Overview
A captivating tale of raccoon dogs fighting for their home against urban expansion.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- whimsical
- witty
- irreverent
- family movie night
- anime discovery
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as an inventive, visually imaginative, and socially conscious Studio Ghibli animation that balances family-friendly comedy with ecological seriousness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The tanuki face extinction as human construction consumes their forest and meadow habitat.
Bake-danuki mythology and transformation legends are placed against 1990s Japanese suburban development.
The tanuki’s outlandish shapeshifting and comic communal antics coexist with extinction, displacement, and anti-development themes.
Shoukichi, Gonta, Oroku, Seizaemon, Kiyo, and Sasuke participate in a society-wide effort to preserve their home.
Films like Pom Poko, and why
Princess Mononoke
environmental fantasy, Japanese folklore, and emotionally layered animation about the collision between humans and the natural world
The Boy and the Heron
Studio Ghibli animation combining magical transformation, ecological themes, whimsical humor, and human development pressures
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
family-friendly animated fantasy centered on threatened nature, communal resistance, and imaginative animal characters
My Neighbor Totoro
Japanese animated fantasy using folklore and playful supernatural imagery to explore modernization and cultural loss
Movie Details
- Director
- Isao Takahata
- Release Date
- 1994-07-16
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (1240)
Cast
- Makoto Nonomura
- Nijiko Kiyokawa
- Shigeru Izumiya
- Norihei Miki
- Yuriko Ishida
- Megumi Hayashibara
- Yumi Ichihara
- Akira Kamiya
- Takehiro Murata
- Gannosuke Ashiya
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Pom Poko about?
- A shape-shifting tanuki community wages a comic, desperate campaign against the urban development destroying its ancestral habitat.
- What is Pom Poko like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Pom Poko as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Pom Poko violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Pom Poko as mild.
- What did critics think of Pom Poko?
- Critics broadly regard it as an inventive, visually imaginative, and socially conscious Studio Ghibli animation that balances family-friendly comedy with ecological seriousness.
- Which films are like Pom Poko?
- Films with a similar feel include Princess Mononoke, The Boy and the Heron, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and My Neighbor Totoro.
- How long is Pom Poko?
- Pom Poko runs 119 minutes.
- Where can I watch Pom Poko?
- In United States, Pom Poko streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
