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Ponyo caught my attention ever since I heard it was going to be Miyazaki's next film and I like his films. Ponyo reminded me a lot of the Disney classic The Little Mermaid as I was watching it. It is a beautiful film for the family. It is a story on love, bravery and friendship which made it a personal film. Like all Miyazaki animated films, the audience are entering a different world. I mean, Ponyo has its similarities with The Little Mermaid but there are differences as well. For example, it was involving a lonely boy and a fish wanting to be a girl whereas in The Little Mermaid, it involved a mermaid and a prince. Also, Ponyo isn't a musical and it isn't quite as dark as The Little Mermaid. I couldn't believe that this wasn't nominated for Best Animated Picture this year! It wouldn't have beaten Up but it would've given it a tough battle for the award.
Ponyo is a fish-girl who lives in an aquarium in her father Fujimoto's underwater castle with numerous sisters who are fish like herself but smaller. When Fujimoto takes her and her siblings on his submarine, Ponyo swims away. She ends up stranded on the beach of a small town and is rescued by a boy called Sōsuke. After this, Ponyo and Sōsuke make an odd yet very beautiful and powerful friendship that does start to turn into love. The English version of Ponyo (which I watched) had a great cast with a few of talented and very well-known actors in it. That version starred the voices of Cate Blanchett (as Granmammare, Ponyo's mother), Matt Damon (as Kōichi, Sōsuke's father) and Liam Neeson (as Fujimoto, Ponyo's father).
It is a simple fact that Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best animated filmmakers that has ever lived and I am proud to say that Ponyo is another masterful creation of his. It's a shame that Miyazaki's films aren't released in Britain until about 1 year after their original release but it is damn sure worth the wait. I mean, yes Miyazaki used a lot from The Little Mermaid but he actually manages to make it better than that one. Miyazaki was involved in the hand-drawn animation in the film. Miyazaki preferred to draw the sea and the waves himself and this level of drawing had 170,000 separate images. That was a record for a Miyazaki film. Miyazaki isn't just a very talented director and animator but he is a great screenwriter as well.
Overall, Ponyo is another Miyazaki masterpiece. It probably isn't as sophisticated as Spirited Away but definitely is one of his best creations and one of the best films of 2009.
9/10
