Ponyo Review: There's Something Fishy Going On Here OntheBox (blog)
Inspired by the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale, The Little Mermaid, Ponyo is a spirited goldfish who longs to leave the undersea Kingdom ruled by her father – the rather David Bowie-esque and androgynous Fujimoto (Liam Neeson) – and become human.
She befriends a small boy, Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), who adopts her first as a pet. But Ponyo starts to change rapidly when she drinks a drop of his blood and rapidly becomes a human child. When the balance of nature is disturbed and the small coastal town is threatened with destruction, Sosuke and Ponyo must team up to prevent a tragedy.
Miyazaki is nothing if not inventive and the undersea kingdom really gives him an opportunity to cut loose – it’s populated by bizarre, haunting, fantastical creatures; a million miles away from the safe fish-with-faces of Disney’s .
Ponyo herself is a strange creature – a goldfish that sprouts a human face, then two chicken feet and eventually full human features – it’s something just this side frightening; enough to keep adults and children enthralled. Scenes in which a human Ponyo is seen running along a gigantic wave (itself made up of smaller waves that all look like fish – complete with eyes) are absolutely magnificent.
There’s a familiar environmental message as you’d expect from Miyazaki – a personification of the spirit of the sea being mistreated by pollution and overfishing – captured in a great scene where Ponyo gets stuck in a trawler net with thousands of other fish.
If anything, this could have done with more development. Sosuke is challenged to save the world and ten minutes later he’s done it; a more in depth quest would have been more rewarding. Still, it’s aimed squarely at children and for them it’s perfect – an imaginative, original and above all different animated experience.