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Director Isao Takahata (GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES) and the acclaimed Japanese animation studio Ghibli are the creative forces behind the environmental fable POM POKO (HEISEI TANUKI GASSEN POMPOKO). In the woods near a rapidly growing city, a group of tanuki (Japanese raccoons) live in relative peace, until the development of the town begins to intrude on their land. The tanuki are faced with a dilemma regarding the human beings, for their homes are being destroyed, but the tanuki also rely on the human community for scavenged food and goods. They decide to try using their powers of illusion and shapeshifting to scare the humans back to the central city and sabotage further building, but will their efforts come too little, too late? POM POKO uses the figure of the tanuki, an important animal in Japanese folklore and often attributed with the powers seen in the film, to comment on the nature of their society's geographic expansion and the subsequent impact on the natural world.
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