Chibideka monogatari

I've seen this film several times when my brother and I were young. We both; brother and sister, cheered for both of the top-billed children. We cried along with them because they each helped one another in their own ways. The best part is that way back in 1957 (I think) when standing up against bullying and hazing were NOT so popular, this film ran against the the abuse of other children, while becoming very close friends. The title seems to go against what I am saying, but at the time, it was, I believe, used to make the point home. Since then, I have seen this film several more times and can't help crying in the film----but it's a good feeling cry because "Fatty" the rich boy the "Skinny " helps to stand up for himself. My eyes water when "Fatty" turns back to his friend smiling and waving and then yells, " Komatsu, thank you!!". The poorer boy returns the gesture.

This film should be shown in elementary schools across the country---especially when we have a leader who preaches hatred, intolerance, 'stay with your own kind' junk and fear and prejudice. He does NOT care about America or Americans. A Japanese story long after the internment camps, from a once enemy, and now friendly country who can forgive, told a wonderful, tremendous story of true friendship and loyalty that should be a must see for all elementary students and repeated. The children are lovable and I have access to the show through a download and am happy to have it. It definitely helped my brother and I deal with bullies and haters. We had many friends and we were popular for standing up for our friends. I'm a martial arts specialist and my brother took USA Jiu Jitsu. I took GRACIE Jiu Jitsu, Judo, several types of Karate, Krav Maga, and many other styles and I am a self defense specialist and a knife fighting specialist and coach. I also took weapons training in sai boku, hanbo, bo, and many swords training. I teach children and adults quite a bit. I guess you can say "Skinny and Fatty" was an inspiration for learning for ourselves, and I went further to teach children and adults how to defend against hate and bullies. PLEASE make time to watch this with your family and children. Then they can learn to stand up for themselves and NOT have to be violent---self defense is NOT violent. It's defense. DOWNLOAD this Japanese miracle!!!!

Growing up, I used to watch Kukla Fran, and Ollie's Children's Film Festivals on Saturdays and I believe this was the first film shown. It was so impressionable that, 30 years later, I searched far and wide to obtain a copy and STILL enjoy it as much as I did as a child. Skinny and Fatty is about friendship, courage and solidarity. The story takes place in Japan, where a fat boy moves into an unfamiliar town and finds himself isolated from his classmates. One boy (who's small) befriends him, but in doing so isolates himself from his friends. The film does an amazing job of getting the viewer to sympathize with the fat boy and at the same time feel for the skinny one, who is constantly encouraging his new friend. "You can do it!" he's heard telling his fat friend who can barely get off the ground while trying to climb the rope in gym. It's a great movie for kids, who are taught that being a nice person sometimes means not following the crowd or your friends. It's also refreshing for adults, who sometimes lose sight of these principles too. Just an amazing film - it shows what a filmmaker can do in 45 minutes if all the material is pertinent and excludes the fluff and special effects included in many of today's movies. Btw, if you want the toy in the movie referenced in the previous review, it's called Kendama.

This movie about the friendship between two Japanese schoolboys is intended for children, aged about eight or so ... about the same age as this movie's protagonists. Many western children might find this film alienating, as it's in Japanese (I viewed a print with English subtitles), the entire cast are Japanese ... and because the world of the 1950s is very different from our own world. An American child who watched this movie with me kept impatiently asking why the Japanese boys didn't have video games or anime.

IMDb's plot outline for this movie is accurate, except that the 'skinny' boy isn't actually skinny; his physique is normal. The new boy in class is Komatsu: he is very heavy-set, and straight away all the other boys (except Skinny) shun him and cry him 'Fatty'. When Skinny tries to make friends with Fatty, all of Skinny's shallow friends taunt him for befriending the fat boy. I found this story all too plausible.

The fat boy's parents have got more money than Skinny's family, so his friendship with Fatty enables Skinny to experience upper middle-class pleasures (such as a swimming pool) that he wouldn't have known on his tod. Eventually, Fatty begins to wonder whether Skinny likes him for himself or for material reasons. Meanwhile, Skinny feels a powerful peer-pressure from his schoolmates: in order to regain their approval, he'll have to betray Fatty. Again, I found this painfully plausible.

SLIGHT SPOILER NOW. The movie doesn't really have a climax, but there's a nice bit of business with one of those toys on a stick. I don't know what it's called; there's a ball at the end of a string tied to a stick, and a cup at one end of the stick. You've got to flip the stick just the right way so that the ball pops into the cup. (A correspondent has told me that this toy is named Kendama; I'll take his word for it.) Anyroad, one boy is able to use this plaything properly but the other boy isn't ... until the end of the movie. There's some beautifully stark photography as the two boys walk along in a large open area with a few skeletally leafless trees.

I found this movie to be a very accurate depiction of some of the more painful aspects of childhood, and for that reason watching this movie was more a painful experience for me than a pleasant one. The production budget is nil -- it's shot in documentary style -- but the movie does give some interesting views of urban Japan in the late 1950s. I'll rate this quietly triumphant movie 7 out of 10.

Like the other 40 somethings that have posted above, I too was deeply affected by this film. All these years, the film has stayed with me deep in the recesses of memories. I loved Sharri Lewis and Kukla Fran and Ollie. I would love to see the film again.

This was my first "foreign film" and it was quite exotic to see characters speaking Japanese on our little black and white TV. I remember being struck by how much I could relate to the boys (being of the same age at the time) and thinking it odd that someone so different could be the same. It brought tears to my eyes those boys were facing the same things I was as a boy in the schoolyard in Massachusetts.

I remember watching this when it was on Kukla, Fran and Ollie. While this film is dated, it also teaches an important lesson that is still valid 56 years after the film was made. The lesson is to judge a person by the content of their character and not by their weight. I wish that Kukla, Fran and Ollie were still on today so this film could be shown. Kids today need to learn the lesson that this film teaches. Fatty is a new boy in school who is from wealthy family. He is bullied by other students because of both. Skinny is a poor boy who decides to get to know the new kid in school. They become the best of friends. This film is from TV's golden age!