Ponyo – A Treat for Your Inner Child

They say that all of us has an inner child within us that tries to remind us how to enjoy and embrace life. For many of us, this is a neglected child that very seldom gets to see the light of day. Ponyo, the latest animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, writer and director of other epic animated films such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, is the kind of film that awakens this inner child and makes you feel happy to just be alive.

Right from the beginning, the movie begins to capture your imagination with the underwater world of Ponyo, a small fish/mermaid, and the lair of Fujimoto, her human father and keeper. For any of you familiar with Miyazaki’s other films, let me tell you that this one is a bit different and more juvenile, but not in any sense is this a bad thing. Some of his films, such as Spirited Away and How’s Moving Castle, take us into more bizarre worlds with an almost psychedelic undertone, but Ponyo seems to take the bizarre to us. Ponyo, the small fish creature finds her way to the top where she encounters Sosuke, a five-year-old boy who lives with his mother, Risa on the top of a cliff on an island city, while his father Koichi, a ship-captain, is out at sea. The story follows Ponyo’s attempt to become a five-year-old human girl and stay with Sosuke, the little boy that she loves, and his mother. But of course, she first has to free herself from the protection of Fujimoto and a spell that forbids her from being part of the human world.

Like any other of Miyasaki’s films, there is a high level of magic and mysticism involved with the plot; but this movie is much less cynical than his others, making it ideal to take young children to, if you truly need an excuse to go to the movie theater to watch a wonderful animated film.

Animation seems to be a lost art in the United States, having succumbed to the giant beast called CGI. It is an art form that needs to be credited as such and I’m glad that the Japanese continue to produce wonderful masterpieces like this film. Ponyo is one of those films that keeps you watching and curious to find out what comes next no matter what. Why? Because it simply makes your inner child happy.

The full trailer for the US release of the Japanese animation film, now voiced by Matt Damon, Tina Fey, and Cate Blanchett.

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