Pom Poko

1994, Movie, 1h 59min

The Raccoons of the Tama Hills are being forced from their homes by the rapid development of houses and shopping malls. As it becomes harder to find food and shelter, they decide to band together and fight back. The Raccoons practice and perfect the ancient art of transformation until they are even able to appear as humans in hilarious circumstances.

Country: Japan

Director:

Cast:

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Ratings

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IMDb rating

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7.2

Critic rating

Average critic rating

6.0

Reviews

Critic Richard Whittaker

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Yet, at its best, there's an undoubted thrill and wonder to Pom Poko, like the massive parade of phantoms the tanuki conjure up as one of their harebrained schemes. Takahata's misfire at least provides some wonderful sparkles.

Read full review at The Austin Chronicle

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Frequently asked questions

What is Pom Poko about? Toggle content

In the Tama Hills on the outskirts of Tokyo, a group of tanuki are threatened by a massive suburban development project called New Tama. With their habitat and food sources diminishing, the tanuki must band together to stop the development and protect their home. Using their ancient art of transformation, they stage diversions and sabotage the construction site, but the humans continue to replace their fallen comrades. In desperation, the tanuki seek help from legendary elders from other regions, but their efforts seem wasted when the owner of a nearby theme park takes credit for their ghost parade. The unity of the tanuki eventually fails, and they break up into smaller groups, each following a different strategy. One group led by Gonta resorts to eco-terrorism, but they are ultimately wiped out in a pitched battle with the police. The remaining tanuki must find a new way to survive in a world that seems determined to destroy them.

Where can I stream Pom Poko? Toggle content

You can stream Pom Poko on: Netflix

What movies are similar to Pom Poko? Toggle content

Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as Pom Poko include The Nightmare Before Christmas, Princess Mononoke, Hercules, DuckTales: The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp, The Rescuers Down Under, FernGully: The Last Rainforest.