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Film: Ponyo
Release date: 7th June 2010
Certificate: U
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Jôji Tokoro
Genre: Animation
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Japan
Hayao Miyazaki’s eighth film for Studio Ghibli, and his tenth overall, Ponyo is perhaps his most successful export to the West. Eschewing the now almost ubiquitous CGI, Miyazaki instead concentrates on the (almost lost) art of hand drawn animation and, at 76, shows no sign of slowing down.
Ponyo, a Princess goldfish born from a union of sea wizard Fujimoto and Earth queen Gran Mamare, has one dream – to be human. Escaping to the surface atop a jellyfish, she becomes trapped in a bottle and is rescued by Sōsuke, a 5-year-old boy who lives on the coast with his seafaring father and harassed mother.
Instantly smitten with each other, Ponyo is quickly returned to her father by powerful wave spirits he has summoned. Undeterred, she uses her father’s magic to transform fully into a human and escape once more, unwittingly releasing these powers into the ocean. This magic has a dramatic effect, summoning monstrous prehistoric creatures to swim the waters once more, the moon to move closer to the earth and tsunamis with their resulting floods to swamp the area…
For those of you not familiar with Japanese animation in general or the revered Hayao Miyazaki in particular, Ponyo is the perfect jumping off point. For children brought up on a diet of CG nonsense at the multiplex on a Saturday morning, it is much more. A welcome return to ninety minutes or so of magic, wonder and the experience of being totally immersed - it provides for kids what a little studio called Disney used to churn out on a regular basis.
That’s not altogether fair. Disney turned a corner some time ago, emboldened somewhat by the success of Pixar, which it purchased in 2006. And perhaps the biggest recommendation for Miyazaki virgins is that John Lasseter, long time Pixar head honcho and now Chief Creative Officer for both them and Disney animation studios as a whole, is the man who personally oversees Studio Ghibli’s output for a Western audience, attracting top drawer voice talent for the English dubs.
Ponyo is, point of fact, the most accessible of Ghibli’s films, but it still appears a strange tale on paper. A magical fish who turns into a girl; mysterious, humungous sea creatures reappearing in the oceans; sea wizards and Earth queens commanding tidal magic and potions, waves, floods...oh, and an old peoples’ home does not sound like a promising mix. But the scope and wonder of the animation is more than matched by the imagination. Supporting characters are given more depth and snappy dialogue than in many a mainstream, adult release (a crotchety resident of the old peoples’ home springs to mind), there’s a real sense of danger with the boiling ocean racing toward and attacking the island (more than a little prescient, unfortunately, given recent events in Japan) and Sōsuke has his toy boat turned life size by the ever wondrous Ponyo. In fact, should you mention the film to any boy child, mention that fact and miss out the phrase “princess goldfish” and you’ll have ‘em hooked. But it’s not only the young who can become lost in this world. The depth of the animation is simply breathtaking, and far more impressive than simply wondering at how long it must have taken. Everything is either hand drawn (most of the backgrounds) or painted with a real cinematic depth. The coastal town depicted is in fact real and little ones may demand a weekend trip to Tomonoura should you let this slip.
The real reason Ponyo works so well is that it follows classic, storytelling structure that’s far older than celluloid. The journey of Sōsuke, through danger, abandonment and adventure, results in redemption after a tricky moral dilemma is dealt with. True love wins in the end. It’s all terribly clichéd, but plays so well precisely because of this. Miyazaki has said that he drew inspiration from The Little Mermaid, citing the original Hans Christian Anderson tale in particular and the eponymous Disney cartoon as a staring motivation to begin work on Ponyo. Some have described this and his other features as Disney on acid and you can see where they’re coming from, even if comments like this completely miss the point. One only has to look at Spirited Away, an earlier feature that has, amongst other things, the parents of our child hero transform into gluttonous pigs at the beginning. Miyazaki might be a little leftfield, but his tales are as old as, well, the sea.
