Talk:Pom Poko

1960's Tokyo
Aside from its prologue, which shows the original construction of Tama New Town, this film does not, repeat not, take place in the 1960s. Its depiction of Japan (camcorders, karaoke, video games), not to mention the film's very title (Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko), clearly indicates that it is set in the early-to-mid-90s.

I saw no camcorders, karaoke, or video games. The intro was to set up the film -- why would they discuss events in the 1960's if the film was NOT set in that era? This film does not, repeat not, take place in the 1990s. Get real, whoever you are. -- Jason Palpatine 09:26, 5 January 2006 (UTC)


 * So are you saying that the intro takes place in the 60s, and that the rest of it takes place in the 90s? Sorry, I'm still confused. Staecker 13:07, 5 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Do you know what Heisei means? If not, then I suggest looking it up. Reverting. --Azazello 02:44, 6 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Heisei generally refers to the current emperor/era of Japan.

From the translation: "In the autumn of 31st year of Ponpoko."

From the introduction: "In 1967, the government announced the Tama New Town Project. Its total area covered approximately 3,000 hectares.  Its planned population was approximately 300,000 plus.  Forests and mountains were leveled and fields and historic houses destroyed. The giant construction sites completely altered the Tamakyuro mountain area. This was done to foster a natural, restful environment for the housing project."

There it is in black and white -- 1967! What part of 1967 don't you understand? 1967 is NOT in the 1990's!

The chronology in the film is set in the 31st to 34th years of the era. Heisei has not been in power 30 years. The dating used throughout the film following the introduction, is the Racoons dating system -- THEIR era. Their era has no bearing on our system. The film openly states that it it set in the 1960's. What part of the film's introduction didn't you understand? This film does not, repeat not, take place in the 1990s. Reverting. -- Jason Palpatine 03:42, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The era referred to in the quote above is the era of Ponpoko, which is a Tanuki era and has no bearing on Heisei and does not mean it starts at a different time than in the real world. However the date in the quote above does contradict the title. I have deferred to the Nausicaa.net mailing list and will revisit this with the results of their discussion.
 * The consensus on Nausicaa.net ML is that despite the conflicting clue of the development starting in the 60s, everything else (the Super Famicom, the Heisei, the covert tie-in to Whisper of the Heart, and Takahata's general intentions as far as we could discern) points to the film being set in contemporary Japan (where "contemporary" to the film is 1990s).

WHO SAYS? Who are you? Why don't you signature your entries? What evidence do you have that the film's introduction is wrong? -- Jason Palpatine 02:04, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Where in the film does a Super Famicom appear? And what is the covert tie-in to "Whisper of the Heart" that dates the film? - Brian Kendig 21:46, 1 February 2006 (UTC)


 * It's not a Super Famicom, it's the original Famicom. --perfectblue 10:09, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I've had a look on Nausicaa.net, and I can't find any discussion of when Pom Poko was to have taken place. The only clue I see is that the film itself says that it takes place in 1967. If you can provide specific reasons for your assertion that it is set in the 1990s, then please list them in detail and we'll discuss them. Until then, keep the 1967 assertion in the article. If you are interested in discussing this and you have solid arguments, then we'll uncover the truth and make sure the article reflects it. So far, though, I haven't seen any reasons given other than a vague insistence that 1967 is a contradiction. Also - please sign/date your comments, Azazello. - Brian Kendig 01:30, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Characters in the film are seen singing in a karaoke bar with the lyrics to their songs appearing on a video screen; the tanuki themselves play a computer game; one of the residents of Tama New Town attempts to film the ghost parade using a hand-held camcorder. Watch the movie. All of these things are early-90s technology. As the person who started this thread, and as someone who wrote about Pom Poko for my graduate thesis, I say again: aside from the 1967 prologue, the rest of Pom Poko takes place in Heisei-period (early-90s) Japan. The title of the movie tells us this, for crying out loud! Reverting - Oliver Coombes, 22 February 2006

The film is set in the 90's. Here are a few more clues. A modern electronic display board at the railway station scene, when the masters from Shikoku arrive in Tokyo. Also in the same scene, automated ticket gates (introduced in Japan in the 80's, replacing rows of oval metallic booths with ticket inspectors standing inside.) Near the end, as the tanuki-turned-businessman runs up some stairs at a JR station to catch a train, you can hear an electronic jingle which signals a train's departure. These jingles, familiar to anyone who lives in Tokyo, was introduced by JR in 1989. Before that it was a simple metallic bell alarm. TK, 2 march 2006

The intro merely mentioned the fact that they started work on the housing project back in the 60's. It's an ongoing development. The film is obviously set in the Heisei era. In the Japanese calender Heisei 1 is 1989 AD, H2=1990, H3=1991 etc... So why is it "obvious" that the film is set in the Heisei era, I hear you ask? Well, the film's Japanese title translates as "The Heisei battle of the tanukis". Case closed.

Proof of 1990's:
 * In the Monster Parade, a man is holding a camcorder. There was no footage captured because he is holding the camera backwards (videotaping his eye).
 * The tanuki play a videogame displaying to the other tanuki the food shortage.

