"'Ponyo' is a lyrical, moving animated masterpiece." – Movie Review

Tweet By Sean Patrick Kernan

I am running low on adjectives to describe Hiyao Miyazaki. The creator of some of the finest animation I have ever seen has given us so many delights over the years that I am almost at a loss to describe them. His “Princess Mononoke,” “Spirited Away” and “Howl's Moving Castle” are rivaled only by the works of Pixar in terms of the finest works of animated film art created in the last decade.



Now, Miyazaki is back with yet another lyrical, moving animated masterpiece. “Ponyo” is a children's movie with more imagination and wonder than any ten non-Pixar animated movies released in the last decade.

“Ponyo” is the story of a little girl who begins her life as a fish. The offspring of a strange scientist (voice of Liam Neeson) who somehow keeps the ocean in balance with humanity, though he is tiring of the task, and Gran Mamare (voice of Cate Blanchett, as ethereal as ever) who I believe is mother nature herself, “Ponyo” longs to discover the world beyond the water.

She gets the chance when she sneaks out and takes a ride on a jellyfish all the way to the surface of the ocean. There, she happens on the shore where Sosuke is playing. It's love at first sight. Sosuke scoops Ponyo up in a bucket and thinking she is just a goldfish hopes he can make her a pet. However, when she heals a cut on his finger, he realizes there is something really magical about his new friend. Soon, Ponyo is talking and professing her love for her new friend Sosuke.

Unfortunately, Ponyo's move to the surface has consequences. As she moves to become more human, the ocean becomes unbalanced as Ponyo's father searches for her in hopes of keeping her a little fish forever. If Sosuke can prove he truly loves Ponyo she may be able to become human but he will have to find a way to show it before the seas rise and destroy all.

There is something of an environmentalist streak running through “Ponyo” but it takes a back seat to the wondrous imagery of the great Hayao Miyazaki. Watch for the scene where Ponyo, returning to the surface for the first time as a little girl, runs atop the roiling waves; the visual is an absolute delight.

“Ponyo” is filled with childlike wonder and makes exceptional use of the child voice talents of young Noah Cyrus as Ponyo and Frankie Jonas as Sosuke. Cyrus, of the famous older sister Miley, and Frankie, youngest of the famous Jonas family, capture in their young voices the unpracticed delight only a child can deliver.

One can no longer be surprised by the brilliance of Miyazaki. And yet, I was somehow still blown away by “Ponyo.” Minus the occasional fright images that are as much a Miyazaki trademark as his childlike wonder, the director delivers a work of pure, joyous imagination.

BYLINE:

Sean Patrick Kernan is a film critic. Check him out at: http://www.myspace.com/number1ramjamfan. Email Sean at sean@zoiksonline.com.

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