A five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.A five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.A five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.
- Awards
- 12 wins & 20 nominations
Cate Blanchett
- Gran Mamare
- (English version)
- (voice)
Matt Damon
- Kôichi
- (English version)
- (voice)
Liam Neeson
- Fujimoto
- (English version)
- (voice)
Tomoko Yamaguchi
- Risa
- (voice)
Kazushige Nagashima
- Kôichi
- (voice)
Yûki Amami
- Granmamare
- (voice)
George Tokoro
- Fujimoto
- (voice)
Yuria Nara
- Ponyo
- (voice)
Hiroki Doi
- Sôsuke
- (voice)
Rumi Hiiragi
- Fujin
- (voice)
Kazuko Yoshiyuki
- Toki
- (voice)
Tomoko Naraoka
- Yoshie
- (voice)
Tokie Hidari
- Kayo
- (voice)
Eimi Hiraoka
- Kumiko
- (voice)
Nozomi Ohashi
- Karen
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe opening twelve seconds, involving vast schools of fish and undersea creatures, required 1,613 pages of conceptual sketches to develop.
- GoofsIn the English dubbed version, when Ponyo and Sosuke come across the Devonian-era fish while riding in the toy boat, Ponyo incorrectly calls one of them a Bothriocephalus. The correct name for that specific fish is Bothriolepis. Bothriocephalus is actually the name of a genus of tapeworm.
- Alternate versionsThe Japanese theatrical release had the Toho logo at the start of the movie (Toho was the distributor for this release). The U.S. theatrical release removes the Toho logo and replaces it with the 2006 Disney logo, followed by the Studio Ghibli logo. All other international theatrical versions have the film simply beginning with the Studio Ghibli logo.
- ConnectionsEdited into Miyazaki Dreams of Flying (2017)
- SoundtracksGake 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 Ohashi
English version performed by Noah Cyrus (as Noah Cyrus) & Frankie Jonas
Courtesy of Yamaha Music Communications
Featured review
Hayao Miyazaki's magic continues with this absolute crowd pleaser Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, his latest animated film, which turns on the usual sweetness to charm your socks off. I thought that the trailer featured its song which was quietly hypnotic, and I didn't have to wait for an invite to make sure I got my ticket for the sneak preview of the movie, scheduled to open here next week.
For fans of Studio Ghibli films, you'll probably know what you're in for, as Miyazaki has yet another winner in his filmography, that will win new fans over. I'm embarrassed to say the least that I've so far watched only My Neighbour Totoro (eyes that pile of Ghibli DVDs) and love it to bits, but I guess this would serve as a final push for me not to continue missing what would likely be animated films that I would enjoy.
Ponyo (voiced by Nara Yuria) is a magic goldfish that yearns to know what is life beyond the sea, with her constant forays in a bubble to the surface of the water to sneak a peek. Nonetheless these ambitions do not bode well with her humanoid dad Fujimoto (Tokoro Joji), who harbours some hatred toward the human race for pollution, and briefly touching a subplot on environmental protection / revenge by Mother Nature as well. An accident one day sees Ponyo being washed ashore, and picked up by five year old boy Sosuke (Doi Hiroki) who lives on a house on the said cliff with his mother Lisa (Yamaguchi Tomoko), while dad Koichi (Nagashima Kazushige) is mostly out to sea since he's a sailor. And you can expect some moments of throwback to the likes of The Little Mermaid, or Splash made for kids. Saying anything more would be to spoil the fun.
The artwork here is still simply astounding even though it's in 2D glory, knowing that each cell is painstakingly worked on. There are so many things going on at the same time within the same frame, that you'll probably be game for repeated viewings just to spot them all. This definitely beats any 3D or CG animated production any day given its beauty coming from its simplicity, and not only from the artwork department, but on its story too, despite complaints coming in that it took a leaf from the Hans Christian Andersen classic. While there are avenues to make this film extremely dark, it only suggested certain dark themes, but opted instead for a film with more positive emotions, suitable for both kids and adults alike.
At its core, its about love, that between the family members of Koichi, Lisa and Sosuke, and especially between mother and son. More so, it's about the love between the boy and his new pet fish which he christened Ponyo, and I tell you Ponyo herself has enough cuteness in her to beat the likes of Bolt, WallE and Eve all hands down. Characterization here is top notch, and it's hard not to fall in love with Ponyo, in whichever form adopted, especially when she's such a playful being who doesn't hide her emotions - if she's upset with you, either she turns away or you could expect a jet stream come spewing from her mouth into your face!
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is a definite shoo-in to my top films of this year without hesitation. And the next time I go to Tokyo, I'm sure as hell going to make my way to the Ghibli Museum to bask under the magical world brought to us by Hayao Miyazaki. Highly recommended film, so don't you go missing this on the big screen!
For fans of Studio Ghibli films, you'll probably know what you're in for, as Miyazaki has yet another winner in his filmography, that will win new fans over. I'm embarrassed to say the least that I've so far watched only My Neighbour Totoro (eyes that pile of Ghibli DVDs) and love it to bits, but I guess this would serve as a final push for me not to continue missing what would likely be animated films that I would enjoy.
Ponyo (voiced by Nara Yuria) is a magic goldfish that yearns to know what is life beyond the sea, with her constant forays in a bubble to the surface of the water to sneak a peek. Nonetheless these ambitions do not bode well with her humanoid dad Fujimoto (Tokoro Joji), who harbours some hatred toward the human race for pollution, and briefly touching a subplot on environmental protection / revenge by Mother Nature as well. An accident one day sees Ponyo being washed ashore, and picked up by five year old boy Sosuke (Doi Hiroki) who lives on a house on the said cliff with his mother Lisa (Yamaguchi Tomoko), while dad Koichi (Nagashima Kazushige) is mostly out to sea since he's a sailor. And you can expect some moments of throwback to the likes of The Little Mermaid, or Splash made for kids. Saying anything more would be to spoil the fun.
The artwork here is still simply astounding even though it's in 2D glory, knowing that each cell is painstakingly worked on. There are so many things going on at the same time within the same frame, that you'll probably be game for repeated viewings just to spot them all. This definitely beats any 3D or CG animated production any day given its beauty coming from its simplicity, and not only from the artwork department, but on its story too, despite complaints coming in that it took a leaf from the Hans Christian Andersen classic. While there are avenues to make this film extremely dark, it only suggested certain dark themes, but opted instead for a film with more positive emotions, suitable for both kids and adults alike.
At its core, its about love, that between the family members of Koichi, Lisa and Sosuke, and especially between mother and son. More so, it's about the love between the boy and his new pet fish which he christened Ponyo, and I tell you Ponyo herself has enough cuteness in her to beat the likes of Bolt, WallE and Eve all hands down. Characterization here is top notch, and it's hard not to fall in love with Ponyo, in whichever form adopted, especially when she's such a playful being who doesn't hide her emotions - if she's upset with you, either she turns away or you could expect a jet stream come spewing from her mouth into your face!
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is a definite shoo-in to my top films of this year without hesitation. And the next time I go to Tokyo, I'm sure as hell going to make my way to the Ghibli Museum to bask under the magical world brought to us by Hayao Miyazaki. Highly recommended film, so don't you go missing this on the big screen!
- DICK STEEL
- Dec 24, 2008
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Cô Bé Người Cá Ponyo
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $34,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,543,471
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,585,852
- Aug 16, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $205,912,217
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content