Miyazaki Madness, Part 11: "Ponyo", Ponyo, Little Fishy in the Sea
Or "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" as Ghibli officials calls it
On Thursdays, I’m publishing reviews of classic movies, including pieces that have never appeared online before taken from my book 200 Reviews, available now in Paperback or on Kindle (which you should really consider buying, because it’s an awesome collection!). In this series, we are examining the filmography of my all-time favorite movie director - and newly minted two-time Oscar winner with his win for The Boy and the Heron - Hayao Miyazaki! We will be looking at all of his theatrical feature films along with the movies he wrote but did not direct, for a total of 15 weeks of Miyazaki Madness! The series continues today with the stunningly beautiful Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. Enjoy…
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
2008, Dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Originally published August 14th, 2009, for The Denver Post’s YourHub, Online
Children’s movies are at their best when both kids and adults can enjoy them equally, or at least with similar intensity, finding new layers of enjoyment as they get older. This is not uncommon in the world of family entertainment, but it is rare indeed for a film aimed directly at children to transcend this notion, working so beautifully that it makes the adults in the audience feel like children once more. That is the mark of a true masterpiece.
Legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki has arguably never made a film that could not be described with that word: My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, to name but a few. His latest work, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (released in the United States just as Ponyo), is a return to the director’s earlier years of light, fun children’s entertainment, but adults will enjoy it just as much as the little ones. The film operates outside any strict age line, and is, like many of its predecessors, a true masterpiece of modern animation.
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