MR Panda! Go, Panda!

And here's another review for my "Studio Ghibli Marathon"!~

Some nerds would love to nitpick, and scream at their computer screen saying "this isn't a movie! it's an OVA/OAV!!" well, check out my tags, notice my "OVA" tag? Good. Okay, now calm down, sit, relax and enjoy....

Movie: Panda! Go, Panda! also known as Panda Kopanda which means Panda, Baby Panda (as most non-English releases correctly translate the title - see my own copy above!)
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1972
Genre Anime/comedy
Country Japan

After working together on Horus at Toei animation, Yōichi Kotabe, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata started working on another feature in 1972.
This, instead of making a full theater feature, for budgetary concerns which was still a problem for them at the time, they decided to work on a smaller, and shorter, project.
This time it was going to be an OVA, that is, simply a direct-to-video feature (which aired on TV nonetheless).

Hayao Miyazaki created the concept and wrote the film, that Isao Takahata directed in the end.
This time the movie has more noticeable "Miyazaki" flavor, every detail, character and aspect of the plot clearly contains his very own touch.

 Panda! Go, Panda!

The "movie" that we call nowadays "Panda! Go, Panda!" is really two smaller short features, two OVAs.
Both run for around ~40 minutes, which back to back can sort of be seen as a proper movie...kinda...

The story is about Mimiko, a little girl without parents, who lives with her grandmother in a little hometown.
One day, her grandmother has to leave her alone for a trip. But Mimiko is full of ressources and has no problem staying all by herself, being quite enthusiast and responsible at home.
When she comes back to her house later, situated in the middle of a bamboo forest, she finds there a baby panda sleeping outside.
Pandy (in Japanese Kopanda or Pan-Chan or even Panny in some US releases) joins her inside the house and they quickly become friends.
They're joined by his father, Papanda (Papa Panda), whom Mimiko ends up inviting as well!

A very strong bond is born amongst these three, and in the spur of the moment, they decide to become a "real" family, Papanda serving the role as the father she never had.

Mimiko continues to write to her grandma every night.
The next day, she goes to school and Pandy decides to follow his new "mom" there. But the lil' panda ends up getting chased by everyone....
Day turns to night, Mimiko continues her dialogue with her grandma through another letter.
The following day, trouble comes to visit this unusual family as the local Policeman wanting to check on Mimiko freaks out when he sees two escaped pandas over there. He calls in help and the local zoo is alerted someone found their lost panda family.
Our little family went for a walk, but loses Pandy down a hill, into a river. The police come to aid them as well as the zoo keepers. Mimiko and Papanda have to save him!!

In the end, both pandas return to "work" at the Zoo only now they can leave after hours to live happily with Mimiko at home...

Panda! Baby Panda!

The second short is called "The Rainy-Day Circus".
This one has a sort of different tone, more adventur-ysh. It was originally released a year later, with a brief recap of the original one when it aired in theaters in front of a Godzilla feature. (true!)

One night, our happy family is visited by what comes like a strange duo of burglars. In what seems to be a direct reference/spoof to the fairy tale of The Three Bears, our "burglars" find the chairs, dishes and belongings of our trio, tiny, normal sized and huge stuff from Pandy, Mimiko and Papanda!
...When the three decide to surprise their intruders, who get scared and run off...
But continuing this allusion to the tale of Goldilocks, Pandy finds out someone sat, ate and is sleeping in his bed. It's a baby tiger escaped from the Circus in town!
This Tigry (Tora Chan or Tiny in the US) quickly becomes fast friends with Pandy.

Trouble arise the next day, but all is well as Mimiko gets free tickets for the show for her, Pandy and the Papa Panda. But a big storm arises over night which floods most of the town...
Mimiko and her family go to check on their new friends at the Circus, stuck in the middle of nowhere on the train!
They help the animals, start the train by accident, which go off rails...

The seeds of various future Ghibli features grew from this film!

This movie original hit Japan at the height of the panda craze which started in the early 70s.
When a pair of giant pandas had been given to Japan by China at the Ueno Zoo, when everyone there was in love with pandas. What some refer to as the "Pandadiplomacy".

This movie marked one of Miyazaki and Takahata's first biggest success, when they could really let go outside the restraining format of TV series (though not exactly like later on, on theaters, with budget and more time on hand).

Both these two adventures are very well animated, simple yet quite fun.
The music was composed by Masahiko Satō, it's a very dynamic and entertaining soundtrack. The main theme "Mimi chan to Panda Kopanda" is super catchy. ("Panda Kopanda Kopanda-!!")
Both features where done at the Studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha.

Overall, it's a very fun "film"!
While Horus was clearly one of the first animated films for a more adult audience, with a complex storyline and characters, featuring a various range of emotion, Panda! Go, Panda! was produced with children in mind as its principal audience.

But it still is a good heart warming movie for "older" Ghibli fans! The movie is full of fun little tidbits fans will enjoy.
It is principally a Miyazaki film more than a Takahata one. Simply because of Miyazaki's input throughout both features. As such, there's the seeds to many of his later films. Like a known fact, your earlier debuts often leave a mark across your whole life and later work.
The most evident being on Totoro. Papanda shares many of his traits, including his basic design, animations and even a bit of his personality (though Totoro isn't as eloquent). Both even share a little "playing music" scene which doesn't play a big role in the movie and is quickly overseen.
The second feature was also sort of reimagined in the recent Ponyo.
The flood, in which the village gets trapped beneath the surface, is almost identical in both movies. A violent storm arise while in the middle of a meal. The next morning, the rain has stopped and both character's world in the two movies is invaded by water. Our heroes leave aboard a boat to help their friends... The theme, the narration, the way it is directed is more than similar!
Our heroine even served as template for a later anime series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

Speaking of which, the movie isn't without some influences as well.
Before making these two features, Miyazaki searched for a really long time after Horus to adapt Pippi Longstockings into an anime movie.
It came really close to be their second feature, he had a lot of interest in the character (the title was going to be Pippi Longstocking, The Strongest Girl In The World ). In 1971 they traveled to Sweden to research for the film (they even went to Visby, the principal location from the 1969 live series) and asked the permission to the creator, Astrid Lindgren...who finally refused. The project was canceled...but not dead!
Besides some storyboards and concept (see here, here and here), the rest that was saved from that production ended up being used in Panda! (such as Mimiko, a redesigned Pippi)

There's also other references, like the Policeman sharing Lupin 3's design (an anime series Miyazaki worked on for a very long time), even being voided by Lupin's official voice actor (in all of its movies/tv series usually), Yasuo Yamada.

But it is also a Takahata movie afterall. And since the stories are quite short, the way our heroine's introduced and other characters as well is through little details in everyday life.

Anyway, it is a great movie, moreso for Ghibli fans and children alike!

I give it:

2 / 3 DonPatchis!