanuki generally keep their natural appearance when in the company of humans and are anthropomorphic most of the time unless they're being playful, they are then given a more cartoonish appearance by Ghibli's animators. It's a strange one this. The film starts in the 1960s where we find the Tanuki's home under treat from humans building a residential development right next to them. Thirty years later, the problem has increased. This is typical of Ghibli, they often make films about environmental issues but this one isn't just about the physical diminishing of Japan's wildlife, it is also about how modern lifestyles and ways of thinking are destroying the country’s history which is steeped in mythology and magic. What makes the film even more unique compared to the other Ghibli animations is that while it is generally a cutesy comedy, the Tanuki do actually kill people, albeit by mistake. While the Tanuki sabotage the developments, they also try to drive people away by turning into monsters and scaring the living daylights out of them. What starts off as a sweet cartoon, soon turns into a surreal tale that would have most kids turn to their parents with that 'Are we still allowed to watch this'? look on their faces. Some of the Tanuki soon turn into eco-terrorists and fight the human developers, while others give up or change into humans for good. It's quite a sad tales really but it does have quite a uniquely happy ending as the audience is challenged directly by one of the characters. As a kid in the 80s environmental issues, recycling etc was a hot topic but most of the lessons were samey and uninspiring. I like to think I'm green minded now as an adult but I wonder whether Pom Poko would have been a far more memorable and therefore more effective reminder. Studio Ghibli is lots of things, often surreal but mainly fantastical, beautiful, full of sci-fi and mythical wonder. Pom Poko is all those things but with plenty of added nuts.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Dir: Isao Takahata

2013

*****

Isao Takahata has made one of my least favorite Studio Ghibli films, 1999's My Neighbours the Yamadas. Compared to the usual visual flare you can expect from the studio, Takahata's animations are a bit too simple and dare I say, almost dull in comparison to their other great work. When I think of Ghibli and what I love about it, it is the mix of simplisity but with great regard to detail. However, while The Tale of The Princess Kaguya isn't always very colourful, it is bright and very striking and certainly never dull. Takahata's simplistic style is used far more effectively than in his previous work, the detail growing at the same speed as Princess Kaguya and the overall story. The detail, or lack of, gives the film a wonderful fluidity, which works perfectly for what it is. Based on the 10th Century Japanese Buddhist folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Isao Takahata's dream like style gives the film a certain level of timelessness and the story some reverence. The story is easily one of Ghibli's finest, mixing folk-law, Buddhism and fantasy beautifully and in a somewhat more mature way than you might expect. It's the best example of the notion of idealism I've ever seen, both children and adults could learn a lot from it, whether they're Buddhist or not. The last scene is nothing short of sensational, even more so than you'd expect from the studio. I'll be honest, I'd much prefer to watch My Neighbour Totoro or PrincessMononoke over this if I had the choice but there is no doubt that it is one of Ghibli and Takahata's most faultless masterpieces.

Panda Kopanda Rainy Day Circus
Dir: Isao Takahata
1973
***
The sequel to 1972's Panda! Go Panda! is much the same as its predecessor in many ways. Grandma still isn't back from her trip and the Pandas are still living with Mimiko (even though they should have gone to the Zoo). The Goldilocks and the Three Bears theme is even stronger in this second act as they encounter a young Tiger who seems to only be interested in baby Panda's food, bed, etc. The Tiger has escaped from a traveling circus and Mimiko and the Pandas decide to take him back to his Mother, who would undoubtedly be worried. After a big storm the whole town gets flooded, many townsfolk probably drowned but it's all fun and games for Mimiko and the Pandas who laugh in the face of natural disaster. I got a little a frustrated at one scene whereby a Steam Train ran underwater, totally impossible but I remembered what I was watching and felt a little stupid. Panda Kopanda Rainy Day Circus is what it is, completely nuts and often bizarre, kids will love it and adults will be split down the middle. Personally, I've seen better but I've seen much worse, I enjoyed the randomness of it and it made me laugh quite a bit.

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.

