PONYO

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Starring Fantastically Descriptive Masterworks of Animation

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Well it’s not My Neighbour Totoro. And it’s certainly not Princess Mononoke. Studio Ghibli Films largely jump with a swath of bold colours into one of two categories; the epic, twisting, mind boggling genius of Miyazaki’s slightly more grown up works, coming of age fables carried aloft by an ancient mind fizzing on poppers and traditional woodcuts, and his simpler fare, his ones for the tots with their singing trees and buses made of cats. Ponyo swims neatly into the second group, a children’s picture book come to life in a standard tale of friendship, toy boats and A SEA WITH EYES THAT COMES ALIVE AND TRIES TO EAT YOUR MOTHER. It’s as deep as the ankle-high water that Saosuke spends much of his time splashing about in, but the usual Ghibli morphine drip of endless charm and mind-tapping flourishes of formless absurdity is still sat next to the bed, pumping away in a stream of incomparable animation. The sentences don’t get any longer than the one I just wrote and the usual flair for understatement and silence is adhered to, along with the myriad pleasures of everyday actions expertly animated. A film studio has never found so much quiet wonder in food and ripple effects, whilst the voice acting is unusually good for a Japanese translation, with the exception of Liam Neeson, the flame-haired king of the sea with an Irish Burr. Ireland has a sea. So what’s the problem?
Like the Princess and the Frog it’s not up there with the Studio’s A-List, but it’ll do until Miyazaki bows to the death threats and single-handedly adapts The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.