Ponyo (2008)

Hayao Miyazaki has spent the better part of five decades redefining what animation can be, and Ponyo, released in Japan in the summer of 2008, sits comfortably within that body of work even if it occupies a slightly different register to some of his more celebrated pictures. The story draws loose inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, though Miyazaki reshapes it into something altogether more personal and more rooted in the everyday rhythms of coastal Japanese life. The setting, a small fishing town perched above a restless sea, was reportedly influenced by the town of Tomonoura in Hiroshima Prefecture, and that sense of a real, observed place gives the film a warmth that pure fantasy alone rarely manages. Where some Miyazaki films carry weighty ecological or political concerns, Ponyo is more content to sit at a child's eye level and simply look at the world with wonder.

The production is pure Studio Ghibli, co-distributed in Japan by TOHO and Nippon Television Network Corporation, and made entirely without computer-generated imagery, a conscious choice on Miyazaki's part at a time when the rest of the industry was moving firmly in the other direction. The result is animation of a recognisably hand-crafted quality, with the water sequences in particular reportedly requiring an enormous number of hand-drawn frames to achieve their fluid, almost overwhelming energy. Miyazaki had already given audiences My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky, each directed by Miyazaki himself, and Ponyo sits in that same tradition of child-centred adventure with a gentle emotional core. The film runs a tight 100 minutes, which is relatively lean by Ghibli standards, and that brevity is both a virtue and, depending on your expectations, a small limitation.

The Japanese voice cast is led by Yuria Kozuki as Ponyo and Hiroki Doi as Sosuke, two child performers who bring a guileless, unaffected quality to the central friendship. Supporting them are George Tokoro as Ponyo's sorcerer father, Fujimoto, a figure who could easily have been a straightforward villain but comes across as something more conflicted and sympathetic, and Tomoko Yamaguchi and Yuki Amami in key adult roles. The film was also released in an English-language dubbed version for Western markets, though the original Japanese track is what most audiences who seek the film out will be watching. For those who have followed Miyazaki's career and reviewed his wider output, Ponyo represents an interesting case: polished but unhurried, imaginative but accessible, and deliberately pitched at a younger audience than some of his other work. If you're curious how it compares to other animated features from outside the Ghibli world, it's worth reading the thoughts on Josep, another animation that takes a very different approach to the form.

Not top-tier Ghibli for me, but still a beautifully animated, heartwarming ride. Studio Ghibli could animate a puddle and make it look like a masterpiece, and Ponyo proves that. The water animation is insanely good. The vibrant world feels like it was pulled directly onto the screen from real life. Pure magic. It’s like watching a childhood fever dream unfold in the best way possible. That said, this one leans a little more on the whimsical, "this is a kids film more than a family film" side of Ghibli. It’s charming, it’s sweet, but it doesn’t hit quite as hard as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. The story is simple, almost too simple at times, but damn if it isn’t endearing.

That tension between charm and substance is something I keep coming back to with Ponyo. It never tries to be more than it is, and there's something genuinely refreshing about that, but it does mean you walk away feeling a little less affected than you might after some of Miyazaki's other work. For me, it's the kind of film I'd happily put on for a younger family member without a second thought, knowing full well they'd be utterly rapt, even if I spent part of it wishing the story had a bit more to chew on. The craft is never in question. It's the ambition that's set slightly lower than usual. A lovely afternoon watch, in the end, just not the one I'd start someone off on.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 2008  | Watched: 2010-03-03

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Ponyo (2008) on YouTube

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Kids · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Hayao Miyazaki: Castle in the Sky (1986) · Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) · Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) · My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
More from Japan: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Blue (1993) · The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More fantasy: Viy (1967) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)