Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
Encyclopedia
, initially titled in English as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film
written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki
of Studio Ghibli
. It is Miyazaki's eighth film for Ghibli, and his tenth overall. The plot centers on a goldfish
named Ponyo who befriends a five-year-old human boy, Sōsuke, and wants to become a human girl.
The film has won several awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
. It was released in Japan on July 19, 2008, August 14, 2009 in the US and Canada and February 12, 2010 in the UK. The film reached #9 in the US box office charts for its opening weekend.
Ponyo and Fujimoto have a confrontation, during which Ponyo refuses to let her father call her by her birthname, "Brunhilde
." She declares her name to be Ponyo and voices her desire to become human, because she has started to fall in love with Sōsuke. Suddenly she starts to grow legs and turn into a human, a consequence of the human blood she swallowed when she licked Sōsuke's finger. Her father turns her back with difficulty and goes to summon Ponyo's mother, Granmamare. Meanwhile, Ponyo, with the help of her sisters, breaks away from her father and releases his magic to make herself human. The huge amount of magic released into the ocean causes an imbalance in the world, resulting in a huge tsunami
. Riding on the waves of the storm, Ponyo goes back to visit Sōsuke. Lisa, Sōsuke, and Ponyo wait out the storm at Sōsuke's house, and the next morning Lisa leaves to check up on the residents of the nursing home where she works.
Granmamare arrives at Fujimoto's submarine
. On her way there, Sōsuke's father has seen and recognized her as the Goddess of Mercy. Fujimoto notices the moon has come out of its orbit and satellite
s are falling like shooting stars. Granmamare declares that if Sōsuke can pass a test, Ponyo can live as a human and the world order will be restored. If he fails, Ponyo will turn into sea foam. Sōsuke and Ponyo wake up to find that most of the land around the house has been covered by the ocean. Lisa has not come home yet, so with the help of Ponyo's magic
, they make Sōsuke's toy boat
life-size and set out to find Lisa.
While traveling they see prehistoric fish swimming beneath them. After landing and finding Lisa's empty car, Ponyo and Sōsuke go through a tunnel. There Ponyo loses her human form and reverts into a fish. Sōsuke and Ponyo are taken by Fujimoto into the ocean and down to the protected nursing home where they are reunited with Lisa and meet Granmamare, both of whom have just had a long private conversation. Granmamare asks Sōsuke if he can love Ponyo whether she is a fish or human. Sōsuke replies that he "loves all the Ponyos." Granmamare then allows Ponyo to become human once Sōsuke kisses her on the surface. The film ends with Ponyo jumping up and kissing Sosuke, transforming into a little girl in mid-air.
, who said his inspiration was the Hans Christian Andersen
story, "The Little Mermaid
" but his inspiration was more abstract than a story. Production on Ponyo started October 2006.
Miyazaki was intimately involved with the hand-drawn animation in Ponyo. He preferred to draw the sea and waves himself, and enjoyed experimenting with how to express this important part of the film. This level of detailed drawing resulted in 170,000 separate images—a record for a Miyazaki film.
Ponyo's name is an onomatopoeia, based on Miyazaki's idea of what a "soft, squishy softness" sounds like when touched.
The seaside village where the story takes place is inspired by Tomonoura
, a real town in Setonaikai National Park
in Japan, where Miyazaki stayed in 2005. Some of the setting and story was affected by Richard Wagner
's opera Die Walküre
. The music also makes reference to Wagner's opera. The character of Sōsuke is based on Miyazaki's son Gorō Miyazaki
when he was five. Sōsuke 's name is taken from the hero in the famous novel The Gate.
The name of the ship on which Sōsuke's father works is Koganeimaru, a reference to Studio Ghibli's location in Koganei, Tokyo
. is a common ending for ship names.
on July 19, 2008, in theatres across Japan
on 481 screens—a record for a domestic film. It grossed ¥10 billion ($91 million) in its first month of release, and a total of ¥15.0 billion ($153.1 million) as of November 9, 2008.
