Ponyo is the new film by anime master Hayao Miyazaki, director of such films as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle.  It offers Miyazaki’s own unique take on the old Little Mermaid story.

The story in a nutshell involves Ponyo, a little girl who is more like a fish (the humans refer to her as a goldfish at first) than a mermaid, but nevertheless is a girl who is rescued by and falls in love with the human boy Sosuke.  She becomes determined to become human and live on the land, and with a little help of some magic, she gets her wish.  Her father tries his best to bring her back, there’s a magic-caused tsunami of sorts, and all sorts of hijinxs ensue.

The English voice cast in this movie is pretty phenomenal, with Matt Damon and Tina Fey as Sosuke’s parents, Liam Neeson as Ponyo’s father, and supporting roles for people such as Betty White, Lily Tomlin, and Cate Blanchett.

The key roles of Ponyo and Susuke go to Miley Cyrus’s little sister Noah (yeah, Noah), and the youngest Jonas brother, Frankie.  So, clearly, Disney launched a nationwide search to find the best actors for the job (not that they don’t do fine jobs, mind you).

If you’ve seen other Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films, you might find that this has less material directly aimed at adults.  More so than most of their films, this is a pure-play kids movie.  I still found it very enjoyable, however.

I must say that the funniest moment, for me, came courtesy of a small child seated in my row.  When a main character is crying, worried about the fate of a loved one, and another character rattles off some ways that things could be just fine, the boy in our theatre said out loud, “[She or he] might be dead.”  Out of the mouths of babes…

To wrap up, I highly recommend this movie to people with kids, any fans of Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli production company, and anyone else looking for a light 90-minute diversion.

Films · Hayao Miyazaki · Ponyo · Recommended · Studio Ghibli