Ponyo (2008)

Ponyo is the latest hand draw animation to come from the mind of master Japanese storyteller, Hayao Miyazaki.  He was the man who with films like the brilliant Spirited Away showed that handrawn animation could still be an arresting and captivating medium in a world dominated by computer generated animation.

The story – a rough reworking of the Hans Christian Anderson classic, the Little Mermaid – centres on a young and overeager goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by Noah Cyrus) who is just one of the hundreds of children fathered by the undersea wizard Fujimoto (voiced by Liam Neeson). One day she escapes from the family home and ends up being rescued by Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas), a 5-year-old boy who lives by the sea with his parents (voiced by Matt Damon and Tina Fey), as she washes up on the shore trapped inside a jar.

Boy and fish are soon inseparable.

Fujimoto however does not approve of his daughter being away from the family home and even less so with her desire to become human. He uses some of his magic to bring her back home, but she once again escapes and with the help of magic transforms into a human girl. This effects the balance of the world and brings down a huge storm on the local town and Fujimoto has to turn to his  sea goddess wife (voiced by Cate Blanchett) to make Ponyo see sense and to make sure she doesn't 'upset the balance of nature'.

The balance of nature is an important theme in the film, with the sea being very much a character in its own right. There are some marvellous scenes where the sea seems to come alive with eyes and a mouth, ready to swallow up all that stands in its way. Breathtaking stuff.

This is an endearing little film perfectly capturing childhood innocence and the discovery of love and friendship. It contrasts the mundaness of everyday life - Sosuke's mom driving her car - with the excitement of discovering something new - the sweetness of Ponyo's first 'human' meal all done with the director's deft touches of humour and the apparent simplicity of the animation.

The voice cast are solid, with Liam Neeson especially good as the world weary Fujimoto, although I would be lying if I didn't say that towards the end Noah Cyrus' voicing of Ponyo did begin to annoy me  - feeling like I'd sat through too many back-to-back episodes of Rugrats.

That minor quibble aside, and whilst this film lacks the spectacle of Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke I would recommend Ponyo to anyone with young children and to any animation fan who is still young at heart.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
voiced By: Frankie Jonas, Tina Fey, Noah Cyrus, Cloris Leachman, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon
Certificate: U
Runtime: 97 minutes (approx.)
Release date: 7 June 2010
RRP: £19.99

Scott Vine, CC, Legal Blogger

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