Beautiful, charming and ever-so-quirky, this should be a must have on the shelves of any self-respecting, movie watching family. And if you don’t have kids, either borrow one or two to share the magic with you, or simply borrow their copy and watch it anyway. JMB
Film: My Neighbour Totoro
Release date: 27th March 2006
Certificate: U
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto, Tanie Kitabayashi
Genre: Anime
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
For anyone who has seen a Studio Ghibli film, they will have inadvertently viewed the title character, as it now forms part of the Japanese animators' logo. Released, in 1988, as the studio's first purposely made family film, My Neighbour Totoro details the lives of a family adapting to their new life in the countryside, and earned Hayao Miyazaki his third prestigious Anime Grand Prix; his second with his fledgling company.
Tatsuo Kusakabe, a university lecturer, arrives with his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, at an abandoned house in rural Japan. The three begin to clean this rustic domain in hope and preparation for the return of their mother from hospital - she is suffering from an unnamed yet seemingly serious long-term illness.
As the girls explore their new habitat, they stumble across susuwatari, or "soot spirits", little black spherical soot balls with tiny eyes, which disappear into nooks and crannies upon contact with light. The children, intrigued yet also confused, inform their father of their discovery, and he explains what they are, and announces that laughter and feeling comfortable in their new home will cause these spirits to fly away and find a new home. While taking a bath the three begin to laugh raucously, their warming sounds causing the sprites to vacate the occupied household.
While Satsuki is at school one day, Mei, the significantly younger of the two siblings, is parading around outside when she spies two creatures walking through their garden, mysteriously fading in and out of visibility. Following the footsteps of the overgrown rabbit-like entities, they lead through the undergrowth of the bordering forest to the base of a humungous camphor tree. Falling in between the roots, she stumbles into a mysterious enclosure where lay asleep an even larger version of the two coney creatures. Upon wakening, he announces himself with a succession of yawns and roars as being known as Totoro.
After returning to recount the happenings to a highly jealous sister and attentive father, the professor explains that Totoro is likely to be the keeper and spiritual embodiment of the forest. Satsuki looks forward to meeting the forest troll herself, and informs her mother when she is released from hospital, but a setback in her recovery means the children and their new neighbourly friends must help one another, as well as teach each other new things to ensure a happy ending…
After creating his environmental epic with Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind and the fantasy adventure of Laputa: Castle In The Sky, both garnering numerous awards and critical acclaim, Hayao Miyazaki wished to put his mind towards creating something more family orientated, particularly for the very young. As a result, My Neighbour Totoro is a lilting, dream-like and innocent film that eschews traditional plot and focuses on being as accurate a description of family life as possible. There are no overtly dramatic sequences and no secret quests the children must embark on. The day to day situations resemble real life as much as possible, where each event seems to spawn naturally as a consequence of daily life than a means of creating fantastically lavish sequences.
The way each member of the family behaves is symptomatic of their respective ages and ability to appreciate the circumstances that are around them. Tatsuo does his best to balance his work life, two young children, and an ill wife in hospital several miles down the road - the only transport to which is via bus or bicycle. Mei, the younger 4-year-old daughter, is naïve to the situation of her mother, unable to truly appreciate the severity of her illness. Yet, her age makes her the most likely candidate to be the first person to meet Totoro, and her innocence is representative of the target audience Miyazaki wishes to pitch the film at. Satsuki, being older than Mei by several years, understands the principles of life and death, and is affected more so than her sister by her mother's continued hospitalisation. She gets frustrated with her younger sister not being able to fully understand the situation, especially when Mei wanders off to find a way to the hospital, believing that the freshly grown produce of the nearby farms will cure their mother of her ailment.
My Neighbour Totoro is a realistic appraisal of life and as a result can be quite sombre at times. There are no ludicrously comedic characters to lighten the mood, and in such a slow paced film, this is a daring gamble. However, this only serves to enhance the film's precious nature. Its humour spawns from the interaction between the girls and the forest spirits, or from the young boy, Kanta, who lives near them. Yet, this simplicity with which the film is told, and the honesty that courses through the very fabric of these individuals' lives, makes its viewing a more rewarding experience. Kanta is a grubby boy who is looked after by his grandmother and finds himself undertaking a vast array of chores. He is a clumsy character whose initial social awkwardness around Satsuki often leads to much mirth and hilarity, yet when in a thunderstorm, he lends the girls his umbrella to save them from being drenched, and the sentiment proves immensely touching.
