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
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.
As soon as my daughter saw Ponyo, she fell in love with it. She loves My Neighbor Totoro, The Cat Returns, Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service, so this was pretty much a safe bet with her. Getting the movie's already a good deal, but the plush Ponyo included here is of great quality, and easily beats any other Studio Ghibli plush I've seen [at least here in the US].
You can see right there in the stock picture how big Ponyo is since it's right next to the dvd in the packaging. It's made of a very soft, huggable material sure to comfort any child, and it's super cute. The material is easy to clean if anything gets dirty, and the construction is very sturdy. Of course there will be some issues with a longer 'skirt' here and there (that's quality control for you), but can you really turn away such a cute character even if it's suffering from such a thing? The plush Ponyo alone runs for about the cost of this set on most sites, so getting it included with the movie is great. While I would've liked them to give the blu-ray the same treatment, it's good to have on dvd since it's beautiful to watch on either format. And hey, most parents don't let 3 year olds handle 'expensive' movies, eh?
The dvd includes the usual special features that other Studio Ghibli dvds have- an interview with Miyazaki, a short featurette and a storyboard presentation of the entire movie. This is always a very important special feature for those interested in animation, or like to see the movie in a different format and seeing how it came together before the animators stepped in. And of course, the movie's in Japanese and English with Japanese, English, Spanish and French subtitles.
If you or your child(ren) love Ponyo, this is a must. I wish Disney would've given the recent re-re-releases of Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro the same kind of gift set. Now I'm kinda jealous that my daughter has her own Ponyo. Maybe I need to order one more?
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