Only Yesterday
Dir: Isao Takahata
1991
****
Studio Ghibli's fifth official film and Isao Takahata's second as director, Only Yesterday is like a Studio Ghibli version of a Yasujirô Ozu film. However, it's never at the top of people's favorite Ghibli list even though most fans like it, but following classics such as Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki's delivery Service, it was a very different direction for the studio to take. Although Grave of the Fireflies was a serious film, there was a otherworldly feel about it, while Only Yesterday is real with no fantasy element whatsoever. The animation is beautifully detailed to reflect the story's maturity, there is no Cat Bus, talking animals or mythical beings here, this is quite serious but mostly reflective. It is also incredibly nostalgic and somewhat melancholy, which I think is the reason for its appeal. Our protagonist is an unmarried 27 year old women wanting to escape the City, it is Ozu to the core although it is based on the manga of the same name by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone. The story intertwines with irrelevant childhood memories and present day philosophical daydreams, it gets a little dull toward the middle of the story and some of the childhood memories are hardly the sort of thing a 27 year old would be worrying about but the pace, the excellent animation and the wonderful ending certainly make up for it. An animated Ozu essentially and every bit as lovely as that sounds. Ghibli at their most sober and uplifting.

Grave of the Fireflies
Dir: Isao Takahata
1988
*****
Picking a favourite Studio Ghibli film is near impossible for most fans. My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo and Porco Rosso come very close as personal favourites for me but I think Grave of the Fireflies is undoubtedly their greatest and most powerful achievement. It's not just Ghibli's best either, it's one of the greatest animations of all time. Much like when people discuss what is the greatest graphic novel of all time, the general answer is Alan Moore's Watchmen, which it true until you read Art Spiegelamn's Maus. It's rare that any film can have such an emotional impact as Grave of the Fireflies does, whether it's real or animation but rarely does an animated film provoke such feelings. Along with Watership Down, Grave of the Fireflies really did push the boundaries when it came to the power of cartoons and showed just how important animation is in cinema. Considered an anti-war film by most, Akiyuki Nosaka, author of the short story the film is adapted from, has stated that it is actually a look at living outside of society, isolation, something suffered largely by teens and those in their early twenties, Nosaka's target audience. The main characters, brother and sister Setsuko and Seita, are victims of war and it is the suffering that war brings to normal people that makes it an anti-war film but Nosaka, an staunch anti-war supporter who has criticized Japan for its conformity on many occasions, is focusing the attention on youth and how they are forced to fall in line during times of hardship that are of no fault of theirs. It's about kids of the world who are never given the chance to make anything of themselves and how conformity often kills a child's spirit and the cycle continues when they reach adulthood and have kids of their own. It is a heartbreaking film, historically important, wonderfully executed and rightfully regarded as the masterpiece it is. Not a typical Studio Ghibli production but as brilliant as you'd expect from them.

My Neighbors the Yamadas
Dir: Isao Takahata
1999
***
Released between two of Studio Ghibli's best and most successful films to date (Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away) My Neighbors the Yamadas is a strange addition to the portfolio of work but it isn't an unwelcome change of style. Without wanting to sound stupid and obvious, it is very Japanese. Based on a popular comic strip, Isao Takahata wisely keeps a short-story vignette format and a comic-strip aesthetic to keep up momentum, to give each character their fair share of screen time and give the film a certain authenticity, even though it is a departure from the studios usual style of animation. Each story has a moral tale attached to it, some are clearer than others and some are just completely unfathomable. Based on the Manga cartoons of Hisaichi Ishii that appeared daily (four cells at a time) in Japan's daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun from 1991 to 1997 until the format was dramatically altered to concentrate on just one of the characters and renamed Nono-chan. The animation is simple but charming and incorporates a watercolour style but surprisingly, this is actually the first Ghibli film to be 100% digital. Not quite what hardcore fans of Ghibli want or come to expect but a big hit among fans of the original comic-strip. It's a nice one off but probably my least favorite from the studio but that is largely because I was unaware of the original comic, have come to expect something else from the studio and understood only half of the story that I believe looses something through translation. I would argue that Isao Takahata is capable of much more than this also.