DVD Reviews

Ponyo (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 2, 2010, 17:10 GMT

Welcome to a world where anything is possible! Academy Award® winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away) and legendary filmmaker John Lasseter together with Disney bring to life a heartwarming and imaginative telling of Hans Christian Andersen s classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid. A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo ...more

Hayao Miyazaki might not be a name known over Walt Disney stateside, but the House of Mouse distributes his marvelous animated films. Both men have much in common as they both had the magic touch and Miyazaki’s latest effort is certainly magical. Respect your father!

Brunhilda is the daughter of Fujimoto (Liam Neeson) and Granmammare (Cate Blanchett). It’s not your typical family as Brunhilda is like a large tadpole with her numerous sisters being smaller versions of tadpoles. Fujimoto is humanoid but is the self-appointed keeper of balance in the ocean and Granmammare is a goddess.

Brunhilda swims too close to a human village and gets caught in a jar that has been dumped into the ocean. She washes ashore, trapped in the jar, and is found by Sosuke (Frankie Jonas). In freeing the stunned creature, he thinks she’s a goldfish, from the jar he cuts his finger and she drinks the blood healing his cut. He names her Ponyo (Noah Cyrus). However, this taste makes Brunhilda want to be a human.

Sosuke’s mother Lisa (Tina Fey) works at a local senior center and his father Koichi (Matt Damon) is a ship captain and prone to going out to sea too often for Lisa’s taste. A trio of grannies (Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White) looks after Sosuke when he’s at the center. Sosuke takes his new “goldfish” along for the ride as Lisa, driving crazily, goes to work at the center and he goes to school.

The concerned Fujimoto trails them from the sea and eventually succeeds in recovering Ponyo and retuning her to his underwater base. She rebels against her father, consumes some of his potions, and begins her transformation into a little girl. She makes her way back to Sosuke but her transformation threatens to put the balance between Earth and ocean out of whack and submerge the village.

This may flavor the following review, but Miyazaki san is a genius. His film Spirited Away was the second animated feature to win a best animated feature Oscar. Miyazaki’s output, via his Studio Ghibli, is definitely influenced by his native Japan, but his features have a universal appeal.

Of late, Disney has taken to redubbing the features with American stars to help us Yanks consume them better. He, like Walt, doesn’t talk down to the kids and treats them as equals but knows what they will be fascinated with. Either way (you’re given the option of both tracks on this Blu-ray), Ponyo is a nautical delight partially based on the “Little Mermaid” fairytale but given that Miyazaki magic touch.

My one-year-old was just as fascinated by all the pretty colors and creatures and actually sat still and watched most of the film. This is an oddity for him (we watched a live action kid’s film beforehand that only mildly held his attention), but he was hooked on Ponyo. Daddy was too. It was definitely the hit of the evening and looked smashing in high definition.

Miyazaki has a fascination with machinery and the oceans are full of ships, Fujimoto has a fantastic submarine and base, and the sea creatures are rendered beautifully. It’s a breathtaking seafood feast for the eyes.

Ponyo is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). You can watch Pony in different ways. First you can watch the movie outright, watch it with a 3 minute introduction, or with picture-in-picture storyboards. Special features are presented in high definition.

The “World of Ghibli – Behind the Studio” contains many making of featurettes (around 40 minutes total) on Ponyo. Of note is a three minute conversation between supergeniuses Miyazaki and Pixar’s John Lasseter. The “World of Ghibli – Enter the Lands” is an interactive map that explores some of the studios other films. Mainly the ones (Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Castle in the Sky) that Disney is rereleasing on DVD to coincide with Ponyo.

The disc is BD-Live enhanced to I hope that updates might happen in the future. Those films are given a preview of the content on those three DVDs (8 minutes worth) so you get the new stuff without having to re-buy those releases as well as previews of other Disney products. Disc two is a DVD copy of the film.

Ponyo is another delightful trip into the mind of Miyazaki. The Blu-ray offers some breathtaking imagery that is sure to fascinate and delight. What’s even more breathtaking is this is still hand drawn animation and it is so sharp that you might not think that. Ponyo is highly recommended for children of all ages.