There was a curious scene OUTSIDE the theater at the Venice Film Festival last year, after the screening of Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo."
Almost uniformly, the exiting critics, programmers and buyers had beatifically happy smiles on their faces. This was midway through the festival of mostly slow, dark, demanding, heavy, sometimes pretentious films - and here was a lift, a holiday, a heartwarming experience "to soothe their cares."
But let's be clear: "Ponyo" - arriving in the U.S. this weekend - is not a dumb, feel-good movie. On the contrary, it operates at the other end of the scale of intelligence and sophistication.
For example, here's "Ponyo" from an opera fan's viewpoint:
- Before she became a little girl (with the name meaning roughly "chubby" in Japanese, and "friend" in Chinese), Ponyo was called Brünnhilda - and I have no idea why call a peaceful, if peculiar, goldfish "ready for battle." Still, when she runs in the ocean on top of giant fish, the soundtrack is the "Ride of the Walkyries."
- Ponyo and her love, five-year-old Sosuke, must undergo ordeals to save themselves and the world - and just as in "The Magic Flute," after a long setup, the happy ending just happens.
- Similarly to Siegfried, when Ponyo tastes blood, she suddenly understands the language of another species; in her case, that of humans.
- Also, a la "Orfeo ed Euridice," Ponyo must live in both worlds, and Sosuke must accept that... or else.
- Antonin Dvorak's "Rusalka" has a lot to do with story - although not nearly as much as the Andersen "The Little Mermaid," in any of a dozen of its incarnations, including the, ahem, Disney show.
And now, the punchline: if you don't care or know about opera in the least, "Ponyo" will work for you all the way. It's just that Miyazaki is such a great artist that you can find all manner of things in his films... read whatever you'd like into them.
In fact, Miyazaki's films are always full of references to opera, through only a whimsical connection with the story, and "Ponyo" is no exception. You can play the same game with psychology, history, literature: it's all there, but it contributes to the enjoyment only subliminally. Feel-good, yes; dumb, no way.
"Ponyo" ranges from bearably cute to a few touches of near-Disney (the producer) to magic visuals, and ultimately an endearing, badly needed sense of goodness and humanity. Significantly, Miyazaki creates realistic, valid and memorably attractive characters, such as the heroic-vulnerable-patient-nurturing-tough mother (Tina Fey).
It would have been wonderful to see the original version, with subtitles (as it was in Venice), but instead "Ponyo" is in English, with some teen idols doing the voiceover.
Names like Jonas and Cyrus don't make me run to the box office, but if that brings more people into the theater - it will - so much the better. Noah Cyrus in the title role and Frankie Jonas as Sosuke are fine; I had a problem with Betty White, whose easily recognizable voice sticks out of the movie.
Here's the best news yet: Miyazaki is 68 and at the height of his creative powers. We can expect much more from him in the next decade.
From the Academy Award®-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid." Already a box-office success in Japan, the story of a young and overeager goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by Noah Cyrus) and her quest to become human features an outstanding roster of voice talent, including CATE BLANCHETT, MATT DAMON, TINA FEY, FRANKIE JONAS, CLORIS LEACHMAN, LIAM NEESON, LILY TOMLIN and BETTY WHITE.
EI Indexed Review(s)
Editor reviews
"Ponyo" reminds us what a joy it is to watch an expertly crafted children’s movie.
Rating:
3.5
User Review
User Reviews
Picture a sea creature small enough to fit in a young boy’s hands. She – it’s a she – has a cherub’s face, a wavy shock of red hair, and a plump little body. She wears a night shirt that covers her from neck to fins, and she spits a little stream of water from her pouting little mouth when she’s upset.
If that sounds like the cutest darned thing you’ve ever heard of, well, it is. And that’s Ponyo.
Hayao Miyazaki ("Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away," Howl’s Moving Castle") is without argument one of the greatest animators in history, and the studio he co-founded, Studio Ghibli, has set the standard for Japanese anime throughout its existence. It’s an event when a new Miyazaki film releases.
