Wednesday, March 24, 2010

PONYO



















An adorable children's story about a fish with a face by Hayao Miyazaki.

4 comments:

  1. Not sure if any of you guys bothered to check this out or not, but "Ponyo" is an animated film from Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki. It's story is an adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" and it a beautifully animated children's movie. I think the biggest draw of "Ponyo" is its simplistic aesthetic that is colorful and surreal. It may not come as a surprise that a trippy cartoon about a people-faced fish would win me over, but this movie has some heart to it. Its just so freaking adorable, I felt like a giddy 8 year old girl on a pony once the movie got going. It is full of imagination, and the characters or not only lovable, but voiced well also.

    *Not Really Spoilers* So anyways, Ponyo is the fishfaced daughter or Liam Neeson (an awesome aqua wizard who sub-surfs around the ocean on a boat-whale thing) and Cate Blanchette (a gigantic mermaid lady thing) who wants to escape from a bubble and be a human. Then there is this huge storm and a green bucket and Sosuke (a human boy), the son of Tina Fey (a sailor's wife) and Matt Damon (on a boat) who befriends Ponyo. That's my synopsis, and I'm stickin' to it. But seriously, If something like "Ponyo" is within your interests, I highly recommend that you check it out.

    Did any of you already see it? What did you think?

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  2. I love Miyazaki. His movies have a richness to them, deep stories that have strong moral ties. Odd ball characters, fantastical worlds. Stuff we don't see today in modern animation. His films are acclaimed for good reason, beautifully animated and scripted.

    Ponyo is no exception to the rule. Like Tim said, the movie hits some strange and notes within, making you feel like a little kid who got a strange present. Its full of wonder and imagination, with a great amount of heart. I enjoyed every minute of it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good animated film.

    If you haven't seen any Miyazaki, check out "Howl's Moving Castle," "Spirited Away," or "Princess Mononoke." Howl's is easily my favorite, and I consider it his current masterpiece. It's amazing!

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  3. Well, I hate to buck the trend here of loving on this movie, but I guess I just didn't get it. Now before I go any further I want to say that I thought the overall look and feel of the movie was incredible. However, when it came to the story I just got lost.

    There was a little too much in the realm of surreal, and I felt like I was watching some dude babbling about what he saw on a crazy trip. It was a little too long ago to properly remember, but there were some parts of the story that I really liked and some funny moments too. But the look of Ponyo as a "chicken-girl" really put me off.

    I would really like to see some of Miyazaki's other work, and I have heard "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle" are pretty incredible. I will give those a chance when I get around to it, but unfortunately Ponyo didn't get me in any particular hurry.

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  4. Oh I totally get what you are saying Peter. Miyazaki lives in this surreal fantasy world. All of his movies take some major suspension of disbelief. The Japanese have a very active imagination of what is possible, and it can be quite jarring or odd to American audiences. They deal with odd ball characters, in odd ball world. The stories aren't structured the same as what we are used to.

    I liked Ponyo...for what it was. It was fun and odd, and the animation was again beautiful. The story does go in some odd places for sure. I would say see "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," or "Howl's Moving Castle" to really see what Miyazaki is.

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