Ponyo

Theatrical Release Date: 2009 08 14 (USA)

UPC: 786936791754

Studio: Walt Disney

MPAA Rating: G   Contains:null

Summary: Acclaimed anime master Hayao Miyazaki returns for his ninth animated feature with Ponyo, which deals with a friendship between a five-year-old boy and a goldfish princess who yearns to be human. The daughter of the king of the ocean, Ponyo is no ordinary goldfish -- she has all the magic of the sea at her disposal. But when five-year-old Sosuke befriends the spunky little fish near the seaside home he shares with his mother and father, a special connection sparks between the two children, and Ponyo becomes determined to become human. Transforming into a little girl, Ponyo shows up at Sosuke's doorstep, delighted to make herself at home with her new land-dwelling family. But having a magical fish princess walking around on dry land begins setting the mystical balance of the world off kilter, and even though the innocent love Ponyo feels for her dear friend is strong, it will take some help from the greatest powers in the ocean to make things right again. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Category: Fantasy

Awards: Film Presented – Los Angeles Film Festival Film Presented – Venice International Film Festival

Features: The world of Ghibli- visit Ponyo in this extraordinary interactive experience: Enter the Lands- meet the characters and hear the story of the movie, Behind the Studio- discover the film's inspiration through documentaries, including all-new interviews with Hayao Miyazaki
Meet Ponyo- introduction by the producers
Storyboard presentation of the movie

Ponyo

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/02/2010

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 103 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Ponyo (Feature)
1. Prelude / Ocean Wonderland
2. The Beginning / Main Title
3. Ponyo Gets Caught
4. Late For School
5. Ponyo Speaks!
6. Return to the Sea
7. Transformation
8. Ponyo's Typhoon
9. Almost Home
10. It's Ham!
11. The Moon's Gravity
12. Lady of the Sea
13. Water At Our Door
14. A Magical Ship
15. From Sea to Land
16. Where Is Mom?
17. Underwater Paradise
18. Sosuke's Test
19. Balance Restored
20. End Credits

Cammila Collar

Hayao Miyazaki has an unmistakable vision when it comes to making movies. Unlike anything else in the realm of animated film -- including the fantastically innovative examples from Pixar -- his films are crazy, visceral, epic fairy tales about the burden of growing up and taking responsibility for your world. Some of his more complex works tackle even bigger themes, about humanity's ambivalence between beauty and destruction (especially in works like Princess Mononoke and Nausica� of the Valley of the Wind). But Miyazaki has also shown an aptitude for telling a different kind of story: tales that manifest in sweet, delightful, nearly conflict-free fables centering on small children, and usually cinematically narrated with the purity of a child's perception. He's hinted at this in many of his past efforts, but he hasn't constructed an entire movie this way since 1988's My Neighbor Totoro. That is, until 2009's Ponyo.

A new, very different take on the premise of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, Ponyo is about a precocious little fish named Br�nnhilde, whose father just happens to be the flamboyant and sinewy king of the sea. Determined to reach the surface and explore new places, the aquatic princess makes a break for it, and happens to meet a five-year-old boy named Sosuke, who lives in a house overlooking the ocean in a tiny fishing village with his mother, Lisa, and his father, a fisherman who is often away. After rescuing his tiny friend from being stuck inside a discarded glass jar, Sosuke makes a strange, instant connection with the little goldfish, whom he names Ponyo. Ponyo's oddly human face soon shows that she loves her new best friend as well, but of course, her father cannot allow a magical princess fish to straddle the worlds of sea and land -- it upsets the mystical balance of the world, and begins to interfere with the tides and the moon. But the innocent love between Ponyo and Sosuke is too profound to restrain her, and she wills herself to transform into human form, first springing funny little feet that make her look like a chicken, and soon changing all the way into an adorable five-year-old girl, with hair the same red color that her iridescent scales used to be.

A splendid, gentle adventure follows, as Ponyo's mother, a huge, ethereal sea goddess, weighs in on the issue to state that if the pure love of the two children is as strong as it seems, then Ponyo can be permanently granted a human form, thus restoring the earth's balance. The adorable children thenceforth engage in extremely brave, always cute antics, as they face the floods wrought by the sea storm that brought Ponyo to land in the first place. All along the way in this delightful fable, Miyazaki shows his incredible aptitude for understanding how children talk, move, and most importantly, think. That he's able to so deftly narrate in child-mind is so touching, it would almost be poignant -- if it weren't so resiliently uplifting and sweet. The movie also shows the usual Miyazaki brand of worldly divination. Everything in the story's environment shows the magical spark of life; even the ocean's waves are capable of opening a squinty eye to reveal their intent. For American audiences -- even those that aren't familiar with Miyazaki's style -- it's a movie with all the heart of Pixar's best and a giant dose of its own unique, rapturous charm, making it timeless enough for children and grown-ups alike. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Kathleen Kennedy  Executive Producer 
Frank Marshall  Executive Producer 
Melissa Mathison  Screenwriter 
Hayao Miyazaki  Director 
Hayao Miyazaki  Screenwriter 
John Lasseter  Executive Producer 
Joe Hisaishi  Composer (Music Score) 
Toshio Suzuki  Producer 
Koji Hoshino  Executive Producer 
Noah Cyrus  Actor 
Yuria Nara  Actor 
Frankie Jonas  Actor 
Hiroki Doi  Actor 
Tina Fey  Actor 
Tomoko Yamaguchi  Actor 
Matt Damon  Actor 
Kazushige Nagashima  Actor 
Cate Blanchett  Actor 
Yuki Amami  Actor 
Liam Neeson  Actor 
George Tokoro  Actor 
Lily Tomlin  Actor 
Betty White  Actor 
Cloris Leachman  Actor 
Kurt Knutsson  Actor 
Jenessa Rose  Actor 

Country: Japan