Panda! Go Panda!

Director
Isao Takahata
Production
Tokyo Movie Shinsa
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
35 mins
Year
1972

Panda! Go Panda!

By Adam Cook
21st May 04

Being an ardent fan of Miyazaki and Takahata's work I approached one of the duos earliest collaborations with great interest. The Panda Go Panda DVD includes both episodes (although one-off specials are probably the best description) and is a great DVD if you have an interest in either of the directors' work or if you ever wondered where the design of a rather popular character originated from.

Panda Go Panda is the story of a young orphaned girl called Mimiko that lived with her grand mother until she had to go away on a trip. When she gets back home, Mimiko finds two panda bears (Papa and Panny) and adopts them to become her surrogate family. Over the two 30 minute plus films the trio get chased by the residents of a village and a zoo keeper and make friends with a baby tiger (called Tiny) and rescue a menagerie of trapped circus animals. There are obvious questions about child welfare problems but if you can let the fact that a six or seven year old girl has been left alone to fend for herself not bother you then you will find a sweet, charming and inoffensive story underneath.

This anime is not aimed at adults in fact it isn't even aimed at families, but rather young children. Therefore to review it fairly I had to regress back to being a child (it was not very difficult for me). When the anime is viewed as merely entertainment for children the tiny niggling problems such as the lack of care for Mimiko by human villagers, and where they actually buy the large toothbrush and furniture for Papa Panda soon dissipates and you become immersed in the simple tales and charismatic lead characters.
The stories are incredibly basic and they don't seem to possess any deeper meanings that you would come to expect from either Takahata or Miyazaki's later works. But they do progress at a relatively fast pace and there is always opportunities for the three to get up to mischief. There are similarities to the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, and on occasions there are knowing references to the classic fairytale. Likewise Tiny the tiger is rather reminiscent to A.A .Milne's Tigger.
What is interesting about the two films is that neither have a true antagonist. Whilst they may be chased by a zoo keeper in the first film he is a very friendly man that clearly the panda's like and their 'confrontation' is resolved with a compromise. The lack of a villain accentuates the fact that the world the story is set in is a trouble free and safe place for anyone and everyone. The fact that a young girl can live by herself is further testament to the relaxed and carefree nature of the tiny community. It is refreshing to see such an optimistic and heart warming story without any threat or antagonism. A great deal of the time is filled with tiny scenes between the three protagonists and the way their relationship works. Whilst two may be panda's there relationship is an almost idyllic family environment. Mimiko does the cooking and looks after Panny, whilst Papa panda even goes to work (on the train of course!) and they live in perfect harmony with one another. There could be interpretations of the family unit being like a foster or adopted family in which it is more important to be with people you care about than be alone.
Papa Panda continually refers to things as being nice, and that is a good summation of the two films. They are nice, inoffensive entertainment.

The films were released in 1972 and '73 so the animation is not up to today's standards, and certainly not up to the current Studio Ghibli output. Occasionally the animation stutters along and the characters are rather crudely drawn at times but the animation is perfectly acceptable. The colours are bright and vibrant and the village is populated with tiny houses set in a picturesque surrounding. The character designs are a little hit and miss. The human characters are a little too generic but they only play relatively small roles in the story so it does not become too great a burden. The panda design will be recognisable to anyone who has seen My Neighbour Totoro. Both panda's are very similar in design to the Totoro's from the lack of definition of body parts, to the broad beaming smile, and even the laid back and occasionally vacant characteristics of a Totoro. In terms of a historical curiosity it is interesting to see where such an iconic figure originated from. The panda's are beautifully realised and full of character, and whilst Mimiko may be the main character in the films, the panda's effortlessly steal the show.

The music is rather cheesy, but the jolly and infectious nature of the music is in keeping with the visuals and the tone of the stories. In fact the theme tune is so catchy it is hard to get it out of your head. There are also lots of generic and rather annoying sound effects that seemed to be the norm for animation in the '70's and '80's.

On the whole the two short films are charming, harmless pieces of entertainment for young children. The characters are likeable, the stories easy to follow and the pacing should keep everyone interested until the end credits begin to roll. Perhaps for adults the greatest enjoyment can be garnered from the link between the panda's and the Totoro's but there are enough jokes and entertaining set pieces to keep them watching as well.

As Papa Panda so often says; "Nice".

-- Adam Cook 21st May 04

Panda! Go Panda! Images