Tokyo Anime Fair chose Ponyo as Animation of the Year of 2008, as revealed in a press release by Anime News Network
.
Ponyo was released in the U.S. and Canada on August 14, 2009 by Walt Disney Pictures
and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
, opening at a wide release at 927 theaters across America, which is by far the widest release for a Studio Ghibli film ever in the U.S, as compared to other Miyazaki films (Spirited Away
opened in 26 theaters, Howl's Moving Castle
opened in 36 theaters, and Princess Mononoke
opened in 38 theaters).
The film's English dub was directed by John Lasseter
, Brad Lewis
and Peter Sohn
of Pixar
and produced by Frank Marshall, Hayao Miyazaki
, John Lasseter, Steve Alpert, and Kathleen Kennedy; the English script was written by Melissa Mathison
.
In July 2009, there were multiple pre-screenings of the film in California. Miyazaki traveled to America to promote this film by speaking at the University of California, Berkeley
and the San Diego Comic-Con.
Ponyos eponymous theme song, "Gake no Ue no Ponyo
," was released ahead of the film on December 5, 2007, performed by Fujioka Fujimaki
(a duo consisting of Takaaki Fujioka and Naoya Fujimaki who are known for their underground band Marichans from the 1970s) and eight year old Nozomi Ōhashi
. It entered the top 100 on the Oricon
Weekly Charts on July 14, then rose to 24th on (July 21), then 6th on (July 28), and after the release of the film it ranked 3rd (August 4). By the end of 2008, it was ranked as the 14th highest selling single on the Oricon Yearly Charts. Ōhashi was also the youngest participant in the 59th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
, beating C-ute's Mai Hagiwara
's record at age 11. Afterward, Ōhashi announced her unit with Fujioka Fujimaki was disbanding.
An English-translated pop version of the theme was recorded by Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus, the voices of Sōsuke and Ponyo in the North American dub, to tie in with the film's English release. The theme plays over the second half of the English version's closing credits; the first half is merely a translated version of the theme rather than remix.
The film score
is by veteran composer Joe Hisaishi
, his ninth composer-director collaboration with Miyazaki. The score album
, published on compact disc
in Japan by Tokuma Japan Communications
, in South Korea
by Pony Canyon Korea
and throughout Europe
by Germany
-based label Colosseum, received a great deal of press in the West, including positive reviews from several veteran film music reviewers.
reported that the film has a "certified fresh" rating of 92%, based on 149 reviews (137 "Fresh"; 12 "Rotten"), with an average score of 7.7 and a Top Critics' score of 88%. The consensus is that "While not Miyazaki's best film, Ponyo is a visually stunning fairy tale that's a sweetly poetic treat for children and Miyazaki fans of all ages." Metacritic
reported a metascore of 86.
On its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, it made $3,585,852 on 927 screens, which is a per screen average of $3,868. It also opened at number nine at the United States and Canada box office. In the United States and Canada the film made a total of $15,090,399 at the box office. It was released on DVD
and Blu-ray
, as well as a DVD/Plush Toy pack, on March 2, 2010.
The Japan Times
gave the film four out of five stars, and praised the film's simple thematic elements and its visual scheme, and compared the film to Miyazaki's classic animation My Neighbor Totoro
.
Anime Diet cited the quality of the translation, noting, "The story and the core of the film was communicated more than adequately through the professional dub and it did not get in the way of the sheer delight and joy that Miyazaki wanted to convey." Citing "slight pacing problems," it gave Ponyo a rating of 88%. The pronunciation of Japanese names in the English cinema version varied between characters, however.
Critics at the Venice International Film Festival generally had high praise. Wendy Ide of The Times
said Ponyo "is as chaotic and exuberant as a story told by a hyperactive toddler," and gave it 4 stars out of 5. Film critic Roger Ebert
gave the film four out of four stars, the highest rank on his review scale, stating that, "There is a word to describe Ponyo, and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched. It's wonderful and never even seems to try: It unfolds fantastically."
The film was rated #2 on Dentsu
's list of "2008 Hit Products in Japan", after the Wii
console.
