FG Review: Ponyo

Ponyo opened this past weekend against the sea of aliens and time-travelers opening the same day. Against the odds it opened as the #9 movie, beating out the teen-flick Bandslam and even exceeding Disney’s expectations.

Ponyo is the latest film by Studio Ghibli and animator Hayao Miyazaki. I’ve written about both before, and if I mention movies in here as a comparison I suggest looking to the other post for reference. Many of the themes I mentioned in that article are in this movie as well, including the environmentalism and love of the rural life.

The title character Ponyo is a little fish-like creature, apparently the eldest of all of her numerous siblings. When touring the sea with her father she escapes on a jellyfish to the surface and is rescued by 5-year-old Sōsuke. He puts her in a bucket and takes her wherever he goes, including to school and to the retirement home where his mother works. Meanwhile, Ponyo is growing little by little and suddenly blurts out “Ponyo loves Sōsuke!” while doing flips in the bucket, letting Sōsuke know that he’s picked up more than just another goldfish.

While this is all happening, Ponyo’s father has been out looking for her, determined to keep her from returning to land again. He commands the sea to bring her back, leaving Sōsuke heartbroken. Unfortunately for her father, she’s turned out to be a little more powerful than either of them realized.  She has the ability to become a human and finds a way to get back to Sōsuke by running on a tsunami. This causes a rift in the balance between the sea and the land that must ultimately bring together the children and their families to test little Ponyo’s desire to be human.

Those expecting something as surreal as Spirited Away or as epic as Princess Mononoke will be let down — unlike those PG and PG-13 movies, this one is justly rated G and is aimed squarely at those who usually see G-rated movies: kids, their parents, and those who aren’t afraid to be seen at a squeaky-clean movie when something with much more hype is playing a few yards away. Almost all problems are fixed by the end of the movie and happy endings abound for all. As is tradition for Miyazaki, there are no bad guys, only people with different agendas who must work together. This is all reminiscent of his movie My Neighbor Totoro, where young kids carry the movie without being saccharine sweet and everything works out. This movie isn’t as thick visually or storywise as his other films, which helps out in some ways. Never have his protagonists been this young, at least not without an older lead character to support them. If it all seems simple and basic, so does the world of a 5 year old at times.

If there’s a consistent criticism of Miyazaki’s movies it’s that he tends to leave things unexplained or simply ends movies when he feels like it. Interesting concepts and themes arrive, make their presence known, and then are dropped — sometimes because the story is moving from scene to scene with little connection. Ponyo feels like its heading for a climax and finale, but then it suddenly ends.  The story’s been told, and it’s not like they cut out mid-scene, but it still is going to appear odd to some who were expecting a little more resolution. It’s not the first time this has happened; in a previous film, two young characters who barely knew each other get engaged out of the blue immediately before the credits roll. While it’s not quite that dramatic in Ponyo, one still wonders if the love between two 5-year-olds who recently met is quite the earth-shaking moment we’re told it is.

The English version of any foreign film is usually met with skepticism, and anime fans are some of the worst at pre-judging English actors without hearing them. In Roger Ebert’s review, he took on some of the cynics and said it perfectly:

Already I have heard from a few people who don’t want to see it “because it’s Japanese.” This is solid-gold ignorance. “Is it only dubbed?” I was asked. You dummy! All animated films are dubbed! Little Nemo can’t really speak!

Thankfully the English cast fits in nicely. The lead actors were only 7 or 8 when they recorded their lines; Noah Cyrus plays Ponyo and Frankie Jonas plays Sōsuke – leading some scoffers to dismiss it outright because of the heritage of the children. No worries here, as both carry off their roles quite well. The highlight, however, might be Tina Fey as Sōsuke’s mother Lisa. Unlike the stereotype of parents in movies, she completely believes Sōsuke’s story and is willing to believe that Ponyo was the little fish he toted about town. But as Pixar has shown, voices in animated movies aren’t there for star power, they’re there to bring characters to life and everyone in the movie did a fine job.

Like the rest of his movies, Miyazaki made sure Ponyo was largely hand-drawn, but unlike his the most recent films Ponyo is CGI-free. This not only gives it a look like nothing else on the big screen today, it gives the movie a timeless feel. This could be seen right after his movies from 20 years ago and neither would seem trendy nor outdated.

If you have children, or even if you don’t and just want to experience one of the best animations alive on the big screen, make a point to see Ponyo while it’s in theaters. It’s a simple story told in a wildly imaginative and relentlessly joyous way. You won’t be sorry.