Unreal Movie Review: Ponyo
I wasn’t too familiar with Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, knowing him only as a Japanese animator whose works are just now starting to see appreciation in the West. I decided to rent Ponyo, his most recent film, mostly for the reason that Ponyo features no computer generated imagery, instead animated in the traditional 2-D style that Disney had made so popular. With Ponyo, I learned that Miyazaki is rightfully acclaimed as a filmmaker and animator and, perhaps more significantly, the 2-D style of animation is far from dead. Keep reading for the full review; minor spoilers ahead.
Briefly, Ponyo is the rather bizarre tale of a Princess goldfish named, well, Ponyo, who desperately wants to become human, and her relationship with a five-year-old boy named Sousuke. Miyazaki has stated in the past that Ponyo was heavily influenced by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, although the similarities seem to end with a fishy protagonist who desires to be human. And Ponyo doesn’t look like what you may imagine upon reading the word “goldfish;” she’s essentially a human-faced little creature with a squishy, somewhat amorphous body. Suffice to say, she ain’t Ariel.
As Ponyo is rated G, I found the story interesting – and certainly unique – but I wasn’t captivated by it. Ponyo is certainly geared toward children, so the fact that I was entertained by the narrative can only be considered a plus. The voice acting (for the American version) is solid if not spectacular, with Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, and Matt Damon lending their voices to some of the film’s supporting characters, and Betty White’s voice is unmistakable. What stands out about Ponyo, though, and the reason Miyazaki is so celebrated in the East, is the incredible animation.
Miyazaki animated the film himself, which is truly remarkable when you consider that around 170,000 separate images were created as part of the process. The ocean and the waves in particular stand out, as well as the unique sea creatures that fill seemingly every frame. Miyazaki’s oceans are teeming with life, and no detail goes unnoticed thanks to his amazingly fluid style. What separates Ponyo from other 2-D animated films, however, isn’t so much the animation of its characters, but the bright, beautiful backgrounds that set the stage for every scene.
The backgrounds – I think – are created using colored pencils, and each “set” is as impressive as it is gorgeous. Hours and hours must have gone into the creation of the backgrounds, and Miyazaki’s flowing animation in the forefront makes virtually every cell a piece of art that would be worthy of hanging. The end result is such a creative, beautiful vision that it’s almost – but not quite – distracting. As amazing as the animation is for the Pixar and Dreamworks films, there’s something very human and endearing about the artwork in Ponyo.
Indeed, 2-D animation is far from finished, thanks in no small part to the imagination of Miyazaki. Ponyo makes it clear that the boundaries of 2-D animation have not yet been reached, and I imagine we’ll see more artistic endeavors in this style. Imagine an animated film in which the backgrounds are gorgeous, Renaissance-style oil paintings. Or an animated film in which the characters and backgrounds bleed together in water colors. The possibilities are seemingly endless, something Miyazaki must know.
Ponyo should be seen simply for its aesthetic merits alone, but the film’s story is more than adequate, too. I was impressed enough that I’m going to make it a point to check out more of Miyazaki’s films. I know that Ponyo is actually somewhat of a departure – being that it’s animated exclusively in 2-D – but the sheer creativity that went into this movie leads me to suspect there’s a lot more out there worth seeing.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Check out Spirited Away. That is my favorite Miyazaki film. Also a fascinating dive into the Japanese fantasy lore.
I’ll check that out next. I’m definitely interested in seeing a lot more of his films.
Princess Mononoke is my favortie Miyazaki film by far. It’s slightly darker than his other works, but still bloody brilliant.
Really, almost everything the guy has done is worth watching.
The essential Miyazaki:
1. Mononoke- The best.
2. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind-While the movie is good, if you are able to get the comics for it, you’d enjoy it more. He actually drew and wrote all the comics for the series upon which the movie barrows from. It’s kind of like Akira in the sense that the movie gives you a condensed version of a much deeper plot the comic features.
3. Spirited Away- A good adventure story, with wonderful character development
4. Porco Rosso- A cursed former ww1 pilot becomes a “sky-pirate,” what’s not to love about that? Did I mention he was cursed with a pig face?
5. Castle in the Sky
6. Lupin the III-The Castle of Cagliostro- It’s good but definatly not my favorite Lupin movie. Lupin is the James Bond of burglers.
7. Kiki’s Delievery Service-Can i say something had a “cute” story and keep my man-card?
8. Howl’s Moving Castle- Disapointed me. Most of the ideas seemed a little rehashed, the animation was great but Miyazaki’s bar is set high.
