Panda Go Panda

Starring:Kazuko Sugiyama, Kazuo Kumakura, Yoshiko Ohta, Yasuo Yamada, Alexis A. Edward, Leigh Everest, Claude Wayne, Melanie MacQueen, Melissa Charles, Cody MacKenzie, Brianne Siddall, Jake Martin (II), W.T. Hatch, Doug Stone, Heidi Wilbur, Steve Kramer, Barbara Goodson, Julie Maddalena, Chet Huntley, Simon Prescott
Director: Isao Takahata
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Youngsters will relish the antics of Mimiko, a Japanese girl with as much spunk as another animated favorite, the little French mademoiselle, Madeline. Lighthearted and cross-cultural, this Japanese cartoon, made popular for American audiences through English dubbing, is based on Panda koPanda ("Panda, Little Panda"), the 1972-73 two-parter written by anime master Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro). Isao Takahata, another anime king (Grave of the Fireflies), directs the production, showcasing some characteristic elements of anime that surpass usual Saturday morning fare: crisp animation, depth of characters, and sophisticated musical tracks. Cinematography aside, viewers will be captivated by the optimistic orphan who lives with her grandmother and has no fear of "burglars, ghosts, or any old thing." In the first story, "Panda Family," Grandmother must travel to Nagasaki and, reluctantly, leaves Mimiko at home alone. To Mimiko's delight, she is not alone after all when a father and son set of panda bears moves in. Unaware they are zoo escapees, Mimiko adopts Papa Panda and little Panny and writes to grandmother, "I've got myself a daddy and a baby." Rapid-fire adventures begin for the trio, yet Mimiko keeps her cool whether dealing with Panny's mischief, zookeepers' threats, or a close call with a raging waterfall. High-flying fun continues in the second tale, "The Circus in the Rain," as a baby tiger escapes the Big Top to join Mimiko's menagerie, a monsoon floods her home, and a runaway train spells disaster. All in a day's work for this daring do-gooder; Grandmother would be proud. --Lynn Gibson
Description
Cheerful Mimiko has a very strange family for a little girl - a Panda for her Papa, and his son, Panny, calls her Mom! Join this happy family and their many adventures! When Panny follows Mimiko to school, he must pretend to be a teddy bear so Mimiko won't get into trouble, but everyone wants a cute Panda! Despite his efforts to behave, Panny causes trouble in the school kitchen, and now the whole school is after Panny! Then, Panny makes a new friend, Tiny, a baby tiger who's wandered off from the circus. Getting Tiny back to his mom becomes the first adventure, but after a hard rain, the whole town is flooded and Mimiko, Papa Panda and Panny must rescue Tiny and other animals from the trapped circus train!

Average customer rating:

Adventure Stories of Cute Little Girl and Two Pandas: One of Miyazaki's Pre-Ghibli Works

Panda Go Panda

Charming, quirky and suitable for 3 year-olds

Cute, simple, and great for kids.

3 & 1/2 stars, should of been 5!

Panda Go Panda
Starring: Kazuko Sugiyama , Kazuo Kumakura , Yoshiko Ohta , Yasuo Yamada , and Brianne Siddall
Director: Isao Takahata
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004TJGC
Release Date: 2000-07-25

Amazon.com

Youngsters will relish the antics of Mimiko, a Japanese girl with as much spunk as another animated favorite, the little French mademoiselle, Madeline. Lighthearted and cross-cultural, this Japanese cartoon, made popular for American audiences through English dubbing, is based on Panda koPanda ("Panda, Little Panda"), the 1972-73 two-parter written by anime master Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro). Isao Takahata, another anime king (Grave of the Fireflies), directs the production, showcasing some characteristic elements of anime that surpass usual Saturday morning fare: crisp animation, depth of characters, and sophisticated musical tracks. Cinematography aside, viewers will be captivated by the optimistic orphan who lives with her grandmother and has no fear of "burglars, ghosts, or any old thing." In the first story, "Panda Family," Grandmother must travel to Nagasaki and, reluctantly, leaves Mimiko at home alone. To Mimiko's delight, she is not alone after all when a father and son set of panda bears moves in. Unaware they are zoo escapees, Mimiko adopts Papa Panda and little Panny and writes to grandmother, "I've got myself a daddy and a baby." Rapid-fire adventures begin for the trio, yet Mimiko keeps her cool whether dealing with Panny's mischief, zookeepers' threats, or a close call with a raging waterfall. High-flying fun continues in the second tale, "The Circus in the Rain," as a baby tiger escapes the Big Top to join Mimiko's menagerie, a monsoon floods her home, and a runaway train spells disaster. All in a day's work for this daring do-gooder; Grandmother would be proud. --Lynn Gibson

