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{{short description|1994 animated film directed by Isao Takahata}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{About|the 1994 animated film|the Norwegian post-punk band|Pom Poko (band)}}
{{Distinguish|Ponpoko{{!}}''Ponpoko''}}
}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Pom Poko
| native_name      = {{Infobox Japanese
 | kanji           = 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ
 | revhep          = Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko}}
| image          = Pompokoposter.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Isao Takahata]]
| producer       = [[Toshio Suzuki (producer)|Toshio Suzuki]]
| writer         = Isao Takahata
| starring       = {{ubl| Kokontei Shinchou | {{Interlanguage link|Makoto Nonomura|2=ja|3=野々村真|preserve=1}} | [[Yuriko Ishida]] }}
| editing        = [[Takeshi Seyama]]
| cinematography = Atsushi Okui
| music          = [[Shang Shang Typhoon]]
| studio         = [[Studio Ghibli]]
| distributor    = [[Toho]]
| released       = {{Film date|1994|7|16}}
| runtime        = 119 minutes
| country        = Japan
| language       = Japanese
| gross          = {{JPY|4.47 billion}} {{small|(Japan)}}<ref name="ghibli"/>
}}
{{nihongo foot|'''''Pom Poko'''''|平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ|Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko|{{lit.|[[Heisei]]-era [[Japanese raccoon dog|Raccoon Dog]] War Ponpoko}}|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a 1994 Japanese [[Anime|animated]] [[fantasy film]] written and directed by [[Isao Takahata]], animated by [[Studio Ghibli]] for [[Tokuma Shoten]], [[Nippon Television Network]] and [[Hakuhodo]], and distributed by [[Toho]].

The film centers around a colony of [[Japanese raccoon dog]]s living in the outskirts of Tokyo as they work to combat the growing [[deforestation]] of their home. Takahata's third film for Ghibli, ''Pom Poko'' was released on July 16, 1994, to critical and commercial success. The film was Japan's submission to the [[67th Academy Awards]] for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]], but was not accepted as a nominee. Studio Ghibli began experimenting with [[computer-generated imagery]] during the film's production.{{sfn|Denison|2023|p=108}}

==Background==
The story features ''[[Bake-danuki|tanuki]]'', or [[Japanese raccoon dog]]s (incorrectly referred to as "[[raccoon]]s" in the English dialog). In Japanese folklore, ''tanuki'' are considered to be [[bake-danuki]] (化け狸), magical creatures capable of shapeshifting into people or other objects. They are a highly sociable, mischievous species, too fun-loving and fond of tasty treats to be a real threat — unlike ''[[kitsune]]'' (fox spirits) and other ''bake-danuki'' shapeshifters.

The phrase "Pom Poko" in the title refers to the sound of ''tanuki'' drumming their bellies, from a 1919 poem by [[Ujō Noguchi]] which became a popular children's song when it was set to music in 1925.<ref>{{cite web |last=Munroe Hotes |first=Catherine |date=November 13, 2010 |title=Belly Drum Dance at Shojoji Temple (證城寺の狸囃子, c.1933) |url=http://nishikataeiga.blogspot.se/2013/10/belly-drum-dance-at-shojoji-temple-c1933.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819231311/http://nishikataeiga.blogspot.se/2013/10/belly-drum-dance-at-shojoji-temple-c1933.html |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |access-date=July 9, 2016 |website=Nishikata Film Review}}</ref>

[[Shigeru Sugiura]], [[Hisashi Inoue]] and [[Shigeru Mizuki]] were credited as additional crews, as designs of tanuki and various [[yokai]] and parts of the plot were based on their works.<ref>{{cite web |title=平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ (1994) |url=https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/152271 |accessdate=2024-02-25 |publisher=Allcinema.net |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225020908/https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/152271 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ghibli's TV Ad, Isao Takahata's Puppet Work Posted |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-08-02/ghibli-tv-ad-isao-takahata-puppet-work-posted |accessdate=2024-02-25 |publisher=[[Anime News Network]] |archive-date=February 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226162529/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-08-02/ghibli-tv-ad-isao-takahata-puppet-work-posted |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2009-08-News - Ghibliwiki |url=http://www.nausicaa.net/wiki/2009-08-News#Video_Clips.2C_Nick_Park_on_Ghibli_Asemamire |accessdate=2024-02-25 |publisher=Nausicaa.Net |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225020908/http://www.nausicaa.net/wiki/2009-08-News#Video_Clips.2C_Nick_Park_on_Ghibli_Asemamire |url-status=live }}</ref> A character based on Mizuki also appeared as the commentator in the film.

==Plot==
The story begins in late 1960s Japan. A group of ''tanuki'' are threatened by a giant suburban development project called [[Tama New Town|New Tama]], in the [[Tama Hills]] on the outskirts of [[Tokyo]]. The development is cutting into their forest habitat and dividing their land. The story resumes in early 1990s Japan, during the first few years of the [[Heisei era]]. With limited living space and food decreasing every year, the ''tanuki'' begin fighting among themselves for the diminishing resources, but at the urging of the matriarch Oroku, they decide to unify to stop the development.

