Hallowe’en is over but this fantastic Japanese raccoon figure survives. I wish it could stay there all winter. It was seen at this cool little bungalow – brick, which is unusual for Vancouver – a block away from the studio. The owners refurbished it and landscaped it themselves, but I was still taken aback by their pumpkin carving skills.
PS Addendum to this post: Scott Plumbe, the carver of this tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) pumpkin, wrote in to say he took a night photo of it below and he has kindly let me add it here (see link for story). Farther below that is the “No Face” pumpkin carved by his wife Rosemary a few years ago. No Face is a character in my favourite animated film of all time, Spirited Away by Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Scott, not surprisingly, turns out to be a professional illustrator. This is an interesting way to meet your neighbours. See also this post on a house a few doors down from Scott and Rosemary’s.
Beautiful house, and love the pumpkin. It kinda reminds me of Totoro, for some reason. And I guess you agree, since you included Miyazaki as a key word.
I think it might be a standard tanuki figure (http://files.myopera.com/opera%20kanta/blog/信楽たぬき.JPG) though he really does remind me of some sort of amalgam of Miyazaki characters. I thought Totoro too at first, but then looked at Totoro again and he’s a little different. This one has the tanuki look to me. Here’s another tanuki: http://us.fotolia.com/id/13083864 . I’ll ask my neighbours what they had in mind when I see them!
Hey that’s our pumpkin!
Glad it struck a chord, it was inspired by a very simplified tanuki. We’ve had a bit of a loose japanese pumpkin theme going for a couple of years. It started with NoFace from Miyazaki’s Spirited Away a few years back.
The tanuki pumpkin by night…
http://illolab.com/?p=1218
No Face! Are you kidding me? My favourite cartoon character of all time! Do you have pictures of it, and how can I have missed it? I would love to add your night photo of tanuki here, as well as a photo of No Face, if you’ll let me. Congratulations on your renovation and your landscaping and your pumpkin carving.
that is such a great collection of comments.
Great pumpkin! Love the idea.
Feel free to add the night photo. I’ll see if we have a picture of NoFace…
Thanks, Scott! The No Face pumpkin of Rosemary’s is fantastic – I added both photos and a link to your illustration site if that’s okay. – Lindsay
PS Darren you were right when you brought up Miyazaki…