Tags for this video have been changed from 'pom poko, tanuki, raccoon dog, japan, japanese, 90s, 1994, teabag, scrotum' to 'pom poko, tanuki, raccoon dog, japan, japanese, 90s, 1994, teabag, scrotum, Ghibli' - edited by ponceleon

This is another fav. Studio Ghilbi movie. It made me happy and sad at the same time.

Pom Poko (Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko, lit. "Heisei-era Raccoon Dog War Pom Poko", also known as The Raccoon War) is a 1994 Japanese animated film written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli.

The film plays heavily upon Japanese folklore and here are some basic facts which may help you find the film less baffling.

* Tanuki in Japanese folklore are mischievous, lazy, cheerful and gullible creatures who use their supernatural shape-shifting powers to trick humans. It is often said that a Tanuki would put a leaf on top of their head and chant in order to change its form into anything (for example, a monk). They are also said to try to con humans with leaves turned into banknotes, although in the film this act is meant to be prohibited.

* Statues of tanuki can be seen everywhere in Japan, especially in temples and shrines, often holding a barrel of sake.

* In Japanese folklore, foxes are also supernatural creatures (known as kitsune) with an ability to transform itself into a human form. However, in contrast to the absent-minded tanuki, kitsune are usually portrayed as more witty, cunning and sometimes malicious. Kitsune are also messengers of (or sometimes a depiction of) Inari, the Shinto god of rice. In the film, a tanuki manages to terrify the humans planning to move a shrine by appearing as a white fox. Statues of kitsune mark the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 outdoor Inari shrines scattered throughout Japan.

* The stone statues which the Tanukis turn into are those of Jizo, the protective deity of travellers, people condemned to Hell, and the souls of stillborn, miscarried, and aborted fetuses. The roadside statues are a common sight in Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom_Poko