Several ''tanuki'' lead the resistance, including the aggressive chief Gonta, the old guru Seizaemon, the wise-woman Oroku, and the young and resourceful Shoukichi. Using their illusion skills (which they must re-learn after having forgotten them), they stage a number of diversions including industrial sabotage. These attacks injure and even kill people, scaring construction workers into quitting, but more workers immediately replace them. In desperation, the ''tanuki'' send out messengers to seek help from various legendary elders from other regions.

After several years, one of the messengers returns bringing a trio of elders from the distant island of [[Shikoku]], where development is not a problem and the ''tanuki'' are still worshipped. In an effort at re-establishing respect for the supernatural, the group stages a massive [[Hyakki Yagyō|ghost parade]] to make the humans think the town is haunted. The strain of the massive illusion kills one of the elders and his spirit is lifted up in a ''[[raigō]]'', and the effort seems wasted when the owner of a nearby [[Amusement park|theme park]] takes credit for the parade, claiming it was a [[publicity stunt]].

With this setback, the unity of the ''tanuki'' finally fails and they break up into smaller groups, each following a different strategy. One group led by Gonta takes the route of [[eco-terrorism]], holding off workers until they are wiped out in a pitched battle with the police, and finally, fused into the form of a ''[[tsurube-otoshi]]'', killed while blocking the path of an oncoming [[dekotora]]. Another group desperately attempts to gain media attention through television appearances to plead their case against the habitat's destruction. One of the elders becomes [[Dementia|senile]] and starts a [[Buddhism in Japan|Buddhist]] dancing [[cult]] among the ''tanuki'' who are unable to transform, eventually sailing away with them in a ship that takes them to their deaths. The other elder investigates joining the human world as the last of the transforming ''[[kitsune]]'' (foxes) have already done.

When all else fails, in a last act of defiance, the remaining ''tanuki'' stage a grand illusion, temporarily transforming the urbanized land back into its pristine state to remind everyone of what has been lost.<ref>{{cite book|last=Clements|first=Jonathan|title=The Anime Encyclopedia|year=2006|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=California|isbn=1-933330-10-4|author2=McCarthy, Helen}}</ref> Finally, with their strength exhausted, the ''tanuki'' most trained in illusion follow the example of the ''kitsune'': they blend into human society one by one, abandoning those who cannot transform. While the media appeal comes too late to stop the construction, the public responds sympathetically to the ''tanuki'', pushing the developers to set aside some areas as parks. However, the parks are too small to accommodate all the non-transforming ''tanuki''. Some try to survive there, dodging traffic to rummage through human scraps for food, while others disperse further out to the countryside to compete with the ''tanuki'' who are already there.

One day, Shoukichi, who also joined the human world, is coming home from work when he sees a non-transformed ''tanuki'' leaping into a gap in a wall. Shoukichi crawls into the gap and follows the path, which leads to a grassy clearing where some of his former companions are gathering. He joyfully transforms back into a ''tanuki'' to join them. Shoukichi's friend, Ponkichi, [[Fourth wall|addresses the viewer]], asking humans to be more considerate of ''tanuki'' and other animals less endowed with transformation skills, and not to destroy their living space. As the view pulls out and away, their surroundings are revealed as a golf course within a suburban sprawl.

==Voice cast==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Character name
! Japanese voice actor
! English voice actor
|-
| {{nihongo|Shoukichi|正吉}} || Makoto Nonomura || [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Gonta|権太}} || [[Shigeru Izumiya]] || [[Clancy Brown]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Oroku|おろく婆|Oroku-baba}} || Nijiko Kiyokawa || [[Tress MacNeille]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Tsurukame Oshō|鶴亀 和尚}} || Kosan Yanagiya || [[Andre Stojka]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Seizaemon|青左衛門}} || Norihei Miki || [[J. K. Simmons]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Ponkichi|ぽん吉}} || [[Hayashiya Shōzō IX]] || [[David Oliver Cohen]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Tamasaburo|玉三郎}} || [[Akira Kamiya]] || [[Wally Kurth]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Bunta|文太}} || Takehiro Murata || [[Kevin Michael Richardson]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Sasuke|佐助}} || [[Megumi Hayashibara]] || [[Marc Donato]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Ryutaro|竜太郎}} || Akira Fukuzawa || [[John DiMaggio]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Okiyo|おキヨ}} || [[Yuriko Ishida]] || Jillian Bowen
|-
| [[Awa Tanuki Gassen|Kinchō Daimyōjin VI]] || rowspan="2"|Beichō Katsura || rowspan="2"|[[Brian George]]
|-
| [[Yashima no Hage-tanuki|Yashimano Hage]] 
|-
| [[Inugami Gyoubu|Inugami Gyōbu]] || Gannosuke Ashiya  || [[Jess Harnell]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Otama|お玉}} || Yorie Yamashita || [[Russi Taylor]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Hayashi|林}} || Osamu Katō || [[Brian Posehn]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Koharu|小春}} || Yumi Kuroda || [[Olivia d'Abo]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Narrator|語り|Katari}} || Kokontei Shinchō || [[Maurice LaMarche]]
|-
| {{nihongo|Reporter|アナウンサー|Anaunsā}} || Makiko Ishikawa<br>Masanobu Iwakuma<br>Toshimi Ashizawa<br>Minako Nagai<br>Masahiro Hosaka<br>Katsuhiro Masukata || rowspan="2"|[[Mark Moseley (actor)|Mark Moseley]]
|-
| {{nihongo|News Anchor|キャスター|Kyasutā}} || [[Sawako Agawa]]<br>[[Naruhito Iguchi]]
|-
|}

