FILM REVIEW POM POKO - DEFENDERS OF THE FOREST
This is a brilliant Japanese Anime feature with a strong environmental ecology message at its heart, which gained the Director, Miyasaki the praise of the World Wildlife Federation.
A group of forest dwelling prairie dogs (called Racoons in the film) are actually magical shape shifting martial arts masters. When their forest is threatened by land-developers, the animals decide to fight back.
They initially decide to create a supernatural display in the area to frighten people off, and they create a phantasmagorical lighting and firework like carnival of weird and wonderful creatures to scare people off. This provides a brief cameo for Totoro and the Catbus from Miyasaki’s earlier My Neighbor Totoro.
Sadly, the display doesn’t frighten people off. It attracts them to the area in greater numbers.
The prairie dogs now take to direct assault on the construction workers, even using their giant inflating genitalia to knock bulldozers off the roads. However, the reprisals show that ultimately, they are in a war that they cannot ultimately win.
They now meet the foxes, who also have shape-shifting abilities, and who have learned to pass themselves off as humans to slow down the disintegration of their habitats, and to survive. Gradually, the Prairie dogs are obliged to adapt a similar strategy. Funny, and sad, and a little unsettling, with unforgettable images, and a very strong moral message and no easy answers, this is a film that really needs to be seen.
Arthur Chappell
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