1. Pom Poko
If youve read some of my other articles, youll know I have an affection for Studio Ghibli, and that affection includes even the thoroughly unusual Pom Poko. The other movies on this list are intentionally weird. They are examples of what happens when filmmakers set out with the goal of creating something odd. I dont believe that is the case for Pom Poko. I think it achieves its supreme strangeness all on its own. Granted, this film likely would seem less weird to me if I had grown up in Japan. My understanding is that the inspiration for Pom Poko came both from Japanese folklore and from manga (Japanese comics). But I wasnt raised in Japan and so had no previous expose to tanuki, or raccoon dogs. Basically, this is the story of a group of raccoons living near Tokyo. These raccoons become concern that the humans continued development of the land is eliminating the places where they live, so they decide to do something about it. And then it gets really weird. For the uninitiated, tanuki can shape shift into just about anything. Especially important in this process (for the males) are their oversized testicles. They can stretch out their scrotums (dubbed as pouches in English) into whatever they damn well please. Some of the raccoon dogs turn into people and try to stop the encroachment by infiltrating the human ranks. Some of them turn violent and attack the construction workers and police. (There is a particularly uncomfortable battle scene between militant raccoons and riot police.) Finally, some of them decide to put on a creepy spectacle of a parade in hopes of scaring off the humans. Ill end the summary there. But if you see anything on this list, Id recommend staring here, at least in part because I would describe Pom Poko as fun weird whereas the first couple films are more messed up weird. And do please let me know if Ive missed any quality odd films, or if you have anything to add about this trio.