Ponyo (pictured) wants to become human
Anyone who’s seen Hayao Miyazaki’s films knows that he’s one of the masters of animation and storytelling. Such gems as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke have cemented his status as a storytelling genius. He’s so good that even his less-than-stellar movies like Howl’s Moving Castle are still entertaining and bound to become a classic. For Ponyo, or Ponyo on the Cliff (the literal interpretation of the Japanese title), the characters are certainly interesting enough to carry the movie with their personalities alone; so much so that you almost don’t care about the lack of a concrete plot.
Ponyo is about a magical fish (Yuria Nara/Noah Cyrus) who wants to be a human. When she is caught and cared for by Sosuke (Hiroki Doi/Frankie Jonas), she decides that she wants to live with him. This decision causes the balance of nature to go off whack, and it is up to Sosuke to accept Ponyo for who she is in order to save the world.
Ponyo (l) and Sosuke (r) check out the water
As far as the voices go, I loved hearing kids playing kids. Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas do exceptional jobs playing their characters, and Tina Fey was totally believable as Soskue’s mom Lisa. Ponyo’s parents sea wizard and former human Fujimoto (Liam Neeson) and sea goddess Granmamare (Cate Blanchett) sounded mysterious, magical, and kind-the trademarks of classic Miyazaki characters. More big names headlined the American version of the movie-Lily Tomlin, Betty White, and Cloris Leachman play the three old women at the senior center where Lisa’s employed; Carlos Alazraqui and Matt Damon had bit parts-Alazraqui as an additional voice and Damon as Koichi, Lisa’s sea-faring husband and Sosuke’s father.
The characterization of the characters are up to the high Miyazaki standard as well; the children are believable in their precociousness, and Sosuke’s maturity beyond his years is also plausible. The human adults are all well-rounded (even Koichi; even though we don’t see him a lot, we understand a lot about him through his action to stay at sea), and the magical beings have an intangibility that makes them seem even more magical.
The only major problem is the actual plot. The exposition that is needed wasn’t set up as concretely as it probably should’ve been, and sometimes the script itself tried to force the idea of Sosuke’s maturity by having lines saying things like, “Even though he’s five years old…” or “He may be five years old, but…” But, with that said, the storyline is so engaging and the characters are so well conceptualized that you almost don’t care that there isn’t any exposition. Part of the fun is figuring out how the laws of the world of Ponyo work.
If you’re a fan of Miyazaki films, by all means, go see this movie. Casual viewers or parents with children will also enjoy this movie as well, since this movie is entertaining to both adults and children. Just make sure to check yourself at the door and go along with the ride; you’ll be entertained from beginning to end.