Of course, the fantasy elements are where the film is allowed to flourish into Miyazaki's creative best, and the warm cuddliness of Totoro and his spritely companions are nothing short of iconic. Animated with all the attention to perfection one comes to expect from Studio Ghibli, the art direction undertaken for the first time by Kazuo Oga is full of vibrancy, detail, and a unique stylisation that was set to become the template for all future Ghibli works. The vitality that vibrates through the spirits, in particular the introduction of the zany and Cheshire cat-like Catbus is symptomatic of a film that hinges its existence on imagination, and encourages us to remember that sometimes that is all you need to enjoy life.
Accompanying Miyazaki's imagery, as usual, is the score by Joe Hisashi, a permanent fixture on every single Ghibli production, with an amicable and pure musical creation that is as understated and winsome as its visual counterpart.
In an animated world populated by a factory-styled production line that churns out remarkably similar stories with an ever changing array of wildlife, Totoro's simplistic enchantment is a beacon of what can be achieved without resorting to loud, flashy, hollow characters to attract children's attentions.
My Neighbour Totoro is a deeply warming adventure that can accurately be described as 'family-orientated'. Its charming honesty and delicate tale of two young girls' lives is a moving treat no child should go without seeing, no matter how old they are. BL
Film: Spirited Away
Release date: 29th March 2004
Certificate: PG
Running time: 116 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Rumi Hîragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi
Genre: Anime
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Studio Ghibli is a name to be reckoned with in animation. Their back catalogue is sizeable, from 1984 up until the present day it numbers seventeen films without including shorts and museum releases. The Japanese animation studio has attained a high standard of excellence and awards throughout its productions - Spirited Away is no exception. It is a film that reveals at its heart a message that love can be stronger than magic.
Chihiro is a 10-year-old girl, moving to a new home with her parents, looking sadly on a bunch of flowers given to her by the friends she is leaving. On their journey, they encounter a long tunnel, at the end of which is a mysterious town. As events unfold, the mysterious town is not all that it seems. Whilst looking around, her parents are turned into pigs after gorging themselves on the available food which has appeared despite Chihiro’s warnings.
Her situation finds her alone in the town, trapped in a spirit world with darkness approaching. A young boy Haku comes to her aid, sneaking her into the large bathhouse for spirits and gods, telling her that if she is willing to make herself useful the witch Yubaba will have to tolerate her. He takes her down to the furnaces to the six armed Kijami to work. As Chihiro goes on to explore upstairs, following a young woman she is curious about, she finds work on the upper levels preparing the baths for the customers.
During this employment, where Yubaba works her staff hard through the night, Chihiro, with Haku’s help, must somehow work out where her parents are, and how to turn them back from the pigs they have become - a somewhat notable aside from Miyazaki on capitalism.
Magic and intrigue conspire to make sure that Chihiro is always tested. In a world she is unfamiliar with, Chihiro’s core values are on trial…
Ghibli’s animation is always breathtaking, and this is no exception. The clear, identifiable style of the animation studio means that the viewer is able to tell its pedigree from the outset. To top it off, it is written and directed by Miyazaki after his pseudo retirement.
The impending sense of loneliness, which comes from a little girl alone and forced to try and survive, is filled with the sort of tenderness and stillness not often found in animation. One particularly notable scene comes from the coal creatures and Kijami. An exhausted Chihiro comes to sleep in the boiler room, where she feels comfortable, deep in the furnaces of Yubaba’s bathhouse. The six armed Kijami, in a moment of kindness, place a blanket over her, and the coal creatures remove her shoes to make her more comfortable. Even though this is such a short moment in the film, it encapsulates so much of the tenderness that the audience feels toward the character. Chihiro is in a strange land and is now having to work to stay safe. The need to feel the soothing sense of familiarity - however odd - is clearly pertinent for her.
