Pom Poko
Director: Isao Takahata
Year Released: 1994
Rating: 2.0
Shape-shifting raccoons fight a losing battle against industrious Japanese workers who keep digging up their forests for buildings and homes; it goes without saying that this "animated film about the environment" is a Studio Ghibli product. Aside from the cuteness of the critters themselves, it's a long-winded and sometimes redundant film with entirely too much voice over narration, keeping you from knowing too much about any particular character by discussing the raccoons as a group (in other words, there are no particular 'main characters'). Maybe I'm just being churlish, but if these super critters can inflate their testicles and smother their enemies with them (!?) or turn into a dragon to float through downtown Tokyo, why not collectively turn into Godzilla and just stomp the ever-loving shit out of everyone?
