Ponyo (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
by Hayao Miyazaki
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cate Blanchett, Frankie Jonas, Liam Neeson, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Tina FeyDirector: Hayao Miyazaki
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language); French (Original Language); English (Dubbed); French (Dubbed)
Format: Multiple Formats
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2010-03-02
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Product features:
- PONYO - 2-DISC BLU-RAY (BLU-RAY DISC)
Movie Reviews of Ponyo (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Movie Review: Wow! Another Miyazaki masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
I took a break from a marathon of Stanley Kubrick movies on Blu-Ray to go see this movie in the theater with a friend this last weekend. And all I can say is - wow. What a great film.
Oddly enough, making the transition from The Shining and Full Metal Jacket to Ponyo was not as abrupt a break as one might imagine. This movie is lighthearted and fun unlike the aforementioned films, but like those films this production very much demonstrates a dedication to creating powerful visuals and emotion at the expense of 'realism' and traditional narrative; a trait that both Stanley Kubrick and Miyazaki have in common.
--- Note: Spoilers Abound Beyond This Point ---
This is a basic boy meets girl story- or at least the fairytale version of one- complete with the inevitable happy ending. Ponyo is a magical fish-girl who runs away from her idealistic and tyrannical father, a powerful wizard who lives in the sea. She is found by a five-year-old boy named Sasuke who makes a literal blood-bond with her; Sasuke first makes her his pet, and after she learns to speak with him he embraces her as his friend. Sasuke's mother accepts Ponyo into her home first as Sasuke's magical pet, and when she returns to Sakuke after being abducted by her father, she accepts responsibility for Ponyo transformed into a little girl just as easily. After a test of love (arranged by Ponyo's mother, who is some form of sea goddess), Ponyo is fully transformed into a human, and Ponyo and Sasuke grow up together (presumably) happily ever after. The End.
From what I can see, the main criticism of this film has been that the story frankly does not make much sense, at least when one gets to the fine details of the tale. This seems to me to be a fair point; I myself could not make heads of tails of the story from any logical perspective. Ponyo's father, the alchemist who lives in the sea is introduced and exits without any real background explanation; the sea goddess appears and explains that 'we all come from sea foam'- and although this is demonstrated visually, the mechanism by which these creatures are transformed otherwise is left to the viewers imagination. Ponyo somehow triggers an ecological cataclysm/new epoch/renaissance where the moon draws in close, the sea levels rise, and prehistoric sea life appears (?) - and once again, no satisfactory reason for all of this is provided, or even hinted at. If this was a science-fiction story, I would have to call it a complete failure.
But this is not science-fiction, or even traditional fantasy; this is a fairy tale, this is mythology, and Miyazaki's mostly visual narrative makes this clear with the bold confidence of a veteran filmmaker throughout. The true magic of this movie is that while the plot itself might be full of holes as wide as the ocean, the characters feel believable and human throughout. Sasuke's mother in particular is a well-written and attractive character, and her relationship with Sasuke's absentee father shows the strains of a real marriage without ever lapsing into melodrama. There is as much here for the adults as the kids, and Miyazaki balances the adult and child perspectives with an even hand.
Complaints about the film's visuals are, from my perspective, fully unfounded. This is a gorgeous, gorgeous film, and is a stunning example of what 2-D animation can do that no other medium can master. The visual narrative that Miyazaki has built his career around- the narrative of transformation- is fully explored here, even more so than in Howl's Moving Castle, which seemed to take this concept to the logical limit at the time.
In this movie, however, transformations are taken beyond any logical limit and into the logic of dreams or that of the spiritual world, or the world of magic; and in the final analysis these are all the same thing. From the beginning the sea itself is presented as a character, as a living thing - it is even animated in the same bright, flat cel-colors that the other characters are (look at the water in Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke for a counter-example to this style). The first time we are shown the painterly landscapes surrounded by the cartoon sea this fact is made immediately clear, at least to those familiar with the language of traditional animation.
In short, in absence of much in the way of traditional narrative the visuals themselves are called upon to tell the story, and the story they tell 'works'; and it works quite well on an emotional, pre-conscious level. Water transforms into fish, and the fish into waves, and back again; Ponyo herself shifts between forms seemingly at will. What makes the human characters human in this film seems to be that they are fixed to a single form. The narrative truths of the story are all there, but folded fully into the visuals rather than exposition.
Now, one shouldn't walk away from this review thinking that this is somehow the animated equivalent of a Fellini film. Miyazaki himself stated that he made the movie for a five-year-old child, and the strong reliance on visuals to tell the story, along with the emphasis of emotional over objective truths should be understood with this goal in mind. But unlike most entertainment made for small children the objective seems to be to expand the mind rather than pander to a limited understanding; to appeal to the nobler instincts rather than the base. But like mentioned earlier, there is much to appreciate here for viewers of all ages.
In summary, I believe this movie to be a masterwork, rather than a 'lesser' Miyazaki film. I frankly do not think that he could have even pulled something like this off in the 80's when Studio Ghibli was first founded; the absolute boldness and even-handedness of this ambitious work is something that only a mature director could achieve. Again, it's designed for younger viewers than something like Princess Mononoke or even Spirited Away, and this should be understood upon viewing it. But this is a film that clearly achieves every goal that the filmmaker set out to reach, and it does so in a lyrical, beautifully poetic style.
If this truly is the last film that Miyazaki directs (a tune he has sung many a time before...), this will remain as much a testimony to his vision as any of his other creations.
Highly recommended.
Summary of Ponyo (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Welcome to a world where anything is possible! Academy Award® winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away) and legendary filmmaker John Lasseter together with Disney bring to life a heartwarming and imaginative telling of Hans Christian Andersen s classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid. A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo s father, a powerful sorcerer, forces her to return to her home in the sea. But Ponyo s desire to be human upsets the delicate balance of nature and triggers a gigantic storm. Only Ponyo s mother, a beautiful sea goddess, can restore nature s balance and make Ponyo s dreams come true. Ponyo will delight your family with its magnificent animation and timeless story.Ponyo confirms Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki's reputation as one of the most imaginative filmmakers working today. Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid," Ponyo is a magical celebration of innocent love and the fragile beauty of the natural world. The daughter of the sea goddess Gran Mamare (voiced by Cate Blanchett) and the alchemist Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), Ponyo (Noah Cyrus) begins life as an adventurous little goldfish. Chafing at her father's restrictions, she goes in search of adventure and meets Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), a good-natured 5-year-old who lives by the sea. Sosuke adopts Ponyo and quickly wins her heart. Fujimoto uses magic to bring her back, but Ponyo's love for Sosuke proves stronger than his elixirs. She transforms herself into a human girl and returns to him during a spectacular storm at sea, but her metamorphosis upsets the balance of nature, precipitating a crisis only Gran Mamare can resolve. Ponyo contains fantastic moments that suggest dreams-- and reassert the power of hand-drawn animation to create memorable fantasies: No effects-laden Hollywood feature can match the wonder of Ponyo running along the tops of crashing waves on her way back to Sosuke. Ponyo is closer in tone to My Neighbor Totoro than Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle, and will appeal to audiences of all ages, including small children. The #1 film in Japan in 2008, Ponyo earned more than „14.9 billion (over US$155 million) to become the 8th highest grossing film in Japanese history. (Rated G: A few scary moments, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon
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