"Chie the Brat"), also known as Downtown Story,[1] is a 1981 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Isao Takahata, based on the manga of the same name by Etsumi Haruki.

The film takes place in a working class town in Osaka, where sly and street smart Chie navigates the adult world around her, seeking to reform her father's behaviour and keep her family together.

Set in a working class district of Osaka, ten-year-old Chie is tasked with helping her troublesome, unemployed father Tetsu run a local izakaya.

After insulting Chie by calling her a boy in order to win a bet, Tetsu picks up a paper that dropped out of her bag.

Just as she is about to leave the house, she notices a flower on the doorstep, recognising it as a sign from her mother Yoshie who has recently separated from Tetsu.

Chie spends her free time searching for a job for her father, when she encounters Shachou, who has now turned his gambling house into an okonomiyaki restaurant.

Embarrassed by his excessive support, Chie outruns him, in trying to keep up Tetsu steals a policeman's bicycle, before inadvertently crashing it and being kept in a holding cell for the night.

[5] Animation director Yasuo Ōtsuka and character designer Yōichi Kotabe may have convinced Takahata to direct the film upon realising the manga's entertainment value.

During the dubbing process, Gannosuke Ashiya's nearsightedness made it difficult for him to watch the screen to match his character's mouth movements.

Commenting on the process, Takahata referred to the voice acting as "honest", but found that the pre-animated sequences limited the ability for experimentation.

[9] The film also features many manzai comedians in its voice cast, a form of double-act comedy associated with Osaka and the Kansai region.

[6] Following the film's success, Takahata agreed to be the chief director for an animated television series, although he later left the production team.

[16] Since the premiere of the film and television series, Chie has continued to remain a popular character in Osaka and the Kansai region more broadly.

He analyses the film as a commentary on masculinity, drawing attention to the parallel plotlines between the human and animal elements of the story, however concluding that it is neither especially funny nor engaging.

[6] Odell and Le Blanc, in their writing on Takahata's filmography, also analyse the film through the topic of masculinity, discussing how references to gender affect the relationship between people.