Die Abenteuer des kleinen Panda

This short film from Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who would go on to create Studio Ghibli, is centred on seven year old Mimiko. When the grandmother she lives with goes away she must live alone for a while. She isn't frightened though. When she returns home to her house in a bamboo grove she is surprised to find a panda cub, which she names Pan-chan (Panny in the subtitles), outside. She quickly befriends him. Shortly afterwards the cub's father, dubbed Papa, turns up and they form a somewhat unlikely family. We then get fun antics as Panny follows Mimiko to school and the authorities turn up looking for Papa and Panny.

I suspected this would be even more aimed at children than 'My Neighbour Totoro' and 'Ponyo'; perhaps it is but it is so charming that is can be enjoyed by all ages, much like those two films I mentioned. The film might not have the detail of Ghibli's films but it is clear that the style is developing already; most obviously how Totoro looks quite similar to Papa Panda. There are only three main characters, of which only Mimiko and Papa speak, they are a lot of fun to watch as they interact with each other and get up to mild antics... I was particularly amused by Panny's troubles at school. Overall I thought this was utterly charming; a great way to introduce very young children to the delights of anime as well as being a lot of fun for any fan of Miyazaki and Takahata.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

This endearing tale is a fine example of Hayao Miyazaki's lighter writing. Papa (papanda) really elevates the amusement....and the theme song is perfectly suited.

This is a very cute little film. The animation is limited but elegant, the characters are very appealing (The Papa in particular is an interesting Proto-Totoro figure) and the story is very easy for young ones to follow. Adults will not really find much of interest unless the are real Miyazaki complete-ists like myself. And the song will stick in your brain.

Okay, maybe my expectations were set too high up. I mean, I thought this would be a cute TV film when I first saw the poster, even more so after I found out that Hayao Miyazaki created the whole idea of this film. Well, let me tell you this, "Panda! Go Panda!", while having cute music to go along with the seemingly-cute characters, was a big disappointment. I thought the whole idea of a small child having familial relationships with pandas was just ridiculous and too over the top.

Then again, I could just be saying all of this because of the HORRIBLE English dubbing. I searched everywhere for a Japnanese dub/English subbed version of this short film, but to no avail. I'm still glad I got to get a chance, of seeing Hayao Miyazaki's earlier works. It goes to show that he's really improved from the olden days. This might have been popular back in the 1970s, but I just didn't feel it..

Tip for those who want to watch it: Don't watch the English dubbing. The voices, particularly Papanda's, were annoying and turned me off. Otherwise, this could be a good film for very young children. It definitely wasn't targeted for anyone older than 7, though.

Viewed on: May 1, 2011

The long opening credits may throw some younger viewers off track at first. On the other hand, there is a catchy tune that invites even those unfamiliar with Japanese to sing along. Familiar Heidi vibes in terms of illustration, with no common thread in terms of content, but rather a colourful one. I would almost say that what is shown is pretty weird, but all this craziness is wonderfully entertaining and endearing. A format for young and old, it feels like a precursor to later Ghibli works such as Totoro. The full-throttle mode that's used here is cancelled out by the pleasant running time. A little secret treasure that should definitely be discovered!