Review: Ponyo

Sosuke finds a fish and names it Ponyo

Following its successful launch of showing films by Studio Ghibli during spring break, the Vancouver Film Festival has restarted the series with a part 2 and I saw one of my friend YTSL's favourites -- Ponyo!

Before her obsession with Funassyi, the pear fairy, YTSL was in love with Ponyo, a red goldfish princess that magically transformed into a little girl. YTSL even carried around a Ponyo plushie around and took many scenic photographs with her while traveling.

But I digress.

They are both thrilled by their noodle dishes

I finally saw the movie the other day and enjoyed it very much. Director Hayao Miyazaki really understands children, how they think and act which makes Ponyo a delight to watch. 

We meet her as a goldfish under the sea, escaping from her wizard father Fujimoto, who feels obligated to teach humans how they have destroyed the natural environment. As if by fate she meets a little boy, Sosuke who finds her and really cares for her as a fish in his green bucket.

There is another story about the Sosuke and his mother Lisa, and how his father is constantly away as captain of his ship. While Sosuke is an obedient child and helps his mom, she gets frustrated that her husband often breaks promises.

Lisa works in a senior's home that's conveniently next door to the primary school that Sosuke goes to; the seniors who live there are a hoot, and even better when one of them is voiced by Betty White!

Lisa passes out after drinking beer

Amidst all this Ponyo arrives and on top of that becomes a little girl. The scenes of her discovering how things work are just as one would imagine a real child reacting to things they had never seen before. 

But then one day the seas become extremely rough, causing Sosuke's father to wonder if there is a tsunami; there is a disturbance in the equilibrium of the earth, and only Ponyo and Sosuke can make it peaceful again...

The version I watched was the English one, dubbed with the voices of Liam Neeson as Ponyo's father Fujimoto, Noah Cyrus as Ponyo, and Tina Fey as Lisa. Fey's voice was not recognisable to me, while Neeson and White were.

Nevertheless the dialogue especially of Lisa was funny, reflecting the stress of marriage and relationships. Most hilarious was her irate messages to her husband via signalling lamps.

However, one did have to suspend reality to believe a goldfish could become a little girl, but Ponyo is such a cute character that viewers are keen to watch what happens next with her and Sosuke. 

Cute underwater scene with sea creatures too

Miyazaki purposely chose Sosuke to be a five-year-old boy -- not too young to take on some serious tasks, and not too old to dislike girls. 

Meanwhile the animation, particularly under the sea in the opening scene is so imaginative; later on there's a scene of a huge flood and an octopus finds its way into the entrance of Sosuke's home.

Ponyo is an enjoyable film that hardly feels like 101 minutes, that has themes of love, the environment and relationships all rolled up neatly into this story.

Ponyo

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

101 minutes