Ponyo

Gake no ue no Ponyo

Japan

2008

100 Min

Color

1.85:1

Japanese

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

PROD Steve Alpert, Toshio Suzuki

CAST Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Jôji Tokoro, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Yuki Amami

MUSIC Joe Hayos, Joe Hisaishi

Transilvania (EducaTIFF), Abu Dhabi (World Cinema Showcase), Venice (Competition)

Synopsis

The son of a sailor, 5-year old Sosuke lives a quiet life on an oceanside cliff with his mother Lisa. One fateful day, he finds a beautiful goldfish trapped in a bottle on the beach and upon rescuing her, names her Ponyo. But she is no ordinary goldfish. The daughter of a masterful wizard and a sea goddess, Ponyo uses her father’s magic to transform herself into a young girl and quickly falls in love with Sosuke, but the use of such powerful sorcery causes a dangerous imbalance in the world. As the moon steadily draws nearer to the earth and Ponyo’s father sends the ocean’s mighty waves to find his daughter, the two children embark on an adventure of a lifetime to save the world and fulfill Ponyo’s dreams of becoming human. –IMDb

Director

Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan’s greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking animation in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan. The Walt Disney Company’s commitment to introduce the films to the rest of the world will let more people appreciate the high-quality works he has given the movie-going public.

Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tôkyô on January 5, 1941. He started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga studio, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible drawing ability and the seemingly endless stream of movie ideas he proposed.

In 1971, he moved to the A Pro studio with Isao Takahata, then to Nippon Animation in 1973, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next five years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, “Future Boy Conan” (1978) (Conan, The Boy in Future), then moved to Tôkyô Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). In 1984, he released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), based on the manga (comic) of the same title he had started two years before. The success of the film led to the establishment of a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli (Sutajio Jiburi), at which Miyazaki has since directed, written, and produced many other films with Takahata and, more recently, Toshio Suzuki. All of these films enjoyed critical and box office successes. In particular, Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997) received the Japanese equivalent of the Academy Award for Best Film and was the highest-grossing (about USD$150 million) domestic film in Japan’s history at the time of its release.

In addition to animation, Miyazaki also draws manga. His major work was the Nausicaä manga, an epic tale he worked on intermittently from 1982 to 1984 while he was busy making animated films. Another manga, Hikoutei Jidai, was later evolved into his 1992 film Porco Rosso (1992).

Miyazaki’s latest film is Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones. Even though he has said this would be at last film, a statement he has said before after the completion of some of his earlier films, one hopes that additions to his extraordinary body of work will continue to be produced as long as he remains alive. –IMDb

read less

Wall

Displaying 4 of 57 wall posts.

see all

Hugo Resendiz Saldivar

30Jan12

Miyazaki regresa un poco a las historias sencillas, despues de un par un poco mas complejas para el publico infantil. La historia es una variante de la historia de Hans Christian Andersen, con muchas referencias sintoistas.

gencorkun

26Jan12

And for the records this is the first movie I have seen in my new place. This very simple story about friendship and loyalty turns into a masterpiece under the expert hands of Miyazaki. As a child, I always thought that I would watch cartoons on TV even when I grew up. I may not have kept my promise but this movie was a good reminder of my good old childhood days.