Ponyo (U)

Film

Family films

724.fi.x491.ponyo.jpg

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>5/5
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Time Out says

Tue Feb 9 2010

Goosebumps start to form about 30 seconds into the latest from Japan’s Hayao Miyazaki (‘Spirited Away’, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’). We’re drawn under the waves of the sea to a hidden enclave of neon-hued aqualife more vibrant, surreal and enchanting than any of the floating 3D whatsits in ‘Avatar’. Miyazaki offers a spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ and subverts his source to explore the main theme of all his films: the unpredictable psychologies of kids separated from their parents. The film charts a key episode in the life of bowl-cutted scamp, Sosuke, and the sweet bond he forms with Ponyo, a squeaky-voiced goldfish-turned-human girl. Among the film’s pleasures are yet another heartbreaking evocation of the trials of childhood (particularly the complexity of forming friendships), a non-patronising depiction of old age and a trenchant yet subtle reminder of looming ecological catastrophes. Who knows why it didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Best Animation?

Author: David Jenkins

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Release details

Rated:

U

UK release:

Fri Feb 12 2010

Duration:

101 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Voices:

Betty White, Lily Tomlin, Cloris Leachman, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Frankie Jonas, Noah Lindsey Cyrus

Screenwriter:

Hayao Miyazaki

Music:

Joe Hisaishi

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 5/5 (4 ratings)

  • Studio Ghibli's best so far

    Sem White Sun Mar 7 2010
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • i love all of Miyazaki's films. Ponya is good and I think it is the best yet!

    Anne Marie Fri Feb 19 2010
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Japanese fish-girl restores the balance of nature and saves the planet. I somehow doubt that all Japanese 5-yr-olds can identify the fish of the Devonian by their Latin names. Still makes more sense than Avatar.

    philmk Fri Feb 19 2010
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • My Japanese wife loves it - every time she sees it she cries!

    amyisraelchai Thu Feb 18 2010
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Also, can't resist taking a shot at Avatar, eh? Even in a review for a competely unrelated movie.

    Peter Thu Feb 11 2010
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  • I don't agree that "the main theme of all [Miyazaki's] films" is "the unpredictable psychologies of kids separated from their parents" - I can see this applying to Spirited Away and maybe My Neighbour Totoro, but Porco Rosso? Princess Mononoke? Nausicaa? I'd say a more universal theme of his films is man's unconscious corrupting of nature. I'm looking forward to seeing this but it doesn't excite me the way recent Miyazaki films have.

    Peter Thu Feb 11 2010
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