It's just as Oliver Coombes said. -Isaac Smith

This movie was funny and all but i am very confused to which point of view the people who produced the "english"(version i would hope) have on conservation of animals. The reason im confused is because at the end of the movie one of the "Raccoons"(can't remember which) is all like "What about other animals like the Badgers and Hares...(Hinting towards what they would do if they can't find a place to live) and he just leaves... IM LIKE WTF and i got confused... Throughout the whole movie i was confused at what side the movie was trying to take and ill leave it at they were just confused and just put whatever words they wanted. Any information on this would be helpful. -Ermine Warrior

Date - My 2 cents worth

The introduction at the begining of the film was a leadup. It introduced the reasons behind the need for development and urban expansion in a way that is familiar to most Japanese people, and set the scene.

From then onwards, the film moves into the future, far closer to the time that it was made. The Tanuki weren't experiencing a sudden and new problem but instead one that had gradually been sneeking up on them for years and erroding their habitats. They only realized what was happening when the development was right on top of them and it was too late.

The film's title explicitely states that the events took place during the 平成 period, which did not start until January 1989. The Pompoko era bit and the dates given in racoon years is irrelevent. It serves only to show time passing, not to corelate it with human dates.

There was a Famicom (AKA the NES) or similar games console, a camcorder. Modern singing bars. Explicite mentions of the Engery Drinks craze. Modern cars. There was also a problem with illegal dumping.

--perfectblue 10:28, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Ghibli Intertextuality?
Maybe it's the edition I have, but I cannot find the Ghibli characters in the monster parade:

'Most of the characters in the monster parade are Yōkai, creatures from Japanese folklore. However, some of the characters from other Ghibli films make cameos, including Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service, Taeko from Only Yesterday, Porco Rosso from Porco Rosso, and Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro.'

Where in the parade are they appearing?

--wha? (talk) 18:32, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
 * I think at least Kiki and Porco Rosso's plane appear as very brief blink-and-you miss-it cameos. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 20:26, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Pom poko poster.jpg
Image:Pom poko poster.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 09:53, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Manga Impact
Manga Impact: The World of Japanese Animation, 6 December 2010, ISBN 978-0714857411; pg 195:

The third anime made by Takahata Isao for Studio Ghibli, Pom Poko (1994) has little in common with the serious themes of Grave of the Fireflies (1988) or the nostalgia of Only Yesterday (1991). This lively and hugely popular ecological fable tells the story of a village of tanuki (Japanese raccoon-dogs) fighting for their survival when human construction projects threaten their environment. Tanukis are eccentric imps from the panoply of Japanese folklore characters. Capable of shape-shifting into any form, they have large bellies that they use to drum on (making their 'pom poko' noise) and monstrous extendable testicles. They make irresistibly sympathetic characters, as they are at once talkative, lazy, bellicose, clumsy and greedy. At first, they wage a comical war against the humans, but the avalanche of gags in the first hour gives way to a disillusioned admission of defeat as it becomes clear that the pom pokos' brash resistance is doomed to failure. The nocturnal parade, when the tanukis use every trick they know to frighten the humans away, is immediately forgotten by a blasé child. The pessimistic aspect of the film, set alongside the ecological fable, explores the humans' loss of imagination: they are no longer even capable of feeling wonder. Pom Poko goes beyond an overt division of animals on one side and humans on the other, as deforestation forces the tanukis to try to fit in to city life, which the cunning creatures do with some success. Taking human form, they try to assimilate, even though they are tempted to run away at every turn. Yet they must adapt and forget the rural paradise from which they have been driven. The message is a moving one: within every suit-and-tie-wearing salary slave, there hides a sleeping tanuki. S.D.

--Gwern (contribs) 19:49 23 December 2011 (GMT)

English Release
On the DVD for "Whisper of the Heart" they list Pom Poko, which I had never known to have a US release. The info box on the right side does not mention there has been an English release, nor is there any information about it beyond a mention that the English dub "mistakenly calls them raccoons". If it really has been released, this article should reflect it, should it not?--68.6.182.39 (talk) 08:06, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

i think this reference can be added
The links i have given were from a site that was one of the very important site related to the topic. In that case it was about studio ghibli. Now the link i have given was from onlineghibli.com which is no less popular than nausicaa.net if not more. And there is no need to promote the site as it is even more popular than the nausicaa.net and it is the first result in the search engine.And i absolutely know about the no-follow system or rule of wikipedia.And that site actually verifies the character list as it actually gives pictures of the artists and it has many other infos like music pieces etc.And this site also has been there for 10 years so it is one of the most important reference site to the topic. The problem is i do not know how to use the reference template[and also do not have access to] that is why i needed to give the external link. We all need to improve wikipedia so review my suggestion.Nibir2011 (talk) 16:30, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Rewriting Intro and Creating "Themes" Section
I plan to rewrite the intro to this article to be more consistent with that of other films. This will include moving the second through fourth paragraphs into their own section, "Themes", as they generally talk about Japanese folklore over the content of the movie itself. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions before I make this change.Mumbai0618 (talk) 20:09, 15 June 2024 (UTC)Mumbai0618


 * I'm a little concerned by this. Paragraphs 2-4 aren't themes, so a Themes section wouldn't make sense.  They, along with paragraph 5, might work as a Background section. Dan Bloch (talk) 21:53, 15 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Very well, I will name the section “Background”. Thank you for the feedback. Mumbai0618 (talk) 13:33, 18 June 2024 (UTC)