A motley band of tanuki—shapeshifting wild raccoons—must battle humans to protect the idyllic Tama Hills from being converted into a bustling suburb. Takahata’s epic is a playful and entertaining adventure brimming with visual delights and surprises—the film’s nocturnal spirit parade is a showstopper that foreshadows Spirited Away. A huge hit in Japan that remains an under-screened gem in the Ghibli catalog, Pom Poko infuses Japanese mythology with madcap energy

Director: Isao Takahata. Cast: Shincho Kokontei, Makoto Nonomura, Yuriko Ishida, Norihei Miki. 1994. 119 min. Japan. Color. Japanese. 35mm. 

All film screenings of Everyday Life: The Films of Isao Takahata are available here.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.