Ponyo (2008)
"Gake no ue no Ponyo" (original title)

An animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human.

Director:

Hayao Miyazaki

Writer:

Hayao Miyazaki

Stars:

Tomoko Yamaguchi, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon

6 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tomoko Yamaguchi	...	Risa (voice)
Kazushige Nagashima	...	Kôichi (voice)
Yûki Amami	...	Granmamare (voice)
Jôji Tokoro	...	Fujimoto (voice) (as George Tokoro)
Yuria Nara	...	Ponyo (voice)
Hiroki Doi	...	Sôsuke (voice)
Rumi Hiiragi	...	Fujin (voice)
Akiko Yano	...	Ponyo no imôto-tachi (voice)
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Toki (voice)
Tomoko Naraoka	...	Yoshie (voice)
Shin'ichi Hatori	...	The Newscaster (voice)
Tokie Hidari	...	Noriko (voice)
Eimi Hiraoka	...	Kumiko (voice)
Nozomi Ôhashi	...	Karen (voice)
Akihiko Ishizumi	...	(voice)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

sea | moon | love | ocean | sea goddess | 

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Taglines:

Welcome To A World Where Anything Is Possible.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

14 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ponyo

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 3,400,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,585,852 (USA) (14 August 2009)

Gross:

$15,081,783 (USA) (30 October 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV), Dentsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX (as Dolby Digital Surround EX) DTS-ES (6.1 channels) Dolby Digital (English-language version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are many references to Richard Wagner's opera series 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' scattered throughout the film. Ponyo's real name is Brünnhilde, one of the leading roles of Wagner's 'Die Walküre.' Brünnhilde is also a "supernatural," being who falls in love with a human (Siegfried), much like Ponyo falls in love with Sôsuke. When Ponyo is chasing after Sôsuke and his mother during the giant storm scene, you can hear a musical tribute to Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries."

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Goofs

During the storm, when Sosuke, Ponyo and Lisa are preparing noodles, Lisa brings a plate to the table with ham on it after Sosuke and Ponyo have closed their eyes. In the next wide shot, the white plate has vanished.

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Quotes

Ponyo: Ponyo loves Sosuke!

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Connections

Referenced in Special Collector's Edition: La última noche del Titanic (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Gake no ue no Ponyo"
(Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea)
Lyrics by Katsuya Kondô & Hayao Miyazaki
Composed by Joe Hisaishi
Arranged by Joe Hisaishi
Japanese version performed by Takaaki Fujioka (as Fujioka) Naoya Fujimaki (as Fujimaki) & Nozomi Ôhashi
English version performed by Noah Lindsey Cyrus (as Noah Cyrus) & Frankie Jonas
Courtesy of Yamaha Music Communications

User Reviews

Another Classic Miyazaki

Whenever Hayao Miyazaki does the "tri-fecta," (writes, directs, and animates a movie) he makes a classic film for the ages. He has done it again with Gake no ue no Ponyo.

The story is about a girl fish who is kept on a very tight leash along with her younger sisters by her father, a bitter ex-human wizard named Fujimoto. The fish escapes from her father and rides a jellyfish to shore, where she is caught up in a dredging operation and finds herself stuck in a bottle. This underwater sequence must be one of the most elaborately drawn animated scenes ever undertaken and stands on its own as a reason to search out the theatrical release. Miyazaki, who shows no fear of having a busy scene, has outdone himself. There were literally hundreds of individually-drawn sea creatures of every imaginable size all in motion at the same time.

When the fish escapes the dredging operation while still trapped in the bottle, a five-year old boy named Sousuke spots her in the water and is able to break the bottle, saving her. Since she is the result of her father's magic, she is capable of magic herself--and her father actively tries to retrieve her. The boy names the fish Ponyo. Just when Sousuke learns that Ponyo can speak, her father successfully retrieves her back into captivity.

After a war of wills with her father, Ponyo manages to escape again with the ability to change herself into a human. She meets up again with Sousuke in a storm and the story continues from there in many interesting ways. There is a cuteness factor in this film rivaling and arguably surpassing that of Tonari no Totoro. Joe Hisaishi, once again, provided outstanding musical support.

The story itself is simple--as are Miyazaki's films in general--and should appeal to a broad spectrum of viewers. While I haven't viewed it enough to be sure, the film doesn't seem to be one which will keep scholars in long discussions as Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi did. Nonetheless, this is the ultimate feel-good entertainment movie. I gave the movie a ten out of ten rating.