Description

Cheerful Mimiko has a very strange family for a little girl - a Panda for her Papa, and his son, Panny, calls her Mom! Join this happy family and their many adventures! When Panny follows Mimiko to school, he must pretend to be a teddy bear so Mimiko won't get into trouble, but everyone wants a cute Panda! Despite his efforts to behave, Panny causes trouble in the school kitchen, and now the whole school is after Panny! Then, Panny makes a new friend, Tiny, a baby tiger who's wandered off from the circus. Getting Tiny back to his mom becomes the first adventure, but after a hard rain, the whole town is flooded and Mimiko, Papa Panda and Panny must rescue Tiny and other animals from the trapped circus train!

Customer Reviews:

Adventure Stories of Cute Little Girl and Two Pandas: One of Miyazaki's Pre-Ghibli Works .......2006-11-27

`Panda Go Panda' is not only one of the earliest works by animation film maestro Hayao Miyazaki; it is also a lovely, delightful and imaginative story about a cute little girl and two pandas. Meet a feisty little girl named Mimiko living with two pandas in a little house surrounded by bamboo forest. The DVD has two episodes, both of which are about 30 minutes: "Panda Family" and "The Circus in the Rain."

[PANDA FAMILY] You will see Mimiko's grandmother reluctantly boarding a train, leaving her granddaughter behind alone. But Mimiko is not lonely, because she finds a baby panda in her garden. Soon after Mimiko becomes a friend with the little panda, another (much bigger) panda arrives, who turns out the baby panda's daddy. Mimiko asks the bigger panda to be HER daddy, too because, as it turns out, she is a child with no parents (the situation repeatedly seen in Miyazaki's works), and wacky adventures begin.

[PANDA FAMILY] was released in 1972 when Japanese people were all into two pandas in Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, sent from mainland China to promote friendship between two nations. This short film was theatrically released as part of Toho's triple-feature show (the other two were monster flicks, including the one featuring Godzilla).

[THE CIRCUS IN THE RAIN] was released in 1973. It introduces a strayed baby tiger who ran away from the circus troupe visiting Mimiko's town. The short film has notable characteristics, Miyazaki's wild imagination and creative ideas - for example, railway train running underwater - and Mimiko's unpredictable adventure story is always amusing and comical, something you will see only in Miyazaki's imaginative world.

Both films share the same traits as Miyazaki's later works like `My Neighbor Totoro' - see the movement of the characters in the opening credits, the face (and the mouth) of the daddy panda, etc. - and of course, a girl who can live independently reminds us of Mei and Satsuki in `Totoro' or Kiki in `Kiki's Delivery Service.'

One interesting fact is that before making two `Panda' films, Hayao Miyazaki (who provided the original idea for the film, the script, and basic image designs) and Isao Takahata (who directed the film) were planning to make an animated version of `Pippi Longstocking' with Yoichi Kotabe (later known for his illustrations for Super Mario Brothers), but Astrid Lindgren refused to give the permission. It is a regrettable decision, but still Miyazaki and Takahata managed to create a unique character of Mimiko, tactfully using some elements seen in Pippi's image (Compare Mimiko's hairstyle with Pippi's, for example).

But all these things are not really necessary to enjoy watching these simply-told and very charming animations. True, these pre-Ghibli works from Miyazaki and Takahata look too light and too short, but their signatures are already there. And you will love this little girl Mimiko who is so adorable.

By the way the original Japanese title of `Panda Go Panda' is actually `Panda Kopanda, which means 'panda (and) little panda.'

Panda Go Panda.......2006-05-14

Oh my god!!!! I would never have thought that I would end up doing this. My three year old loved this movie sooooo much that she watched it so often that when it was scratched I had to drive all over town looking for a replacement. No one had it and at the time it wasn't available on Amazon too. This is a great movie for young children and the story is simple and entertaining enough that you probably wouldn't mind watching it more than once. Definitely a good BUY. I still can't get the music out of my head!!!