Pixar guru-cum-Disney-big-whig John Lasseter understands this, and he apparently convinced his new bosses to acquire distribution rights to "Ponyo" and give it as big a publicity push as any anime film has yet received. We can all thank Disney for making it easier to see "Ponyo," but we do pay for that service, since the English language version of the film hitting U.S. theatres this week includes the voice talents of Miley Cyrus’ little sister and the youngest Jonas brother.
But even Disney’s egregious use of the film as a vehicle for some of its kid stars can’t ruin the pure sentiment and beautiful artistry of "Ponyo."
One day while playing in the ocean near his home, five-year old Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) finds an oddly human-looking fish with its head stuck inside a glass jar. Sosuke, a kind and caring boy, rescues the fish from the jar, gently puts it into a bucket of water, and names it Ponyo (Noah Cyrus).
It’s a universal experience: a kid finds a pet and instantly begins to love it. Only, it turns out Ponyo is the daughter of Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), a human who now lives underwater, and Gran Mamare (Cate Blanchett), a sea goddess. Fujimoto toils constantly to "keep the world in balance." We’re never told exactly what this means, but Fujimoto magically creates marine life and fights against all the pollution threatening to destroy the sea.
In order to maintain that ecological balance, Fujimoto abducts Ponyo to prevent her from becoming human. But Ponyo has already acquired a great deal of her parents’ magical powers. She turns herself into a little girl and soon escapes from her father, setting off on an ecstatic search for Sosuke, whom she loves in return. In the process, she unleashes the whole force of her father’s powers and causes a typhoon.
Ponyo finds Sosuke and, as so often happens in Miyazaki’s films, the two children embark on an adventure into the world, all by themselves. Meanwhile, Sosuke’s father (Matt Damon) captains a ship which struggles to weather the typhoon and Sosuke’s mother (Tina Fey) must help the residents of the retirement center where she works.
We meet some of those retirees, who are voiced hilariously by Betty White, Lily Tomlin, and Cloris Leachman.
"Ponyo" is, up to a point, Miyazaki’s take on "The Little Mermaid" premise. But in the end the resemblance is slight. Disney may distribute this movie, but it is decidedly not a Disney movie.
Both Ponyo and Sosuke are compassionate, brave, and heroic, making "Ponyo" the rare film that should appeal to both young boys and young girls. Even more rare is the fact that parents won’t mind if their children admire and emulate these characters.
"Ponyo" reminds us what a joy it is to watch an expertly crafted children’s movie. Miyazaki’s leaps of imagination may confound adults but they will make perfect sense to viewers between five and ten years old. Sosuke and Ponyo express their love for each other without the inhibitions we jaded adults acquire along the way. And they act nobly out of the simple, unquestioned impulse to do what’s right.
There isn’t a shred of irony in "Ponyo." Miyazaki does effortlessly what American animators seem completely incapable of, which is creating a quality film that celebrates the innocence and purity of childhood. No, American animators are more likely to destroy that innocence than cherish it (you heard me, Dreamworks).
I have now begun to gush and wax poetic, yet I will not apologize. That’s the sort of unabashed, shameless glee "Ponyo" inspires.
Few will claim this is Miyazaki’s best film, but it is first-rate animation and a joyous moviegoing experience genuinely fit for the whole family.
Names like Jonas and Cyrus don't make me run to the box office, but if that brings more people into the theater - it will - so much the better. Noah Cyrus in the title role and Frankie Jonas as Sosuke are fine; I had a problem with Betty White, whose easily recognizable voice sticks out of the movie.
I am big fan of Hayao Miyazaki. I loved all his movie. His heart and creativity is always there and it can be sensed in all movies. For the American people who are not been introduced to Japanese animation, this is a good movie to begin with and then you can catch with all the previous animations.
Ponyo is inspired from Disney's Mermaid and it is the story of a fish-girl of wants to explore the surface and eventually falls in love with a boy much opposed to her father wishes. Thank god this movie was released before the 3D hype era and one could still enjoy the movie in 2D format and its beautiful, the story is straight forward no twist and turn, beautifully drawn and told and it entertains people of all ages.