. It received a special mention in the Bologna
Future Film Festival, for "the high artistic and expressive quality of animation able to give form to wonderful imagination of the worldwide cinema master".
In 2009, Ponyo won five awards at the 8th annual Tokyo Anime Award
s. The awards included "Anime of the year" and "Best domestic feature". Miyazaki received the award for best director and best original story, and Noboru Yoshida received the award for best art direction.
The film won the awards for Animation of the Year
and Outstanding Achievement in Music at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize
.
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
of Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
. It is Miyazaki's eighth film for Ghibli, and his tenth overall. The plot centers on a goldfish
Goldfish
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
named Ponyo who befriends a five-year-old human boy, Sōsuke, and wants to become a human girl.
The film has won several awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
The of the Japan Academy Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Nippon Academy-sho association .-History:...
. It was released in Japan on July 19, 2008, August 14, 2009 in the US and Canada and February 12, 2010 in the UK. The film reached #9 in the US box office charts for its opening weekend.
Plot
Brunhilde (later "Ponyo") is a fish-girl who lives in an aquarium in her father Fujimoto's underwater castle with numerous smaller sisters. One day, when her father takes her and her siblings on an outing in his four-flippered submarine, Brunhilde is driven by a desire to see even more of the world and floats away on the back of a jellyfish. She ends up stranded on the shore of a small fishing town and is rescued by a boy named Sōsuke, who cuts his finger in the process. She licks his wound when he picks her up, and the wound heals almost instantly. After taking a great liking to her, Sōsuke names her Ponyo and promises to protect her forever. Meanwhile, Fujimoto is looking for his daughter. Upset that she ran away, he believes the humans have now kidnapped her, and he calls his wave spirits to return Ponyo to him. After the wave spirits take Ponyo away, Sōsuke is heartbroken and goes home with his mother, Lisa, who tries to cheer him up to no avail.Ponyo and Fujimoto have a confrontation, during which Ponyo refuses to let her father call her by her birthname, "Brunhilde
Brynhildr
Brynhildr is a shieldmaiden and a valkyrie in Norse mythology, where she appears as a main character in the Völsunga saga and some Eddic poems treating the same events. Under the name Brünnhilde she appears in the Nibelungenlied and therefore also in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des...
." She declares her name to be Ponyo and voices her desire to become human, because she has started to fall in love with Sōsuke. Suddenly she starts to grow legs and turn into a human, a consequence of the human blood she swallowed when she licked Sōsuke's finger. Her father turns her back with difficulty and goes to summon Ponyo's mother, Granmamare. Meanwhile, Ponyo, with the help of her sisters, breaks away from her father and releases his magic to make herself human. The huge amount of magic released into the ocean causes an imbalance in the world, resulting in a huge tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
. Riding on the waves of the storm, Ponyo goes back to visit Sōsuke. Lisa, Sōsuke, and Ponyo wait out the storm at Sōsuke's house, and the next morning Lisa leaves to check up on the residents of the nursing home where she works.
Granmamare arrives at Fujimoto's submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
. On her way there, Sōsuke's father has seen and recognized her as the Goddess of Mercy. Fujimoto notices the moon has come out of its orbit and satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s are falling like shooting stars. Granmamare declares that if Sōsuke can pass a test, Ponyo can live as a human and the world order will be restored. If he fails, Ponyo will turn into sea foam. Sōsuke and Ponyo wake up to find that most of the land around the house has been covered by the ocean. Lisa has not come home yet, so with the help of Ponyo's magic
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
, they make Sōsuke's toy boat
Pop pop boat
A pop-pop boat is a toy with a very simple heat engine without moving parts, powered by a candle or oil burner. The name comes from the noise the boats make. Other names are putt-putt boat, crazy boat, flash-steamer, hot-air-boat, pulsating water engine boat...
life-size and set out to find Lisa.
