Poupelle of Chimney Town

Bro. Imagine living in a town so crusty, so mind-numbingly dusty, so thick with smoke and fear, that people have literally forgotten what a sky is. Not just forgotten - they refuse to believe it ever existed. Generations of sadness wrapped in soot. Enter Lubicchi - a scrawny, stubborn kid with a spark in his soul and zero patience for everybody's sad little worldview. He straight-up says, "Nah, y'all are wrong. There's more out there." So what does he do? He teams up with a literal garbage man - like, built out of society's trash, broken toys, shattered dreams, and leftover hope nobody thought was worth keeping - and together they ✨punch a hole through the sky✨.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

They fight against fear, against corruption, against a whole city gaslighting itself into sadness, just to chase a single glimpse of the stars.

The visuals are so stunning you'll forget how to blink. The emotional weight? Heavy enough to bench press your soul.

This isn't just a movie.

This is a full-on, gloves-off declaration that dreamers win, even when everyone else has given up.

Peak cinema. Oscars could never even dream of touching this level of heart.

We watched Poupelle over the summer without realizing that it is a kind-of-perfect Halloween movie. After all, it's hard to catch that from the title, which is appropriate in its own way for a film that features a young boy's relationship with an animated (in multiple senses) trash spirit--well, almost appropriate, assuming p and b are allophones in Japanese?!? Geeky asides aside, the trash-man materializes from a falling star on Halloween night. This sentient, if shy and confused, gentle creature is at first accepted as just one of the costumed revelers in a truly carnivalesque explosion of music and color amidst the otherwise drab cityscape. Without a doubt the most striking quality of this film is the contrast between the vibrant colors of the characters and their surroundings and the oppressive smog overhanging the city that completely shuts out day and night alike in a perpetual grey. The plot too is interesting-the trash-man develops as a father figure for the boy, whose dad, a somewhat incompetent member of a group resisting the city's rulers, was recently killed by them. This group asserts that there is in fact a sky beyond the fog. Poupelle thus shares the common environmental ethos of Japanese animae, but mixes it with themes about the persecution of religious minorities in an interesting way. Definitely worth a watch, especially as an example of the aesthetic possibilities of an animation style which eschews the hyper-realism of most current American efforts.

When considering to watch this movie, many may dismiss it as a one layered kids movie. It has in fact many layers and is suited for all ages although the very young might not as appreciate it as much as others. The colors, setting, characters, Japanese voice cast and soundtrack are all superb. The story, while seemingly simple, gets deeper as the film progresses. There could be some confusion in a minor detail or two which would make 2 viewings preferable. The garbage man should go down as one of the great cartoon characters of the century! The only criticism is that the storm troopers look-a-likes should have had their own look! Poupelle of Chimney Town is about family, following a dream, team work, and the rulers and those that are ruled. Make sure you listen to the end credit song sung by the beautiful voice of Lozareena.