Ponyo
We have reached number eight in our countdown of the best movies of 2010 and for the first time we cast our eye over the animation genre.
It has been a very strong year for animation and it is Ponyo, which is the latest film from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, that we are taking a look at today.
Studio Ghibli are the producers of some of the finest animation movies that have ever graced the big screen, Spirited Away and Howl’s Movie Castle being just two examples of their excellent work, and Ponyo is no exception.
Miyazaki has a knack of transporting us to distant worlds and bringing us magical tales over and over again.
Five year-old Sosuke lives high on a cliff overlooking the Inland Sea. One morning, while playing on the rocky beach below his house, he discovers a goldfish named Ponyo with her head stuck fast in a jam jar.
Sosuke rescues her and keeps her in a green plastic pail. Ponyo is fascinated by Sosuke and Sosuke feels the same about Ponyo. He tells her: 'Don’t worry, I’ll protect you and take care of you'.
But Ponyo’s father Fujimoto once human, now a sorcerer who lives deep under the sea forces her to return with him into the ocean depths.
'I want to be human!', Ponyo declares. Determined to become a little girl and make her way back to Sosuke, Ponyo escapes.
But before she does it, she empties the Water of Life, Fujimoto’s precious store of magical elixir, into the ocean.
The sea waters rise. Ponyo’s sisters are transformed into enormous fish-shaped tidal waves that climb as high as Sosuke’s house on the cliff.
The chaos of the ocean world envelops Sosuke’s little town making it sink beneath the waves.
Ponyo is quite simply a beautiful movie and it’s nice to see something different and not just the CGI laden animation films that have flooded cinemas in the last few years.
Once again Miyazaki questions the state of our beautiful planet as the natural world rises up against the destructive human race.
Ponyo is a simple tale of a goldfish wanting to be human it’s a sweet story that will entertain both children and adults and the attention to detail in the animation brings Miyazaki’s world to life.
The movie boasts an impressive voice cast of Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Liam Neeson as the big named stars continue to flock to be involved in these great Japanese movies - a testament to their quality.
Ponyo is by no means the best movie that is in the Studio Ghibli collection but this charming movie is a breath of fresh air and an absolute delight.
Miyazaki’s imagination fills the screen as this filmmaker remains a traditional animator in a digital era.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Studio Ghibli