An underlying message becomes clear as the film progresses - like many of the Ghibli films, and is encapsulated by the state of the land Yubaba inhabits. Miyazaki seems to be making a comment on pollution and the global warming occurring in the world. The customer at the bathhouse, which turns out to be a river spirit - not the stink demon they had envisaged - has become so laden with filth and garbage from river pollution that he has become unrecognisable. The cleansing process of Chihiro, removing the thorn stuck in his side, becomes somewhat illustrative of the pain and peril of the natural resources of the earth. This is shown again with the water overlapping onto the train track which leaves the bathhouse. It is inferred that much has been submerged; the train no longer comes back.
Even though there is the ability to read into the narrative issues of environmental destruction, at its heart, the film is a touching tale of a little girl trying to survive in an unfamiliar world, and finding that kindness, love and truth are universally held in high esteem. The innocence of Chihiro and the goodness and compassion which she tries to uphold sees the character able to deal with everything the spirit world throws at her.
The animation is stunning, and the visual landscape created is absolutely wondrous. For an audience who are used to animated films saturating the market with 3D and other trends, Spirited Away provides a burst of freshness. The film has so many things happening at once that it keeps the audience fully engaged in the world it has created. From thunderously large babies who must be appeased, faceless spirits and dangerous paper birds, Spirited Away is one of the most creative pieces of animation around, and richly deserving of the many awards it has acquired.
Ghibli have provided what is arguably one of their best films to date. This is a classic which seems to force Pixar and Disney’s fare to take a step back. It’s a great movie to introduce newcomers to the world of Ghibli, and an absolute essential in any film collection. DHA
Film: Princess Mononoke
Release date: 27th March 2006
Certificate: PG
Running time: 133 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura
Genre: Anime
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
During the release of Princess Mononoke, it is very likely that a lot of cinema fans would not have heard of Studio Ghibli and their tremendous output into the world of animation. That all changed with the release of Spirited Away, which brought acclaim and audiences tired of the usual Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks fare. The Oscar buzz that came totting along with the infamous Spirited Away assured Studio Ghibli’s recognition, but this was a few years too late.
Princess Mononoke begins in a small quiet village that is home to our protagonist, Ashitaka. When this cosy environment is threatened by a beast, a giant hog with a bad case of the worms, Ashitaka is called upon by the village elders to traipse into the surrounding forests and discover, and hopefully solve, the reason for this wild attack. Naturally, he does, but, in the process, a plethora of other threats are raised as our allegiances are thrown back and forth between the colonising humans and the forest creatures that are under attack from the tree cutting ventures of the humans. Of course, violence is greeted with violence, and the age old battle of man vs. nature commences.
During his mix up between the humans of Iron town, and the animal packs of the forest, Ashitaka meets our leading lady, Princess Mononoke. They form a complicated friendship that is initially rooted in mistrust, but Ashitaka is eventually invited into the clan of the wolves that Mononoke is a part of, and therefore becomes the man stuck between the two warring worlds…
Princess Mononoke came a few years before Spirited Away, and was set to become Miyazaki’s swansong, the film that would effectively signal his goodbye to directing as he planned to quietly fall into retirement. As we all know this didn’t happen, with the follow-ups of Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo filling our imaginations with yet more enchanting characters and worlds. Maybe it is because of the fact that Princess Mononoke was going to be his final film that it is imbued with everything that makes Studio Ghibli so magical and inspiring. From the vibrant animation to the twisting plot and the epic musical score, everything manages to fall into place to create a truly awe-inspiring fantasy that still manages to ground itself within reality and modern day issues.
The film’s true strength lies in its narrative and plotting. At 134 minutes, it is one of the longest-running animations ever made, yet it still manages to hold the viewer’s attention throughout as everything unfurls.
The quality of the animation is top-notch, filling the world with luscious fields, eye catching characters and mind searing action set pieces. This is no surprise, as allegedly Miyazaki drew 80,000 of the 144,000 stills. It must be said that the animation does not match the sheer beauty of more recent titles such as Ponyo, but it stills showcases a stepping stone in the world of hand drawn animation.
Switching to the voice acting, many Ghibli films are viewed in the English dub, and things are somewhat lost in this American translation, but it still makes for a highly entertaining film, with the translated script being penned by famous fantasy scribe, Neil Gaiman. Of course, Princess Mononoke should be viewed with its original Japanese casting.
