Customer Reviews

Ponyo

5 star:		(139)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In 2008, Studio Ghibli released their latest Hayao Miyazaki film "Ponyo" (aka "Gake no Ue no Ponyo") in Japan and followed with a U.S. release in August 2009. The film which is Miyazaki's eighth film for Studio Ghibli has amassed several awards including the Japanese Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. The film which is budgeted around $34 million dollars made over $199 million worldwide. Where his 1988 film "My Neighbor Totoro" was Miyazaki's tale for older children, this time around for "Ponyo" he wanted to create a film for young children and was inspired from Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid".

VIDEO:

Magical, beautiful and everything that you can expect from Hayao Miyazaki. I was completely in awe when I watched this film. In this day and age, we tend to put so much into CG animated films and rarely do we see hand drawn quality animation anymore. I'm so glad that Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli continues to show this creative style through this film. The hand painted backgrounds are absolutely beautiful, the character design continues that Miyazaki look and style but looks absolutely fluid during its more action-oriented scenes.

Presented in 1080p High Definition, detail can be seen on the painted backgrounds. Vibrant during the day scenes with trees that are full of detail and water reflecting the trees, cliffs showcasing the detail as shadows and detail showcasing the curvature and the little pieces of grass that are placed within the rocks. The scene with the storm and the crashing features Miyazaki's handiwork as he created the water and his waves all by himself. It's an amazing sight to see.

There are no compression artifacts, edge enhancement, aliasing, banding or any problems in picture quality for "Ponyo" whatsoever. "Ponyo" achieves perfection!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

"Ponyo" is presented in English 5.1 DTS Master Audio (48 kHz/24-bit) and in Japanese and French 5.1 Dolby Digital. First the good. The English dub track is fantastic. You want an immersive soundscape, "Ponyo" delivers. From the sound of the ocean, bubbles popping, the rush of the waves, the sounds of trees rustling, the sound of rain, sea animals swimming in the water and most of all, a beautiful musical score by Joe Hisaishi. This soundtrack is absolutely divine. Great use of front and center channels with dialogue and music that is crystal clear. The surround channels and the use of LFE as the sound effects bring "Ponyo" to life. This lossless soundtrack is perfect!

Now the bad. There is no lossless Japanese audio soundtrack. The Japanese Blu-ray release has a lossless soundtrack but what happened to it for this Blu-ray release? There is no doubt that audiophile purists who want the original Japanese soundtrack are going to be upset by this and one can hope that if Disney does bring out a Miyazaki release on Blu-ray in the near future, that a lossless soundtrack is included for both the English and Japanese audio.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Ponyo" has a good number of special features in 1080p High Definition and 480i Standard Definition. Audio is in English 2.0 Dolby Digital and subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish. Special features include:

* Meet Ponyo - (3:22) Executive producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy talk about working with Hayao Miyazaki and give a quick introduction to "Ponyo".
* Original Japanese Storyboards - Watch the entire film but this time with the video showcasing the original storyboards.
* A Conversation with Hayao Miyazaki & John Lasseter - (3:31) PIXAR's John Lasseter and a friend of Hayao Miyazaki talk about "Ponyo".
* Creating Ponyo - (3:58) Hayao Miyazaki talks about how he came up with the concept of "Ponyo" and him wanting to create a film for children.
* Ponyo & Fujimoto - (2:59) Hayao Miyazaki talks about the name "Ponyo" and the character Fujimoto.
* The Nursery - (2:00) Studio Ghibli Producer Toshio Suzuki talks about Miyazaki wanting to create a children's nursery and both men made Miyazaki's dream happen by creating the Studio Ghibli Nursery.
* Producer's Perspective: Telling the Story- (2:27) Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki talks about how Miyazaki works and creating the storyboards and story for "Ponyo" and more.
* The Locations of Ponyo - (9:32) An excerpt from a Japanese documentary on Miyazaki's animated films and visiting the areas that inspired Miyazaki to create the village of "Ponyo".
* Scoring Miyazaki - (7:19) A featurette about Joe Hisaishi's scoring Miyazaki films and more.
* Original Japanese Trailer - (3:22) The original Japanese theatrical trailers.
* Behind the Microphone - (6:04) Featuring the English dub voice talent talking about their role, their appreciation for Miyazaki and his films and interviews with the All-star talent.
* My Neighbor Totoro - Creating My Neighbor Totoro - (3:00) Miyazaki talking about the creation of his film "My Neighbor Totoro".
* Kiki's Delivery Service - Creating Kiki's Delivery Service - (2:27) Hayao Miyazaki discussing the creation of "Kiki's Delivery Service" and what inspired Miyazaki for the creation of the city in the film.
* Castle in the Sky: Character Sketches - (2:37) Miyazaki talks about the characters of "Castle in the Sky" and discussing how his audiences are loyal to his films over time.
* Enter the Lands - Visit the land featuring various small animated Studio Ghibli characters (from all films). Click on a character from that film (note: only "Ponyo", "My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "Castle in the Sky" are available) to get a Q&A or a small video info. of that film and its characters.