Additional voices in the English dub include Newell Alexander, [[Jeff Bennett]], Mitch Carter, Holly Dorff, Zac Gardner, [[Sherry Hursey]], Jordan Orr, [[Philece Sampler]], [[Alyson Stoner]], Erica Beck, [[Reeve Carney]], David Cowgill, [[Ike Eisenmann]], [[Richard Steven Horvitz]], Hope Levy, [[Mary Mouser]], [[Peter Renaday]], [[Audrey Wasilewski]], and [[Adam Wylie]].

==Release==
The film was released in Japan on July 16, 1994. It was released on DVD on August 16, 2005, in North America by [[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]] along with ''[[My Neighbors the Yamadas]]''. [[Optimum Releasing]] released the film on DVD in the United Kingdom, a year later. Disney released a [[Blu-ray|Blu-ray disc]] on February 3, 2015. [[GKIDS]] re-issued the film on Blu-ray and DVD on February 6, 2018, under a new deal with Studio Ghibli.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/gkids-studio-ghibli-ink-home-entertainment-deal-1021746|title=Gkids, Studio Ghibli Ink Home Entertainment Deal|author=Carolyn Giardina|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=July 17, 2017|access-date=July 17, 2017|archive-date=July 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722144250/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/gkids-studio-ghibli-ink-home-entertainment-deal-1021746|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Reception==

===Box office===
''Pom Poko'' was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1994, earning {{JPY|2.63 billion}} in distribution income,<ref name ="eiren">{{cite web|url=http://www.eiren.org/toukei/1994.html|title=Kako haikyū shūnyū jōi sakuhin 1994-nen |publisher= Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan|language=ja|access-date =February 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802221616/http://www.eiren.org/toukei/1994.html|archive-date= August 2, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and grossing {{JPY|4.47 billion}} in total box office revenue.<ref name="ghibli">{{cite news |title= 超意外な結果!?ジブリ映画の興行収入ランキング |url= https://cinema.ne.jp/recommend/ghibli2016062517/ |access-date= February 15, 2019 |work= シネマズ Plus (Cinemas Plus) |date= June 25, 2016 |language= ja |archive-date= July 9, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190709195712/https://cinema.ne.jp/recommend/ghibli2016062517/ |url-status= dead }}</ref>

===Critical response===
''Pom Poko'' has an approval rating of 86% on [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 14 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10.<ref>{{cite web |title= Pom Poko (Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko; The racoon war) |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1148583_pom_poko |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date= May 23, 2019 |archive-date= September 2, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240902025634/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pom_poko |url-status= live }}</ref> [[Metacritic]] assigned the film a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/pom-poko?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c | title=Pom Poko Reviews | website=[[Metacritic]] }}</ref>

===Awards and nominations===
It was chosen as the [[List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Japanese submission]] for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] for that year. It won [[Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film|Best Animation Film]] at the 49th [[Mainichi Film Awards]].

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Book sources ===

{{refbegin}}
* <!-- Denison 2023 --> {{cite book |last=Denison |first=Rayna |author-link=Rayna Denison |date=2023 |title=Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-3-031-16843-7}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1148583_pom_poko? Pom Poko] at [[Rotten Tomatoes]]
*{{Anime News Network|anime|809}}
* {{IMDb title|0110008|Pom Poko}}
* [http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/pompoko/ ''Pom Poko'' at nausicaa.net // Hayao Miyazaki Web]

{{Isao Takahata}}
{{Studio Ghibli Films}}
{{Japanese submissions for the Academy Award}}
{{Mainichi Film Award - Animation Film Award}}
{{Portal bar|Anime and manga|Film}}

[[Category:1994 anime films]]
[[Category:1994 children's films]]
[[Category:1994 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:1990s children's animated films]]
[[Category:1990s Japanese-language films]]
[[Category:Animated films about raccoons]]
[[Category:Animated films about shapeshifting]]
[[Category:Animated films about talking animals]]
[[Category:Animated films set in Japan]]
[[Category:Animated films set in the 1960s]]
[[Category:Animated films set in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Anime with original screenplays]]
[[Category:Annecy Cristal for a Feature Film winners]]
[[Category:Environmental films]]
[[Category:Fantasy anime and manga]]
[[Category:Films about animal rights]]
[[Category:Films based on urban legends]]
[[Category:Films directed by Isao Takahata]]
[[Category:Films produced by Toshio Suzuki]]
[[Category:Japanese mythology in anime and manga]]
[[Category:Studio Ghibli animated films]]
[[Category:Toho animated films]]
[[Category:Tokuma Shoten anime]]
[[Category:Yōkai in anime and manga]]
[[Category:Bake-danuki]]