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From: Steven Feldman <[e-mail]>
Subject:      PONPOKO SYNOPSIS
To: "Mike Johnson, nausicaa listowner" <[e-mail]>
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PONPOKO SYNOPSIS

Subject:  1.) HEISE TANUKI GASSEN PONPOKO synopsis (Brad Lucido, 7/17/94)


========================================================================
Subject:  1.) HEISE TANUKI GASSEN PONPOKO synopsis (Brad Lucido, 7/17/94)


FIRST WRITTEN & POSTED TO <NAUSICAA@BROWNVM> BY: Brad J. Lucido, 7/17/94
EDITED, RE-FORMATTED, AND RE-POSTED TO <NAUSICAA@BROWNVM> BY: Steven
     Feldman, October 30, 1994
SCOTT NASH ARTICLE EDITED, RE-FORMATTED & ADDED BY: S. Feldman, 10/30/94


     Following is a brief (and I do mean brief) synopsis of "Ponpoko"
that I saw yesterday.  Apologies for hack writing.


     If you don't want to know about the events in the film, please do
not go on.

--------------------  SPOILER WARNING  SPOILER WARNING -----------------

     The film opens with a group of Tanukis investigating an abandoned
house.  They feel that they have made a real find with a large house to
live in.  Unfortunately, they find out the hard way why the house is
abandoned.  A construction vehicle's shovel arm suddenly rips through the
roof and the tanukis scramble away.

     Now that their living area has been decreased, the tanuki begin to
fight over the diminished resources, like field mice.  Two opposing
forces of tanuki line up and charge towards each other, transforming into
their bipedal form in the middle of the rush.  When they meet, the
tanukis transform into various Japanese samurai armored soldiers.  A
hilarious fight ensues, only to be halted by the female elder tanuki, who
proclaims that fighting will get them nowhere and that their real problem
is the construction that man has begun.  They all climb up a power tower
and see the beginnings of a "New Town," a bed town created as a suburban
area for the ever-expanding Tokyo.

     They hold a meeting with the "town" elder, Tsurukame Oshou.  He
suggests that they use "Tanuki transforming science" to oppose man's
encroachment into their territory and that they try to improve their own
culture to equal man's so they can have their own space.  They also
discuss seeking the help of the great tanuki sages from Shikoku.

     There is a "boot camp" where the tanuki practice their transforming
skill with varying degrees of success.  (Part human, part tanuki
creatures walk around, creating a hilarious scene.)  Some of the tanuki
are successful, and they begin to go on reconnaissance missions into the
world of man.  Unfortunately, their transformation requires a lot of
concentration and engergy, so they drink lots of Japanese "power-
medicine" drinks, especially to keep the "raccoon's mask" from forming
around their eyes.  After awhile, they realize that they are having a
problem of keeping up with the drink expense, so a different course of
action is called for.

     The tanukis begin to "hijack" the supply trucks coming into the
construction area.  They create false bridges, jump on the windshield
etc., and manage to kill a few drivers.  The village elder calls for a
funeral observation period to show respect for the lives that they took.
Even though there have been accidents, the humans press on.

     The tanukis have a meeting to discuss their further strategy.  One
stout tanuki, Gonta, calls for the elimination of mankind.  He suggests
total war to exterminate the foe humans.  However, Shoukichi asks if they
can leave some humans around, because he couldn't stand to live without
Tempura, Hamburgers etc.  Gonta has to agree, because he especially loves
rat Tempura and wouldn't want to do without it.  (Who knows where he gets
it.)

     Their next strategy is to scare the humans away.  The tanuki use
their special power to transform into ghost-like figures (faceless
humans, ghost twins, etc.).  The construction workers take off, of
course, saying that Tokyo is too dangerous etc., and the tanuki
celebrate. But the next day, a new construction crew arrives.


     After awhile, the three sages of Shikoku show up.  They arrive in
the shape of gaudily dressed punk-like old men.  (They make quite a scene
at the train station.)  All of the tanukis gather around for a "pep
talk".  The three sages turn out to be very powerful in the tanuki arts,
and train the whole tanuki crowd for a mass "attack" against the humans.

     The next scene is rather superbly done.  It is a "ghost parade" down
the main street of the New Town.  The imagery matches those of Japanese
paintings of ghosts (very oriental-looking ghosts).  The tanukis are
trying to drive out all of the humans by making the town have a
reputation of being haunted.  (This is the scene that sneaks in quick
shots of Totoro, Kiki, and Porco's plane.)  However, the people turned up
to watch the ghost show.  Their curiosity was greater than their fear.
This event is being orchestrated by the sage from Matsuyama, Inugami
Gyoubu.  He overexerts himself, however (he is, after all, 800 years
old), and has a heart attack.  The Buddha Amida Nyorai (From pure land
Buddhism) comes down from the heavens and retrieves the soul of the
fallen sage.  (Was it part of the hallucination, or was it real?)  The
parade suddenly comes to an end.

