Good news here for fans of Studio Ghibli and legendary animators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. The pair worked together on a number of projects before launching their now-iconic animation studio together and one of them - Panda Go Panda - has just received a fresh DVD release in the UK.
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!
Conceived and written by Miyazaki with Takahata handling directorial duties, Panda Go Panda clearly didn't have the resources behind it that Studio Ghibli offerings have been blessed with but the same charm and style that makes the two men's work so distinctive today is already fully in evidence here. Check the trailer below the break for proof! Earlier English friendly DVD releases of this one have been out of print for a few years now, so here's a chance for collectors and fans to add an overlooked title to their collection!