Outside of the narrative and the voice acting, the score is the third factor that propels this film from being just a children’s animation into a fantasy epic, rounding everything off wonderfully as the music brims with emotion.
Princess Mononoke stands toe to toe with more famous Ghibli productions, such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. As exciting and entertaining as the rest of the studio’s back catalogue. JCH
Film: Howl’s Moving Castle
Release date: 1st January 2007
Certificate: U
Running time: 120 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Tatsuya Gashûin, Akihiro Miwa, Ryûnosuke Kamiki
Genre: Anime
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Environmentalism, war and peace, pride and corruption, coming of age and redemption – it can only be a fairytale from acclaimed Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki and his animation studio powerhouse Studio Ghibli.
Sophie Hatter (Chieko Baisho) leads an unremarkable and tedious life – a hatter by trade (as well as by name), she spends day after day making piles of fashionable headwear to keep her late father’s business going.
One day, she is rescued from the advances of two soldiers by the mysterious wizard Howl (Takuya Kimura), and is unwittingly caught up in the handsome young wizard’s affairs, as they both escape the minions of the sinister Witch of the Waste (Akihiro Miwa), who is determined to gain Howl’s power for her own.
The Witch pays Sophie a visit at her shop and puts a curse on her – Sophie ages drastically in moments and is unable to tell anyone what has been done to her. So, scared and confused, she flees her home town and ventures forth into the wilderness, finding her way into Howl’s castle – in reality a bizarre walking pile of assorted architecture, landscape features and junk made sentient by a fire demon named Calcifer (Tatsuya Gashûin).
Sophie employs herself as housekeeper, and proceeds to tidy the castle, which has been left in a sorry state by Howl, his young assistant Markl (Ryûnosuke Kamiki) and Calcifer. Howl himself returns home but regularly disappears again without explanation, leaving Sophie and Markl to their own devices. Howl is, in fact, observing a viscous war that has suddenly broken out, and though extremely powerful with his magic powers, is reluctant to join without something concrete to fight for. The fire demon Calcifer has his own plans, too, as he offers to help Sophie escape her curse if she, in turn, will find a way to free him from Howl’s service…
The great thing about Howl’s Moving Castle is that we are given the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of every single frame of animation. Because of the relatively slow pace of the film, we can really take in the quality of every frame of animation – we are given time to simply look when too often in modern cinema are we thrown in at the deep end, and left simply disorientated. The animation moves from stunningly rendered dreamy landscapes to the strikingly weird and captivating movements of the castle itself, and the nightmarishly apocalyptic battlefield panoramas.
Sophie is an extremely likeable heroine. You really feel for what has been done to her, and Chieko Baisho’s ability to portray the character in both her young and old forms is a true testament to her skill as a voice actress.
Howl is far less engaging (at least, at first) – he appears arrogant, selfish and cowardly, and even his boyish charm can’t endear him to you. However, once his back-story is fleshed out, you do feel pity for him. The villains, quite typically for a Miyazaki film, aren’t really very evil, rather they have lost their way and are in need of redemption. The real battle, for all the characters, is within themselves.
Miyazaki’s regular collaborator, Joe Hisaishi scores the film, and the soundtrack is simple yet effective. It is quite staggering how Hisaishi can bring a tear to your eye with a couple of well placed notes. The score sounds a lot like a lullaby, and whilst it may have the power to send young children to sleep, it stirs entirely other emotions in adults – it causes you to reminisce, to remember happier times when the world was so much simpler.
About three quarters of Howl’s Moving Castle is quite simply flawless. The last half hour or so, however, disappoints slightly – losing some of the overall magic. The story, while never completely watertight, is entertaining for most of the film, but drifts into nonsensical in the last act, and the final revelations about Howl’s past are a little underwhelming. The film as a whole is also slightly too long.
