There is a word to describe “Ponyo,” and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched. It’s wonderful and never even seems to try: It unfolds fantastically. This is how the notable Film critic Roger Ebert described the movie.The movie starts off with the little goldfish Ponyo escaping from home to see the wider world, where Sosuke, a 5-year-old who lives in a house on a seaside cliff, finds a goldfish trapped in a jar on the beach. This is Ponyo. Freeing her, he is rewarded by a lick on a finger that heals a cut. And by tasting human blood, we learn, Ponyo gains the ability to transform between fish and human.; all is wonderful until we discover that by crossing the divide between land and sea, Ponyo has triggered ecological changes that unleash a dangerous tsunami that floods Sosuke’s village right up to the doorstep of his house.
The simplicity of this movie is the most crucial part of the movie, its even been compared to Hayao Miyazaki's classic My Neighbor Totoro. This 68-year-old Japanese master continues to impress the audience of young and old. Also the fact he creates animation drawn by hand, just as “Snow White” and “Pinocchio” were. Brings a natural and fluid feel to his work that exposes the flaws of CGI.I was totally blown away by his imagination and how well he presents his story and his characters.
Characters such as Fujimoto. He is the father of Ponyo and her countless baby sisters. Although he seems sinister at first, his desire to keep Ponyo in the sea is eventually explained because of his concern for the balance of Earth’s nature.
Already it is threatened by the debris of human civilization; we see a bottom-scooping ship dredge up tons of waste. This reminds me of the movie of Wall-E where they also had a hidden message besides the main storyline. Also the movie has elements of Romeo and Juliet which if you watch the movie will see.
The movie does have some unexplained seriously random things such as how a goldfish survives in the sea, how Ponyo has so many sisters and much more. But these things we just accept as we know that we are drawn into Hayao Miyazaki's world where creativity and imagination knows no boundaries.
4 out of 5
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Cast&Crew
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by Toshio Suzuki
Written by Hayao Miyazaki
Starring
Japanese version:
Yuria Nara
Hiroki Doi
Tomoko Yamaguchi
George Tokoro
Kazushige Nagashima
English version:
Cate Blanchett
Noah Cyrus
Matt Damon
Frankie Jonas
Tina Fey
Liam Neeson
Laraine Newman
Madison Davenport
Cloris Leachman
Betty White
Lily Tomlin
Link to the movie if you wish to download or watch online::
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