EXTRAS:

A DVD of "Ponyo" is included with this Blu-ray release. The DVD is in Widescreen (1:85:1) - Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions, English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Japanese and French with subtitles in English SDH, French and Spanish.

JUDGMENT CALL:

Once again, Miyazaki continues to prove to us that hand-drawn animation is absolutely beautiful and there is no need to join the pack and create a CG animated film. "Ponyo" succeeds on all levels - storyline, animation, music and its soundtrack. I absolutely loved this film!

Before I saw the film, I figured that people were so used to Miyazaki's more serious work and for him to try to go back to something similar to "My Neighbor Totoro" was going to be difficult in this day and age but with "Ponyo", he managed to pull it off. The world he creates is magical, the characters are just enjoyable to watch. From every scene, I was literally just loving the animation and the painted backgrounds and to find out that Miyazaki actually drew the sea and the waves himself using 170,000 separate images is amazing.

In terms of any deep messages on society or ecology, in "Ponyo", we see how trash and waste has been collecting on the ocean floors and Ponyo being stuck in a bottle lying in a wasteland under the sea. For Fujimoto, as he tries to maneuver underwater, waste and garbage is everywhere. So, it was great to see Miyazaki convey how people have mistreated the ocean with their garbage and incorporating it to the storyline.

The Blu-ray is absolutely beautiful when it comes to picture quality, lossless audio and also contains a good number of special features. If there was only one thing that prevents this Blu-ray release from reaching perfection is the lack of a lossless Japanese audio soundtrack. But both English and Japanese vocals are well-done with the English track featuring all-star talent with Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Betty White, Cloris Leachmen, Lily Tomlin and Matt Damon providing their voices for this film. Even Jonas Brothers sibling Frankie Jonas (as Sosuke) and Miley's younger sister Noah (as Ponyo) do a great job as the primary vocals. The Japanese soundtrack features two of Japan's top celebrities with George Tokoro lending his voice for Fujimoto and Tomoko Yamaguchi as Lisa. And also Hiroki Doi (Sosuke) and Yuria Nana (Ponyo) do a wonderful job providing the main voices for the Japanese audio track as well.

Overall, Hayao Miyazaki is truly a remarkable filmmaker and "Ponyo" is a true masterpiece. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli show no signs of waning and they manage to capture the magic that I have felt when I was younger when I first watched Ghibli classics such as "Nausicaa", "My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "Laputa: Castle in the Sky". This Blu-ray release is highly recommended!

Hayao Miyazaki is one of those rare directors who can take the magic of nature and childhood, then somehow capture it for the screen.

And his tenth Ghibli movie "Ponyo" is no exception -- it's a reimagined tale of a "little mermaid" who wants to become human so she can be with a little human boy she loves. It's a simple story told in a simple manner (occasionally TOO simple), but it has a lush oceanic beauty and an innocent sweetness that really capture your heart and imagination.

A little boy named Sosuke finds a tiny "goldfish" with a human face on a beach, trapped in a bottle. He names her Ponyo, and goes to great lengths to care for his little fishy friend.

But then the sea wizard Fujimoto, Ponyo's overprotective dad, appears and snatches Ponyo back into the sea -- and she decides that she wants to become human so she can be with Sosuke. Having tasted a bit of Sosuke's blood, she sprouts chickenleggy limbs and starts to change, but inadvertently disrupts a magical well that causes the moon to drop, the seas to rise over the land, and prehistoric magic to rise once more.

Sosuke and Ponyo are delighted to be reunited, despite the raging storm that is engulfing the city and causing ships to go missing. While the children go searching for Sosuke's missing mother, Fujimoto struggles to fix the balance of nature before the entire world is destroyed, with the help of Ponyo's sea goddess mother. The only hope of restoring balance lies in Ponyo and Sosuke -- and if Sosuke's love is not true, then Ponyo will be reduced to sea foam.

Compared to Miyazaki's other movies, "Ponyo" is a very simple story -- it's basically a boy-meets-fishgirl story, with lots of children running around being adorable and exquisite looks at the sea. Even its theme is simple -- the story is dependent on on true selfless love and how it knows no boundaries of age, experience or even species. Not to mention parents letting go of their children.

