Ponyo, Little Fishgirls love Ham

[EddieG]

I’m a big fan of animation. Whether it cartoons on TV or the masterpieces of Disney I enjoy the aesthetic of 2d animation and appreciate the hard word to create it. Personally I don’t think animation, especially nowadays traditional 2d animation, get the respect it deserves as a medium of storytelling. Japanese animation is another victim of this train of thought. So I was very excited to hear that the Miyazaki film “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” was going to receive a real theatrical release in the US. So I got the goons into gear and out we went.

Ponyo is, as I mentioned, a Japanese animated fantasy film directed by Hayao Miyazaki and distributed through the US by Disney.

The film opens with a beautiful and colorful view of a deep sea landscape. The first character we meet is Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), a sort of sea wizard bringing to life fantastic sea creatures. Sneaking out from the side of his submarine is the title character Ponyo (Noah Cyrus). She ventures out into the ocean coming upon a seaside community where she is rescued from a glass jar by a young boy named Sasuke (Frankie Jonas).

Although together for a short time Sasuke does his best to care for Ponyo and the two become friends. Ponyo is soon whisked back home by her father Fujimoto where she demands to be let lose so she can go live on land with Sasuke. He refuses her demands and comments that she is still too young and naïve, but is also concerned that she is becoming so powerful. Using her magic Ponyo grows arms and legs and makes her escape. In doing so she inadvertently releases a great deal of her father’s magic and it now threatens to radically reshape the world.

Ponyo and Sasuke must now deal with what has happened and make some serious decisions that will affect their friendship and even Ponyo’s life.

Ponyo was exactly what I expected and I was very pleased by it. Ponyo was light on its story and at heart was really about the fun and charming characters. It’s a bit like “My Neighbor Totoro” in that it’s mostly about the amazing things happening around the character then the progression of an overall narrative. No doubt this film was designed with a younger audience in mind, but just like the Disney masterpieces is so well made anyone can appreciate it for the characters, charm and beautiful artwork.

Ponyo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0876563/

[MegasquidMan]

Yeah, you're not kidding about the lack respect Eastern and Western Animation is getting in terms of a proper storytelling medium. Worse yet is when people shallowly judge an animated piece, right away, from its style. But that's something for another time...

I'm glad you enjoyed Ponyo, Ed. I may go myself, maybe next Saturday (this Saturday I'll be at my Aunt's, which is in more detail in the Gen Discussion thread). Not only this, but I'm also looking forward to Tim Burton's "9" (looks cute.. and noir-ish), and Fantastic Mr. Fox (I missed out on watching Coraline, and I haven't seen a stop-motion film is SUCH a long time... I think James and the Giant Peach was the last one I saw). And maybe when the holidays roll around, MAYBE I'll see The Princess and the Frog (it might surprise us all, and help revitalize a dying industry).

[MegasquidMan]

Well, I came back from Downtown Disney (the other theaters by me weren't showing Ponyo... or 9, for that matter), and, like you said Ed, this movie is more about the characters than the story progression, which in this movie's case is ok, since A: It is a kid's movie, so I expect it to be fun whimsical and a bit magical, rather than deep and philosphical, B: The characters were all charming; Ponyo, Sosuke and his mother Lisa, Fujimoto, even the side characters (such as the group of elderly women from the Senior Center, two of which were voiced by Betty White and Lily Tomlin) to the point where plot seemed not to matter as much, which I was fine with (which I almost NEVER say about movies; this one is an exception, as is My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away. Funny how only the Studio Ghibli stuff can make me think that way, only.),C: the adventure that Sosuke and Ponyo had was equally as sweet and charming... and I even got to learn about some prehistoric fish that not even I knew about.

I was also impressed in the amount of labor that had been put into the animated scenes. To take an line from wikipedia, who also took lines from Suzuki Toshio (the portion marked with a 10), and Naoko Kubota (marked with an 11):

"Miyazaki was intimately involved with the hand-drawn animation in Ponyo. He preferred to draw the sea and waves himself, and enjoyed experimenting with how to express this important part of the film.[10] This level of detailed drawing resulted in 170,000 separate images—a record for a Miyazaki film.[11]"

THAT... is a LOT... of drawn work! The Ocean scenes were exuberant, smooth, and... not "busy"... lush! And the inland scenes I noticed had a quirky "color pencil and pastel" kind of feel with the roads, boats, and hills, which made it seem quite fit for a children's film, but also gave it a contributing, eclectically artsy feel. Something you never see in animation, this day and age. Now, clarity is very good, as is a natural feel, don't get me wrong; but in this age of forced conformity, something different yet the same did catch my eye even more-so than if all the scenes had the same feel, throughout.

The four star rating I saw in the paper is fittingly appropriate in how I'd rate the film. It's not Miyazaki's best piece, but it was certainly not boring, one-dimensional, cheap (I mean in an emotional sense, not a monetary sense), or even mediocre. This was vibrant, fun, cute, and, honestly, a movie that anyone can really watch, whether it's the kids, the animation buffs, the art lovers, fans of Hiyao Miyazaki's work, or the young adult or parent with nothing better to do on a rainy day and doesn't want to see a comedy or action film.

Also, Ed, that end credit song you found to be annoying, the first half of it was an actual translation of the original end credit song sung by Ponyo and Sosuke's English VA's. The second half was some pop remix (which I didn't stick around to hear).

[EddieG]

I can always count on you or one of the other art/animation experts to appropriately stress how much work and effort goes into making these wonderful animated films.