     The next day, the TV programs are speculating on the haunting of the
new town.  Eventually, the president of an amusement park company comes
forth to say that the parade was a result of his company's special
effects, and the event was a preview of the effects to be seen from the
new theme park.  The tanukis feel that their hard work has been for
naught.

     Later, Rokudai Mekinchou, the sage from Tokushima, has an interview
with a kitsune--Ryoutarou--and discovers that the amusement park plan was
really his idea.  The kitsune, too, have suffered the loss of their
ancestral homes by men, and so decided to join human society instead of
hang on to their decreasing land.  In order to live among men, they need
money, thus the theme park of which Ryoutarou is a business partner.
Mekinchou sees a problem with this, as not all tanuki are able to
transform into men.

     Not willing to split up, the tanuki hatch a plot to get money.  In
a bizarre surrealistic scene, Ryoutarou invites the president of the
amusement park company to a giant cat doll "fun house."   Once inside,
the tanuki separate the president from his money, and dump him on the
ground as the cat-house floats into the air, sucking all of the money
into itself.  Ryoutarou is left along with his president, and so the
kitsune have been double-crossed, as well.

     Despite all of their efforts, the new town has steadily grown and
diminished their land.  In an emotional scene, the tanuki stage one last
event.  They all join forces and together transform the "damaged" land
to its previous mountainous state.  However, this is only temporary, as
the land soon returns to its city-cultivated state.  The tanukis finally
concede defeat.

     The narrator tells how the tanukis took the kitsune's advice and
attempted to blend in with the society of man.  Shoukichi becomes a
salaryman, and feels sorry for mankind as he experiences the rush-hour
train jam.  He is worried about the tanukis that couldn't transform, and
were thus left fending for themselves in the diminished wild lands.
However, coming home from work, Shoukichi finds some tanuki running
through tunnels in the road.  He follows them, and comes out into a golf
course, where the tanuki are having a party.  Overjoyed to see his
friends alive and well, he tears off his clothes, and charges into the
fray as his old tanuki self.  They may have been set back, but by no
means have they been eliminated.

The End

--------------------------------cut here--------------------------------

Subject: Yet another Ponpoko review
Date:         Mon, 18 Jul 1994 10:28:08 JST
Source:       Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group <[e-mail]>
Really-From:  Scott Nash <[e-mail]>

                           My Review of Ponpoko
                        --------------------------

     Last Saturday night, Itoh Hikaru and I went to see _Ponpoko_, and
the result was . . . OK.

     The technical animation quality was as high as ever, certainly, and
there were some magical moments.  But it just didn't move me in the same
way that Miyazaki's earlier works did [that's because it was directed by
Isao Takahata, not Hayao Miyazaki --S.F.], for the following reasons:

          1)      It was too Japanese (i.e. not universal enough);
          2)      It was too based in the real world; and
          3)      There was no central character.

     Since Brad was kind enough to post a synopsis, I won't bore you by
repeating details.  Suffice to say that those who will understand the
film the most are Japanese people, because many of the scenes involve
Japanese myths and legends.  These are very interesting visually, but
story-wise provide little depth for the foreigner who doesn't know the
meaning of, for example, the "Fox Wedding Ceremony."  A chief feature of
Nausicaa, Totoro, and Laputa was the _universality_ of the films.  It
really didn't matter where you were from, it could strike a chord in you
through the strong story and moving characters.  But in Ponpoko, the
frequent references to Japanese culture only serve to isolate the film,
making it a lesser work.

     Of course, as people would point out, the film is set in Japan, so
it is only correct that there be a good dose of Japanese culture.
However, that brings about my second point -- looking at films like
Nausicaa and Laputa, having them set in other worlds or times enables
everyone to enjoy the film.  Furthermore, by using the alternate world as
an allegory, it forces the viewer to think about and make connections to
our own lives, which has a greater impact.  By setting _Ponpoko_ in the
real world, the viewer does not have to think; he (or she, or it) is
instead hit over the head by the obvious message.  This cheapens the
overall effect.  Also, because the story is set in the real world, there
is no real "enemy" that you can grow to loathe, which might make you like
the protagonist more.  The real world setting is a tough hurdle to
overcome.  Totoro succeeded with a strong story and well-developed
characters.  Unfortunately, _Ponpoko_ is not so well-endowed.

     Finally, the movie centers around the entire tribe of tanuki,
without really focusing on one main character.  This lack of focus means
we never really get to know a character deeply; instead, we have a very
shallow view of the tribe.  Because we never learn much about the
characters, I couldn't really care about what happened to them.  This is
further exacerbated by the structure of the movie, which jumps from scene
to scene through the use of a narrator.  This makes the movie seem more
like a collection of scenes rather than a coherent story.  I just found
myself saying, "What is there to root for?"

     As I said, the movie does have its moments.  Both Itoh and I agreed
on one thing: I should see the movie again before passing final judgment.
Finally, I think this movie would win the previous argument on which
movie would cost most to film in live action.  The whole thing is one
continual morph.  That is cool.

Scott Nash
[e-mail]