If there's a downside to the story, it's the lack of internal conflict. Example: the "test" that Fujimoto and the sea goddess use for Sosuke... well, it's far less impressive than it seems.

And Miyazaki does not disappoint animationwise -- he conjures a waterworld of luminous sea life, sparkling ships, prehistoric creatures, finned submarines and a town that has been swallowed by the sea (complete with boats floating over the rooftops). It's an exquisite piece of work that turns the ocean into a magical, otherworldly realm where wizards work in coral-encrusted towers and shimmering jellyfish take little mermaids to the surface.

Ponyo herself provides a lot of the movie's charm -- she's effusive, hyperactive, has a babylike fascination with the human world ("HAM!"), and an array of handy magical powers. Sosuke is a likable lad who is fascinated by Ponyo and her world, and Fujimoto makes a enjoyable anti-hero -- spindly, gaunt and with a mane of messy red hair, he's like a rock'n'roll embodiment of parental stress.

The extras are pretty promising on this particular edition, as you'd expect with a Ghibli film -- a slew of documentaries and interviews (including with Miyazaki himself), storyboards, explorations of the story's background. And most striking is the "World of Ghibli," an interactive creation which apparently allows people to "enter" the worlds of various Miyazaki movies -- "Ponyo's," "Kiki's," "Castle in the Sky's," and so on.

"Ponyo" is simpler and more childlike fare than most of Miyazaki's past films, but it's still a sweet and lushly-animated piece of work. At the very least, it will transport you to a magical childhood.

The mother Lisa has the most poignant line in "Ponyo," saying the equivalent of "When you find yourself surrounded by magic and wonder, you don't try and understand it you just enjoy it."

To me, that is the theme and lesson of "Ponyo" ("Gake no Ue no Ponyou" or "Ponyo on the Cliffs"). After dabbling in darker themes and more adult-orientated fare like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, Miyazaki has returned to the lighter, simpler themes of the magic and mystery of childhood as found in his groundbreaking My Neighbor Totoro. One can always tell the target audience for a Miyazaki film by the age of the main character: "Spirited Away" was made for 10-year olds, "Princess Mononoke" was made for teenagers. The lead characters in "Ponyo" are 5 years old.

Like "My Neighbor Totoro," "Ponyo" is a film based on a childlike sense of joy and imagination. There is no need for a "villain" or some arbitrary conflict or threat for the children to overcome. Like Satsuki and Mei, Sosuke and Ponyo are pure at heart, and open to exploring the wonders around them. They feel their emotions without cynicism or thought, instead living in the moment and experiencing its joys, sorrows and fears.

Which is not to say there is no depth here. In "Ponyo," Miyazaki has blended two unlikely sources; Richard Wagner's pounding opera Die Walkure from Der Ring Des Nibelungen and Hans Christian Anderson's melancholy fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The essential set-up comes from "Die Walkure," where the god Wotan holds the goddess Freia captive, and is also the possessor of the Rhinegold Ring which grants vast magical powers so long as one gives up all possibility of love. As a nod to this, the name Ponyo is giving by her father is Brünnhilde, one of the Valkyrie who feels the power of the Ring and must make the choice between love and paradise. This story is skillfully blended with Anderson's "Little Mermaid," about a sea creature who must win the love of a human or be reduced to soulless sea foam.

Miyazaki essentially presents two movies. The front film is basic, colorful and easy to understand for children. The animation in "Ponyo" is some of the best that I have ever seen, with Miyazaki personally drawing much of the underwater and ocean scenes, utilizing the influence of classic Japanese ukiyo-e pictures. Miyazaki has said that "Ponyo" is his most technically complicated film, using more unique images than any previous film.

The second, deeper story is something that can only be assembled from fragments and snatches of conversation. For example, the wizard Fujimoto, Ponyo's father, was a human being who fell in love with the ocean goddess Gran Mammare, and struggled for centuries to burn away his humanity and become consort and protector for the entity he loved. More than anyone, he understands the sacrifices and struggles awaiting Ponyo when she loves someone not of her world. These story/sub-story elements are one of the things I love so much about Japanese film, where more expectations are put on the audience to read between the lines and to give thought to the unspoken as well as the spoken

I am not sure how much of this deeper story survived the translation into English, as I watched the film in Japanese. There are some nuances that probably went missing, and I am curious as to how some of the scenes were handled, such as when Lisa sings Sosuke a part of the theme song to "My Neighbor Totoro" to cheer him up when his father is not home. Some other things, such as the significance of tunnels in Japanese folklore (considered the realm of female Mountain Gods who are prone to jealousy, it is assumed that the tunnel would not take kindly to a water deity passing through. However, outside the tunnel is a statue of Jizo, the protector of children, which sends a visual clue to the audience that Sosuke and Ponyo are going to be alright.) also might pass unnoticed or appear confusing to Western audiences, although every Japanese person would inately understand this without needing to be told.

Miyazaki proved in "Ponyo" that he is still the greatest director of animated films alive. I am so thrilled to have seen this movie, and I know I will watch it again and again.

I have enjoyed Miyazaki's films for years, and in the past have watched them with my 5-year-old son, but he has never been overly into them or asked to watch them, it has always been a fight between my picks (Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa) and his (Cars, Toy Story). However, when I saw the reviews for Ponyo I hoped he might like it, so we watched it together today.

Wow! It is rare for him to be so completely enthralled by, and emotionally involved in, a movie. He enjoyed every little nuance of the movie to the fullest (giggling at every instance of 'HAM!'), and when Ponyo's father took her back to her home under the sea he was seriously NOT happy. When she busted out her little chicken arms and legs and ran back to her beloved Sosuke on the backs of her behemoth fish/sisters, he was almost giddy. I truly enjoyed the film and didn't want to look away at any point - the story was enjoyable in its simplicity and the artwork completely amazing - and I especially did not want to miss my son's reactions throughout. I would highly recommend this for any mom with younger children!

One final note - in the past I have been disappointed with the American voice acting in these movies ... the Japanese voice actors have always been so superior. However, this one was very well done - at no point was I irritated by the voices or words that were chosen.

I thought long and hard before giving the film this score, but there are simply too many things that make Ponyo not work for me. This latest animated movie from Myazaki, who needs no introductions, had the intriguing premise of the sea. He spoke of the sea being a character in itself. I was intrigued to see the movie. I knew it had two children as the frontline, but being a fan of My Neighbour Totoro, I knew that Myazaki has an unreal insight into the mindset of children.

The very first scene of Ponyo is breathtaking. Hundreds of fishes and jellyfish accompanied by breathtaking, oceanic music, finally zooming in on a man in a pinstriped suit, creating a bubble around his ship. We later find out that he is the father of one of the main characters, the fish girl Ponyo who wants to become human after befriending Sotsuke, a 5-year old boy living in a house by the sea. She is able to do this with a mixture of her father's magic (which she's inherited) and Sotsuke's blood (a drop of which she licked when he cut himself).

The problem with Ponyo is the vagueness of the story. There is practically no sense of conflict to the story at all. There is no substantial threat to the characters, and they have very little development. That the characters are so young shouldn't justify this, if we remember Mei in My Neighbour Totoro. Also, Ponyo's father is so at odds with practically everything in the movie's universe, it's hilarious and off-putting at the same time. Ponyo herself is, personally, creepy rather than cute (and her numerous little siblings are no different). I don't understand how nobody finds it peculiar that Ponyo, supposedly a goldfish, has a humanoid face (and Sotsuke shows her to quite a few people). It's even weirder when Lisa (Sotsuke's mother, whom he oddly always refers to by name), an intelligent woman, sees Ponyo eat a slice of ham in whole (as a goldfish) and isn't at all surprised about it. The only really developed character, and the warmest, is the grumpy old woman at the retirement home where Lisa works.

What Ponyo lacks in substance, it makes up for in visuals. The movie's highlight in my opinion is where Lisa and Sotsuke are driving down a road continually drenched in waves, on top of which Ponyo is running. These waves take on the form of giant fish. A wonderful piece of animation. The many underwater scenes are beautiful, with underwater creatures big and small swimming. Something about the overall production values of the visuals feel a bit unfocused, though. The morse code scene is then hilarious.

On the whole, however, Ponyo feels like a lot of elements that just don't work together. Sotsuke faces no real trials like other young Myazaki protagonists have faced. None of the characters feel like they serve any real purpose other than to bring Sotsuke and Ponyo together. The film's subplot of Ponyo's magic causing a rift in the natural order and causing the moon to come closer (which explains the flood) is never sufficiently delivered to the audience.

I was simply expecting a better delivery from a master storyteller like Myazaki. Ponyo may only really work for the smallest children, but that's excluding a large part of Myazaki's fanbase. He's one of those filmmakers whom I respect for continually showing people that animated movies can be for people of all ages. Ponyo obviously aims at a lower age group, but I just hope that the children will be more drawn into Sotsuke and Ponyo's story than I was (there is so much courteous and/or cute dialogue that I felt downright embarrassed at points).

Decent, but definitely not the brightest spot in Myazaki's repertoire.

From Hiyao Miyazaki(who if you didn't know created the Oscar-winning Spirited Away)is this his latest movie which is an original story, although slightly inspired by The Little Mermaid and some elements of The Frog Prince. This is his eighth film that he's done through Studio Ghibli, which he co-founded, and was fortunate to be released in U.S. theatres through Disney.

A 5-year old boy named Sosuke lives right on the ocean with his parents. His father is a fisherman who usually isn't at home, and his mother Lisa works at a senior citizens center. One day, Sosuke catches a strange looking goldfish he calls Ponyo which licks a cut on his finger and heals him. The fish gets away, but is really the daughter of a strange Willy Wonka-dressed man who is some kind of keeper of peace in the seas. Ponyo uses her magic to transform into a human girl, although sometimes she looses her composure which causes her to change into a slightly frog-like creature. She runs into Sosuke who immeadiately recognizes her as the fish he caught, and is taken in temporarily by Lisa during a huge typhoon which floods the entrie area. Lisa leaves to go look in on the old ladies at the center, leaving Sosuke and Ponyo to set out the next morning in a toy boat that Ponyo makes bigger with her magical powers. They then encounter Ponyo's father who takes them to his underwater refuge, where Lisa and all the old ladies from the center have been kept to save them from the flood. There, they encounter Ponyo's mother who is essentiually a cross between a goddess and Glinda the good witch, and lets them know that Ponyo can stay with Sosuke and his mother. The movie ends with the balance of nature being turned back to normal, because somehow Ponyo accidently caused it to happen with her magic.

I'd have to say I very much enjoyed this movie. It's Miyazaki's first movie intended for children since My Neighbor Totoro, and it comes off as such. There isn't any dark overtone like some of his last films like Howl's Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke, and is done purely for sheer fun. Granted, the plot didn't seem to have too much of a main direction to it, but Miyazaki makes up for it with his stellar visuals. The dub is pretty fair with the usually roster of celebrities that Disney gets for its movies, including Tina Fey as Lisa, Matt Damon as Sosuke's father, and Cate Blanchett as Ponyo's mother. I'd say Liam Neeson was miscast as Ponyo's dad, and it could have done without the Jonas Bros. and Cyus siblings being cast as the main characters, but was still acceptable. I'd recommend this film as a mainstay for someone's family, although traditional anime fans might find it a little hokey. So, definately look it up if you want another Totoro-like pump of the "warm fuzzies".

I had rather high expectations from this movie after seeing the commercials. I LOVED Miyazaki's other movies. I've seen Mononoke, Totoro, Kiki, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle, and the animation of this one is beautiful especially with the sea-creatures and the animation that shows creatures coming from the water. One of my favorite scenes was Ponyo running on top of the ocean when the water had taken the shape of fish. Seriously, that was so cool.

However, what bothered me about this movie was the vagueness of the story. If Ponyo's mom is a goddess and her father is human (or at least used to be) and is now a wizard, then why would Ponyo lose her magic as a human? And if Sosuke said that he would love and accept Ponyo, then she should have just stayed a fish. I wish that the relationship between Ponyo's mom and dad was explored more. What made Ponyo different from her sisters? To me, the story was just not put well together. I had no problem with the flooding of the ocean and some of the other parts, like the old ladies being able to walk again, but with the overall vagueness of Ponyo's background and her parent's, it was hard for me to enjoy the story. And while I can understand 5-year-olds becoming best friends, love is another matter. A 5-year old is not really qualified to make a decision as to whether she wanted to be human or not, especially at such a great cost. Ponyo/Brunhilde's father himself said she didn't understand (earlier in the story) Would you expect any five-year-old, even a bright one, to make such a serious and apparently permanent decision?

Kudos for the animation and some wonderful scenes, but blah for certain plot points and inconsistencies in the story.

I adored this movie. If you are a true Miyazaki fan, you will too. Its got less of a plot in it than other films such as Howls, but its still amazing. It sucks you in with that true Miyazaki feel. I always get a comforted feeling when Im watching these films, and this one was nothing different. Love love loved it!

Absolutely love this movie! It's great for all ages & is very delightful! This is definitely a movie worth buying!

Being very into animation myself, Miyazaki has made numorous films, each with wonderful worlds and characters.
PONYO is a very unique tale based on the old story of "The little mermaid", and follows the journey of
a goldfish who wishes to become human after becoming attached to a young 5 year old boy. Its a story both kids and adults can enjoy, and just might bring out the inner child in you.
A must see for any animation lover!