Chibideka monogatari

This movie about the friendship between two Japanese schoolboys is intended for children, aged about eight or so ... about the same age as this movie's protagonists. Many western children might find this film alienating, as it's in Japanese (I viewed a print with English subtitles), the entire cast are Japanese ... and because the world of the 1950s is very different from our own world. An American child who watched this movie with me kept impatiently asking why the Japanese boys didn't have video games or anime.

IMDb's plot outline for this movie is accurate, except that the 'skinny' boy isn't actually skinny; his physique is normal. The new boy in class is Komatsu: he is very heavy-set, and straight away all the other boys (except Skinny) shun him and cry him 'Fatty'. When Skinny tries to make friends with Fatty, all of Skinny's shallow friends taunt him for befriending the fat boy. I found this story all too plausible.

The fat boy's parents have got more money than Skinny's family, so his friendship with Fatty enables Skinny to experience upper middle-class pleasures (such as a swimming pool) that he wouldn't have known on his tod. Eventually, Fatty begins to wonder whether Skinny likes him for himself or for material reasons. Meanwhile, Skinny feels a powerful peer-pressure from his schoolmates: in order to regain their approval, he'll have to betray Fatty. Again, I found this painfully plausible.

SLIGHT SPOILER NOW. The movie doesn't really have a climax, but there's a nice bit of business with one of those toys on a stick. I don't know what it's called; there's a ball at the end of a string tied to a stick, and a cup at one end of the stick. You've got to flip the stick just the right way so that the ball pops into the cup. (A correspondent has told me that this toy is named Kendama; I'll take his word for it.) Anyroad, one boy is able to use this plaything properly but the other boy isn't ... until the end of the movie. There's some beautifully stark photography as the two boys walk along in a large open area with a few skeletally leafless trees.

I found this movie to be a very accurate depiction of some of the more painful aspects of childhood, and for that reason watching this movie was more a painful experience for me than a pleasant one. The production budget is nil -- it's shot in documentary style -- but the movie does give some interesting views of urban Japan in the late 1950s. I'll rate this quietly triumphant movie 7 out of 10.

If I remember correctly, The CBS Children's Film Festival aired on Saturdays at noon in Chicago during the 1960s. Of all the movies that must have been aired, the only film I recall is "Skinny and Fatty."

Over 40 years later, I still have visual memories of "Skinny and Fatty." It was interesting to view Japanese schools and residences and to get a tiny glimpse of life in Japan.

I also have physical memories. When I think of the film, a wave of nostalgia rushes in, tears come to my eyes, and I feel a slight heartache. For me, the film was beautifully sad yet beautifully triumphant.

I would recommend "Skinny and Fatty" to all as a great family film.

Like the other 40 somethings that have posted above, I too was deeply affected by this film. All these years, the film has stayed with me deep in the recesses of memories. I loved Sharri Lewis and Kukla Fran and Ollie. I would love to see the film again.

This was my first "foreign film" and it was quite exotic to see characters speaking Japanese on our little black and white TV. I remember being struck by how much I could relate to the boys (being of the same age at the time) and thinking it odd that someone so different could be the same. It brought tears to my eyes those boys were facing the same things I was as a boy in the schoolyard in Massachusetts.

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid...I couldn't possibly recommend it highly enough for any family. It was well done, funny and sad, but definitely memorable! Nothing much has changed since it was made in the 50's either. Kids can be cruel to each other, and it happens everywhere, not just at the local school. The boys who portrayed each of the characters in the movie did such an outstanding job getting the emotions across, even though it was a foreign film. We were always excited when we found out that CBS was going to show it, I think I saw it about 3 or 4 times when I was growing up. It is the ONLY movie I remember from the CBS Children's Film Festival, although I'm sure there were others that were memorable at the time, but this one just really struck home. I think Kukla Fran and Ollie should come back on RetroTV or TV Land, too. And Shari Lewis and Lambchop. Great entertainment for kids that no one does well anymore. Kids of all ages would enjoy Skinny and Fatty. As would adults who aren't total dorks. Should be in every kid's collection of classics!

I'll admit first of all that I don't remember details of this movie (no danger of a spoiler!), but I did an Internet search for it simply because of the impact it made on me 40 years ago when I saw it as a child of seven, which is the approximate age of the characters. I do remember that the movie was in Japanese, which seemed quite novel to me, but which in no way deterred from the story or the impact. To this day, I am still moved emotionally by the story of friendship, love, and courageous acceptance between two boys, one socially acceptable, one not. I am glad to discover so many others across the world enjoyed "my" movie.