Animated adventure by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's story 'The Little Mermaid'. When a feisty baby goldfish/mermaid called Ponyo (voiced by Noah Lindsey Cyrus) runs away from her home in the sea, she ends up stranded on the shore and is rescued by Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), a human boy who lives on a nearby clifftop. Ponyo yearns to become human herself so that she can be with Sosuke, but many obstacles stand in her way. Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Lily Tomlin and Liam Neeson lend their voices to the English version of the film.
| Director: |
Hayao Miyazaki |
| Run time: |
101 minutes |
| Languages: |
Japanese |
| Distributor: |
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MyMovies
The studio that gave the world the Oscar-winning animated adventure Spirited Away is back with another slice of fantastical wonder ...
The studio that gave the world the Oscar-winning animated adventure Spirited Away is back with another slice of fantastical wonder from the skilled hands of animator, producer and director Hayao Miyazaki. This time, the Japanese icon has turned to Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid for inspiration to create Ponyo.Ponyo tells the story of a goldfish princess who escapes her underwater home and is found by a precocious five-year-old, named Sosuke. The happy-go-lucky boy lives on a house by a cliff with his mother and rarely seen sailor father and instantly takes a liking to his cute new companion, naming her Ponyo. Ponyo's father manages to find his daughter and bring her back to the sea, but she is adamant about becoming a human and staying with Sosuke with whom she is falling in love. She manages to escape again and magically transforms into a young girl. However, Ponyo's actions have caused an imbalance in the world, which has resulted in a powerful storm. In order for the balance to be restored and for her to remain a human, Sosuke must pass a test to prove his love for Ponyo.Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have proved once again that they are masters of hand-drawn animation. The fantasy sequences look beautiful and imaginative, while remaining true to the Miyazaki style. And yet, in light of the incredibly high quality of storytelling and distinctive three-dimensional characters (both in a figurative and literal sense) that have appeared on screen in the likes of Up and Coraline over the past year, Ponyo falters by comparison.Despite the talented vocal cast that includes the likes of Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett and Liam Neeson, the characters are your typical children's fare and lack the depth to be particularly engaging or relatable. Morality is pretty unambiguous in this tale and the film suffers from being too sweet for its own good. Audiences will undoubtedly enjoy the quality of the animation, but Ponyo lacks the storytelling to match its aesthetic beauty.
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Press Association
In the same way that Disney and its mascot Mickey Mouse are emblematic of excellence in American animation, Studio Ghibli ...
In the same way that Disney and its mascot Mickey Mouse are emblematic of excellence in American animation, Studio Ghibli and its cuddly character Totoro are synonymous with Japanese artistry. Founded in 1985 by visionaries Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, the studio has produced some of the finest hand-drawn features of the past 25 years, including the heartbreaking Grave Of The Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, which w, on an Oscar. For his latest animated epic, Miyazaki turns to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy-tale The Little Mermaid for inspiration. Pitched to a younger audience than most of the director's work, Ponyo is sweet but very slight, with an environmental message about mankind's pollution of the sea that is delivered in bold, underlined, block capitals. Take care of the planet or the animated eco-warriors will come and get you. Five-year-old boy Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas) lives in a cliff-top house with his mother Lisa (Tina Fey), the pair of them waiting for sea-faring father Koichi (Matt Damon) to return home. Down at the water's edge, Sosuke spots a glass jar containing a goldfish called Ponyo (Noah Lindsey Cyrus), who has momentarily escaped her wizard father, Fujimoto (Liam Neeson). The boy proudly shows off his pet - "I saved her, she's my responsibility now" - and tells the residents of the local old people's home, where Lisa works, how Ponyo magically healed his cut finger. "I'd let a fish lick me if it would get me out of his wheelchair!" jokes one of the elderly women. Fujimoto uses his magic to snatch back Ponyo, but his defiant daughter taps into her rapidly developing powers to metamorphose into a little girl and find her way back to Sosuke. By abandoning the sea and yearning to be human, Ponyo upsets the delicate balance of Nature. The girl's mother, sea goddess Gran Mamare (Cate Blanchett), urges calm: "If the boy's love is pure, Ponyo will remain as a human and the balance of power will be restored," she counsels wisely. Ponyo is a visually arresting addition to Miyazaki's impressive portfolio. The opening underwater sequences take the breath away with hundreds of jellyfish, crustaceans and schools of fish swarming across the screen in a dazzling display of colour. However, Ghibli's work is usually distinguished by its attention to the emotions of the characters and here, this charming escapade doesn't quite stay afloat. The film noticeably treads water in the final half hour when Lisa, rather handily, is forced to abandon her boy in the eye of the storm. "You have to be the man of the house tonight," she instructs Sosuke, sowing the seeds of his awakening as hero, who drives the narrative towards a predictably feel good resolution.
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