Pom Poko
{3/5} “We raccoons are good-natured. We get excited easily. We’re too generous. That’s the source of our failures.”
Pom Poko, released in 1994
When humans encroach on their territory, a group of raccoons tries to do something about it. Some of them can change their shape. Some of them want to fight the humans, while others prefer scaring them. The raccoons make some progress but they’re easily distracted by food and fun.
The animation is mostly splendid. When the raccoons changed into their more cartoon-y form, I found that a bit distracting.
Anime movies often have a certain strangeness but this one has even more of that than usual.
The English dubbed version stars the voices of Maurice LaMarche and Clancy Brown.
Directed by Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies).