Ponyo is the 10th of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

This week: Ponyo (2008).

Synopsis: The film follows Ponyo (voiced by Noah Cyrus), a part-human/part-fish creature, as she journeys to the surface world and meets Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas). Even after her father, the wizard Fujimoto (voiced by Liam Neeson), brings Ponyo back to the ocean, she’s not content to remain under the waves. With the help of her sisters and her father’s magic elixirs, she turns herself human and reunites with Sosuke. But… she may have thrown the world out of balance in the process.

Spoiler-free review: Outside of Spirited Away, this might be the quintessential Miyazaki movie. Not that it’s his best; not that it’s his second-best, even; but it beautifully blends all of the elements that Miyazaki and his team have become known for. The story is endearing and succinct; the animation is visually stunning; the English-language voice cast is talented; and the characters are well-designed and memorable. I won’t say it’s his most well-rounded movie either, because I do think it has a few flaws. But, it’s family friendly. Even very young children (4-6yo) would probably enjoy it. The movie also features a very immersive atmosphere, and Joe Hisaishi’s score draws you into this underwater world full of magic and wonder. I know that one of the Nerds (*cough* Brad *cough*) likes to say that this movie’s “for babies,” but I don’t see it that way. Yes, the story is very simple, and the main characters are 5-year-olds; but I think, as long as you know what you’re in for, it’s hard not to enjoy yourself.

Letter grade: B+

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

As I said on this week’s podcast episode, I’ve seen Nostalgia Critic’s review of Ponyo far more than I’ve seen the actual movie. Thus, when I was rewatching Ponyo for this Miyazaki series, many of his jokes and comments came to mind. Overall, while I agree with some of his points, I think that this movie has a lot of offer that he either glosses over or doesn’t mention at all.

For instance, the scene where Ponyo uses her sisters and her father’s elixirs to get back to the surface world and inadvertently cause a massive storm — which I like to call the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ scene — is perhaps the best animated sequence in all of Miyazaki’s filmography. The colors, the art style and designs, the movement of the fish, the music, the cinematography, the narrative buildup … it’s such a memorable and well-done sequence.

The voice cast is phenomenal, and there’s not a weak link in the bunch. While, yes, Ponyo and Sosuke do get on my nerves a bit once once they reunite in the second half, the actual actors do a fine job of getting across Ponyo’s wonder at the human world and Sosuke’s amazement with her. The adults are equally talented. Nostalgia Critic accuses Neeson’s Fujimoto of being flat, but I honestly felt like his delivery was appropriate. He’s emotional when he needs to be, but otherwise, Fujimoto goes about his business in a straightforward way. I’ve listened to a bit of the Japanese version, and that voice actor does a similar job; so I imagine a lot of it was the direction. After all, they picked Neeson for a reason. I do agree with Nostalgia Critic, though, that Sosuke’s mom, Lisa, is not a very good parent for much of the movie, although I don’t put that on Tina Fey’s performance but more the way her character was written. (Personally, I wonder if that’s what the Goddess of Mercy was talking about with Lisa at the end … like, “Hey, if my daughter is going to be living with you, you’re going to have to be a better parent.”)

Anyway, as I said on the podcast, Miyazaki was inspired to write Ponyo after watching Disney’s The Little Mermaid. While there are some similarities and moments of homage, it feels like a distinct story. You could probably describe it as an adaptation of the original fairy tale, but it’s a far cry from Disney’s version as there are plenty of differences between the two. I guess a better way of saying it is that Ponyo is Disney’s The Little Mermaid‘s first cousin once-removed. Still related, but not as closely as you might think.

One more thing I’ll point out is that, while Ponyo endangers the world by throwing nature out of balance, she also inadvertently SAVES the world not once but twice. Before the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ sequence, Fujimoto explains that he intends to use his elixirs to cause an explosion of sea life and rid the earth of humans. Yikes! Well, of course, Ponyo breaks into the elixirs and does cause the tsunami, which definitely causes damage to Sosuke’s town and probably many others. However, by doing so, she prevented her father from building up more elixir to later use it to destroy humanity. AND, because she’s living among humans at the end, I’d be willing to bet that Fujimoto won’t revisit his plan now that his daughter (and possibly her descendants, later on) is living on the surface world. Fujimoto might be an asshole — think King Triton, but less angry and more scheming — but he does care about Ponyo and wants her to be safe. Thus, I imagine that, with Ponyo living as a human, he won’t be plotting mankind’s destruction anymore.

So, take that, Brad! Your irrational hatred of this movie has prevented you from realizing how secretly brilliant it is. 😛

All in all, it’s definitely worth a watch. Or, if you’re like Brad, you should consider rewatching it, because you might’ve been too harsh on it the first time around.

Next week: My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).