Pom Poko

Saturday, December 21, 2019 - Monday, January 6, 2020

In this brilliant and often overlooked Studio Ghibli masterpiece, the forests are filled with groups of magical tanuki, mischievous raccoon-like animals from Japanese folklore that are capable of shape-shifting from their standard raccoon form to practically any object.

The tanuki spend their days playing idly in the hillsides and squabbling over food – until the construction of a huge new Tokyo suburb clears the nearby forest and threatens their way of life. In an effort to defend their home, the tanuki learn to transform into humans and start playing tricks to make the workers think the construction site is haunted, ending in a spectacular night-time spirit parade, with thousands of ghosts, dragons and other magical creatures descending on the city — in an abundance of fantastical characters that would not be matched on screen by Studio Ghibli until SPIRITED AWAY.


For all showtimes 6:00pm and later, the film will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles. Morning and afternoon screenings will be screened in the English language version featuring the voices of John DiMaggio, J.K. Simmons, Brian Posehn, Kevin Michael Richardson and Tess MacNeille.

Screening as part of our series The Films of Studio Ghibli.

Ghibli 2019 Schedule – By Title (PDF)

Save big and see more with a discounted Ticket Pack for six admissions! With a Ticket Pack, you can save $3 per ticket – IFC Center members save $7 off of general admission per ticket. Click here to purchase.


  • Country Japan
  • Rating NR
  • Year 1994
  • Running Time 119 minutes
  • Distributor GKIDS
  • Director Isao Takahata
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.