True, certain aspects of the plot are also never explained, as we are seemingly meant to take it on face value that Howl transforms into a bird-creature every now and then, but if you embrace the madness, Howl’s Moving Castle is a truly special experience. SSP
Film: Ponyo
Release date: 7th June 2010
Certificate: U
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Jôji Tokoro
Genre: Anime
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Japan
Studio Ghibli has made an international name for itself, and Director Miyazaki in particular, as one of the world's finest animation houses, rivalling Disney in animation and Pixar in storytelling. Ponyo, or more accurately Ponyo on the cliff by the sea, is Miyazaki's latest offering, and tempts with his hallmark love of fantasy and wonder.
Ponyo is the story of The Little Mermaid, Japanese style. Ponyo is a fish along with many sisters. Her father is the wizard Fujimoto, and her mother Granmamare is a Goddess. Ponyo has a desire to see the world and escapes from her Father one day while he travels in his submarine. When she reaches the surface, Ponyo is caught up in a garbage trawler and saved by Sosuke, the boy from the cliff. Ponyo falls in love with Sosuke.
Fujimoto sends waves to save Ponyo from the humans, and eventually gets her back. But Ponyo has tasted the blood of a human, and this gives her the power to become human also. She escapes from Fujimoto again and steals his magic, upsetting his potions in the process and spilling them into the sea. Ponyo, now fully human, uses the power of the sea to reunite her with Sosuke.
But there is now an imbalance in the world which will destroy it. Sosuke and Ponyo wake to find the world underwater. Ponyo uses her magic to turn Sosuke's toy boat into a little steamer and they journey to find Sosuke's mother. As they travel, Ponyo's magic runs out and she returns to being a fish. Sosuke saves her again, and they find his mother, Granmamare and Fujimoto together under the water. The only way to save the world is for Sosuke to fall in love with Ponyo…
As always with Studio Ghibli, the animation is unbelievably beautiful in ways that Disney and Pixar will never equal, for differing reasons. Pixar, for all its clever technology, will never produce animation with this much heart and soul, and Disney simply don’t have the imagination. If nothing else, Ponyo proves beyond all doubt that hand drawn 2D animation can be as good as anything done on a computer in however many dimensions you care to mention. Of particular note is the mid-film set piece. A simple in concept, yet truly spectacular scene as Ponyo rides her brothers and sisters, now transformed into giant fish, over the sea and up onto the cliff, as Sosuke's mother drives perilously fast around hairpin bends to escape the onrushing flood. It's a staggering achievement that ranks as some of the best high energy animation in any animated film, ever.
However, there is more to a film than just animation. We expect nothing less than perfection from Studio Ghibli. But does the film stand up to its previous offerings? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Make no mistake, this is a film with enough heart to capture even the hardest cynic, but flaws do exist in the film, and they lie with the storytelling. When we first meet Fujimoto, he is a wizard who desires to wipe out humanity and return extinct animals to the sea - a character trait that is never mentioned again. While this is a mere niggle to an adult, and won't even be noticed by the majority of children watching the film, it does point to the fact that the plot is not as watertight as it ought to be. Another little niggle involves Sosuke's father, who out at sea finds hundreds of ships all thrown together in a beautifully animated scene, but one that goes nowhere. It's unfortunate, but it is just shabby storytelling. There's no excuse for a script that introduces plot elements only to subsequently ignore them completely.
As well as losing entire strands of character and story development, the script also neglects to adequately frame the story that is seen. The viewer is never entirely sure of the nature of the oncoming catastrophe. Is it down to Fujimotos magic elixirs spilling into the ocean? The logical reason that the animation supports, or is it because a fish has become a human? Something the script suggests, but without rhyme or reason.
Despite these niggles, Ponyo succeeds because it's a heart rather than a head film. The narrative may be of variable quality, but the characterisation is perfect. Sosuke and Ponyo will capture even the hardest of hearts. Both characters are adorable and beautifully brought to life. Sosuke's mother Lisa is grounded in the real world of elderly care but equally well created. Children will probably want to watch with the English dub, and this too is excellent, with actors like Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Liam Neeson on board, all doing excellent jobs.
Ponyo is an outstanding feat of animation, let down somewhat by a less than perfect script. But these problems are not fatal flaws and there is much to enjoy. A feast for the senses that everyone should love. PE