9. My Neighbor Totoro- It’s good but doesn’t confuse it for anything more than a childrens movie.
@ Brendan
You rule. Thanks for helping me update my Netflix queue!
Miyazaki has not made a bad movie…if his name is on it…watch it. Ponyo was an amazing film.
here’s my review if you wanna take a peek!
http://themovieblogofthunder.blogspot.com/2009/08/ponyo-on-cliff-by-sea.html
brendan forgot the cat returns, which i think is better than most of the films on that list. i wasn’t too impressed with the lupin III movie either…it was fun, but the only myazaki i didn’t give 5 stars to, but all in all a good list
lol i’m an idiot…the cat returns isn’t miyazaki…there goes my nerd cred lol
I’m very excited that you are discovering Miyazaki for the first time!
Brendan was right about all of the movies he recommended, but if you would like to see some other anime movies that are standers that aren’t Miyazaki. These movies are standers that have influence Japanese animation since their creation and release. I believe no one would disagree
1 Akira (1988)-probably the most influential anime move ever made, this revolutionized japan’s film making as a whole.
2 Ghost In The Shell (1995) set the standerd for cyberpunk and spawned a incredibly successful anime show as well as many sequels
3 ninja scroll-very violent, not by any means a kid movie, but ifluenced the way jappan did fighting animation and fighting shows since. also a amazing plot
4 Vampire hunter D blood lust- not really a classic, but it paints an incredible world with vivid animation. it stays with you after you are done watching it just one of my favorites
these are just some that aren’t Miyazaki, but that you should definatly watch. this is coming from some one who has seen all of the Miyazaki movies and enjoys them alot. there are tons more anime movies you should watch but they are to many to list here lol
@moe
No harm in mistaking the Cat Returns! =] It’s studio Ghilbi, which all have Miyazaki’s art style. That film is a sequal to another Ghilbi film, Whispers of the Heart. If we go by Ghilbi Studio films, Grave of the Fireflies is heart wrenching and a great film.
While I am generally not one to be too keen on “anti-war” movies, Grave of Fireflies is one of those that I do enjoy and thoroughly recomend. There is a “human” element to all wars. While the firebombings over Japan were critical to our success in the war against the brutal Japanese Empire,(Some estimates have as many as 16million[low counts are at a mere 7million…] Chinese Civilians dying to the Japanese, dwarfing what Hitler did to the jews. They don’t “learn” that to you in high school…) they still destroyed families and cost many lives.
@Takahata
That lineup reminds me of Scifi Channel’s “Saturday Anime” they used to play, add in Iria, Patlabor and swap bloodlust for the original and that’s it!
While I enjoyed the Akria anime…the manga(comic) version of it is so incredibly superior it sort of ruined the anime for me.(I hate sounding like “I prefer the book” guy…) I am serious, if you liked the anime, find the manga. They have the whole series in 6, large print books. The story goes far, far beyond the anime and is definately a top-3 depicition in post-apocopytic(or WWIII) worlds. I haven’t looked at an “Anime Music Video” since the 90’s, but I always felt this one was one of the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNTgQ9aVWoE
Princess Mononoke is an amazing film, and totally rebooted anime for me b/c my opinion of it was not high at all. But after seeing his films you appreciate so much more about animation.
also the line in that film, “Let me show you how to kill a god” just amazed me really
i’m glad you’ve discovered him, but i’m pretty sure that his movies have been popular in the US for over a decade now……….
@ Lola
Well, “popular” is a pretty relative term. I’m guessing 9 out of 10 casual movie goers would have no clue who he is.
Okay, I was gonna comment for the first time ever on how awesome Miyazaki is but am totally left in the dust by everyone else. Really, check out Spirited Away – quintessentially Miyazaki, IMO.
I am kinda late but just wanted to warn you, madison.
Don’t go by what others say about Howl’s Moving Castle. It is the best.
The ending could have been a bit better, though…
r they ever gonna make a game based on the movie ponyo if so messege me
I love Hayao Miyazaki’s films! 😀
I’ll be watching this on DVD tomorrow.
I hope I don’t get disappointed.
You really should check out some of his films. They’re just so bewildering. D: His movies give you an inside look at a child’s imagination.
~Breisa
I thought it was like japanese version of pinocchio. It was great. My 2 year old can’t get enough of it.