While traveling they see prehistoric fish swimming beneath them. After landing and finding Lisa's empty car, Ponyo and Sōsuke go through a tunnel. There Ponyo loses her human form and reverts into a fish. Sōsuke and Ponyo are taken by Fujimoto into the ocean and down to the protected nursing home where they are reunited with Lisa and meet Granmamare, both of whom have just had a long private conversation. Granmamare asks Sōsuke if he can love Ponyo whether she is a fish or human. Sōsuke replies that he "loves all the Ponyos." Granmamare then allows Ponyo to become human once Sōsuke kisses her on the surface. The film ends with Ponyo jumping up and kissing Sosuke, transforming into a little girl in mid-air.
Cast
- Yuria Nara (Noah CyrusNoah CyrusNoah Lindsey Cyrus is an American child actress. Noah Cyrus followed the footsteps of older sister Miley Cyrus also an actress, and landed her first job portraying Gracie Herbert in television series Doc at age three...
in the English adaption) as Ponyo, the daughter of Fujimoto and Granmammare. - Hiroki Doi (Frankie JonasFrankie JonasFranklin Nathaniel "Frankie" Jonas is an American actor, who had a recurring role on the Disney Channel sitcom, Jonas L.A.. His older brothers - Joe, Nick, and Kevin - are in the pop group the Jonas Brothers...
in the English adaption) as Sōsuke, five-year-old attendant of Himawari Nursery School ("Himawari" is the Japanese word for sunflowerSunflowerSunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
). - Tomoko YamaguchiTomoko Yamaguchiis a Japanese actress and singer from Tochigi. She is the lead actress for the classic j-drama Long Vacation, which features her starring alongside with Takuya Kimura.She has been married to Toshiaki Karasawa since 1995.-External links:...
(Tina FeyTina FeyElizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
in the English adaption) as Lisa, Sōsuke's mother. - Kazushige NagashimaKazushige Nagashimais a Japanese actor, sports commentator and former professional baseball player. His father is Japanese baseball legend, Shigeo Nagashima.-Biography:...
(Matt DamonMatt DamonMatthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
in the English adaption) as Kōichi, Sōsuke's father. - George TokoroGeorge Tokorois the stage name of Japanese tarento, singer-songwriter, comedian, Master of Ceremonies, and essayist . Born in Tokorozawa, Saitama, he attended Takushoku University's Commercial Science class.-Works:*ALF - ALF...
(Liam NeesonLiam NeesonLiam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
in the English adaption) as Fujimoto, Ponyo's father. Fujimoto is described as not being a villain, but rather as an overly protective and xenophobic father for whom the more he tried to intervene the more he pushed his daughter away. Miyazaki considered this to be common among Japanese fathers in this day and age.- Tokoro also voices the Suigyo, Fujimoto's wave-like minions.
- Yūki AmamiYuki Amamiis a Japanese actress.-Career:Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1987 and retired in 1995. Amami was the youngest actress in the company's history to be cast in a top male role...
(Cate BlanchettCate BlanchettCatherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
in the English adaption) as Granmamare, Ponyo's mother. - Akiko YanoAkiko Yanois a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer. She was born as Akiko Suzuki in Tokyo and raised in Aomori, Aomori, and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s...
as Ponyo's younger sisters, children of Fujimoto and Granmamare. - Kazuko YoshiyukiKazuko Yoshiyuki- Early life :Kazuko was born in Tokyo as a first daughter of Eisuke Yoshiyuki, a writer, and Aguri. She has an older brother, Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, a novelist, and a sister, Rie Yoshiyuki, a poet....
(Lily TomlinLily TomlinMary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
in the English adaption) as Toki, a powerchair-using resident of the Himawari House. While she complains frequently and is a bit grumpy, she occasionally shows her independent-minded, heroic nature. - Tomoko NaraokaTomoko Naraokais a Japanese actress and narrator. The daughter of a painter, she was born in Komagome, Hongō , in what was then the city of Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design....