Charming, quirky and suitable for 3 year-olds.......2006-03-24

Panda! Go Panda! is an anime cartoon made for television in the early days of the partnership between Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. There are two c 37 minute episodes: "Panda! Go Panda!" and "Rainy Day Circus". The first shows how a little girl named Mimiko meets a baby panda and his father who come to live in her house, and the second tells how they all survive a big flood. The atmosphere throughout is bright and funny. Even when the baby panda is lost for awhile in the first episode and when a train runs away in the second episode, the situations are presented in such a way that they are not likely to upset the average child.

In this world, Mimiko's grandma can go away for a "little while" (she doesn't come back, but she stays in touch) and leave her granddaughter to take care of everything - because the granddaughter is the most amazingly competent kid in the world. In this world, pandas talk and are super strong and when little girls are really, really happy they stand on their heads. It is a very silly, very cute world.

No one can say for sure how a 3 year-old will react to a story, and I am not guaranteeing that every 3 year-old will be as enthralled by these two stories as my grandson is, but I would reccomend this DVD to just about anyone - kiddies and grown-ups too. It has the charm and cleverness of the later Studio Ghibli film, MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO - even though the animation is only of made-for-tv standard.

(This review is based on the Australian DVD release).

Cute, simple, and great for kids........2006-01-25

Athough I don't have kids, I am an avid Ghibli collector and had to buy this. The characters are lovable, the plot is basic and easy for children to understand, and it's about as G rated as it could get. The animation is understandably not of as high quality as of other Ghibli movies, hence the 4 stars. And, erm, i'm an adult but didn't want to do the extra paperwork.

3 & 1/2 stars, should of been 5!.......2005-10-18

This movie is just like all the other reviews say: Cute.

People are going nuts, saying Miyazaki did such a good job. He only wrote it, and recycled it from stroyboards for some of his other movies. Made in 1972, this was directed by Isao Takahata, the other prolific director at Studio Ghibli (he did Grave of the Fireflies). It has two shorts on one disc, both being just under 40 minutes, with a run time of something like 75 minutes.

It's the story of Mimiko, a little girl who lives in a bamboo grove with her grandmother. In the first episode,"Panda Family", Her grandmother must attend a memorial service for grandfather, and leaves for Nagasaki with Mimiko taking care of herself. She has no fear or knowledge of the bad in the world, being trusting and kind to all. Once she gets back from seeing Grandma to the trainstation, she is surprised to find a baby panda, and soon meets his huge father, Papa Panda. So, little 'Panny', Mimiko, and Papa make a deal. Mimiko wants a dad and Panny needs a mom. So, they all become a family. Mimiko tells Panny he must stay home while she goes to school, and convinces Papa he has to go to work like all fathers do. He does, with hat and briefcase, bento and a smile. But Panny follows Mimiko to school with disatrous results. In the second episode, called "Circus in the Rain" the ringmaster and his lacky follow the tracks of a baby tiger to the Panda family house, and when the family finds the two, they are ecstatic to finally meet 'bandits'. But more mayhem when a flood ensues, and Papa must rescue the family.

The transfer is pretty crummy, looking about as it probably did in '72-'73, on TV. The audio matches, and background voices and sound effects are hard to notice unless you've got the subtitles on. Make sure and stick to the cuter japanese version (i think the vhs is only english, as though anyone still uses VHS...).

Geneon has left out any special features, and barely has a menu. This and the poor TV quality is what takes these Ghibli and anime vets hard work and shaves one and a half stars. Overall, rent it. But, if you have kids or went nuts over this one, you might get one used for a good price. If there are kids in the house (under five) though, you need to start them here, if you want them to experience some quality kids animation.

Panda Go Panda (Geneon Signature Series)

Average customer rating:

Adventure Stories of Cute Little Girl and Two Pandas: One of Miyazaki's Pre-Ghibli Works
Panda Go Panda
Charming, quirky and suitable for 3 year-olds
Cute, simple, and great for kids.
3 & 1/2 stars, should of been 5!

Panda Go Panda (Geneon Signature Series)
Starring: Kazuko Sugiyama , Kazuo Kumakura , Yoshiko Ohta , Yasuo Yamada , and Brianne Siddall
Director: Isao Takahata
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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