Ponyo was released on July 19th, 2008. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki it is loosely based on The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. In it a young human boy named Sōsuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas in the English dub) befriends a goldfish named Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), who begins turning into a human after ingesting some of his blood.
Like most of Miyazaki's movies Ponyo is loosely plotted. There are two central conflicts, one arising from the other. The first is between Ponyo and her father Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), a human wizard/scientist. After meeting and falling in love with Sōsuke, Ponyo longs to become human but her father forbids it. Ponyo runs away from her father to be with Sōsuke, using her magic to make herself human, but the magic that is released as a result of this creates an imbalance in nature, resulting in an enormous tsunami which threatens to destroy Sōsuke's sea-side village home. Both conflicts are resolved rather easily when Fujimoto tells Ponyo's mother Gran Mamare (Cate Blanchett) about her actions and she decides that Ponyo can become human providing that Sōsuke can prove his love for her. This also restores the balance of nature.
There is a general theme of familial conflict running throughout the film. Ponyo's clashes with her father who does not want her to become human. It can be inferred that Fujimoto, having turned his back on the human world for a life under-the-sea, is hurt by his daughter's desire to, essentially, do the opposite. In any case the parallel between Fujimoto, who gave up a human life after falling in love with a sea goddess, and Ponyo, who gives up her life as a fish after falling in love with a human. There is also tension among Sōsuke's family. His mother (Tina Fey) harbors resentment toward his father (Matt Damon), a sailor who, because of his job, is never around.
Ponyo is a lovely looking film, even if less impressive then some of Studio Ghibli's earlier efforts. It features more streamlined animation then many of the studio's earlier films. The backgrounds are not as painterly and the characters more cartoonish. Yet it has that quality that many of their films do of making the movement and expressions of the characters feel grounded. Its portrayal of magic is also very matter-of-fact magic, as is Miyazaki's custom, and the characters feel like real people with real problems. The voice cast are uniformly solid except perhaps for Neeson, who feels a little miscast as Ponyo's quirky wizard father.
Ponyo is an enchanting little movie with beautiful animation and likable characters. The story may be a little lightweight but that's part of the charm.
Score: 8/10
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