Pom Poko (平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ, Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko?, lit. "Heisei-era Raccoon Dog War Ponpoko") is a 1994 Japanese animated film, the eighth written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli. Consistent with Japanese folklore, the tanuki (Japanese raccoon dogs, Nyctereutes procyonoides) are portrayed as a highly sociable, mischievous species, which are able to use "illusion science" to transform into almost anything, but too fun-loving and too fond of tasty treats to be a real threat – unlike the kitsune (foxes) and other shape-shifters. Visually, the tanuki in this film are depicted in three ways at various times: as realistic animals, as anthropomorphic animals which occasionally wear clothes, and as cartoony figures based on the manga of Shigeru Sugiura (of whom Takahata is a great fan). They tend to assume their realistic form when seen by humans, their cartoony form when they are doing something outlandish or whimsical, and their anthropomorphi...