(Betty WhiteBetty WhiteBetty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
in the English adaption) as Yoshie, a resident of the Himawari House. She uses a manual wheelchair. - Tokie Hidari (Cloris LeachmanCloris LeachmanCloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
in the English adaption) as Noriko, a resident of the Himawari House who does numerous things with Yoshie. She was formerly a career woman in her younger days. She also uses a manual wheelchair. - Rumi HiiragiRumi Hiiragiis a Japanese actress.-Profile:She began her career as a child actress while at the age of six, appearing in numerous commercials. In 1999, she appeared in the NHK asadora Suzuran, portraying the main character, Moe Tokiwa...
as the Young Mother, a woman in her 30s who Ponyo and Sōsuke run into during their journey to find Sōsuke's mother. - Shinichi Hatori (Kurt Knuttson in the English adaption) as The Announcer, a television news reporter who relays information about the hurricane.
- Emi Hiraoka (Jenessa Rose in the English adaption) as Kumiko, an attendant of Himawari Nursery School and a friend of Sōsuke.
- Nozomi ŌhashiNozomi Ōhashiis a Japanese child actress and singer attached to the Central Kodomo Gekidan talent agency.-Career:She made her drama debut at the age of three. On December 5, 2007, she debuted as a singer with the theme song for the animated film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.-Personal Life:Nozomi Ōhashi is the...
(Colleen O'ShaughnesseyColleen O'ShaughnesseyColleen Ann O'Shaughnessey is an American voice actress, perhaps best known for her roles as Sora from the first and second seasons of Digimon , Jazz Fenton in Danny Phantom, Ino Yamanaka and Konohamaru in Naruto.She has also worked in the video game industry where she voiced Genis Sage in...
in the English adaption) as Karen, an attendant of Himawari Nursery School.
Production
The film was written, directed, and animated by Hayao MiyazakiHayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
, who said his inspiration was the Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
story, "The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
" but his inspiration was more abstract than a story. Production on Ponyo started October 2006.
Miyazaki was intimately involved with the hand-drawn animation in Ponyo. He preferred to draw the sea and waves himself, and enjoyed experimenting with how to express this important part of the film. This level of detailed drawing resulted in 170,000 separate images—a record for a Miyazaki film.
Ponyo's name is an onomatopoeia, based on Miyazaki's idea of what a "soft, squishy softness" sounds like when touched.
The seaside village where the story takes place is inspired by Tomonoura
Tomonoura
, formerly known as , is a port in Ichichi ward of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It is located on the southern point of the Numakuma Peninsula, and has been a prosperous port and bay area since ancient times. Its unique circular harbor shape was preserved even when modern port facilities...
, a real town in Setonaikai National Park
Setonaikai National Park
is a national park that covers the entire expanse of Japan's Inland Sea. It was designated a national park in 1934. It contains about 3,000 islands. The well-known Itsukushima Island lies within the park.-External links:...
in Japan, where Miyazaki stayed in 2005. Some of the setting and story was affected by Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
. The music also makes reference to Wagner's opera. The character of Sōsuke is based on Miyazaki's son Gorō Miyazaki
Goro Miyazaki
is a Japanese film director of anime feature films, like his internationally-known father Hayao Miyazaki. Described as "reluctant" to follow his father's career, for decades Gorō chose to work in landscaping rather than animation....
when he was five. Sōsuke 's name is taken from the hero in the famous novel The Gate.
The name of the ship on which Sōsuke's father works is Koganeimaru, a reference to Studio Ghibli's location in Koganei, Tokyo
Koganei, Tokyo
is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of July 1, 2011, the city has an officially registered population of 116,055 with 56,296 households and a population density of 10,243.16 persons per km²...
. is a common ending for ship names.
Japan
The film was released by TohoToho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
on July 19, 2008, in theatres across Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on 481 screens—a record for a domestic film. It grossed ¥10 billion ($91 million) in its first month of release, and a total of ¥15.0 billion ($153.1 million) as of November 9, 2008.
Tokyo Anime Fair chose Ponyo as Animation of the Year of 2008, as revealed in a press release by Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
.
North America
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
The Kennedy/Marshall Company
The Kennedy/Marshall Company ' is an American film-production company, based in Santa Monica, California, founded in 1992 by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, who are married....
, opening at a wide release at 927 theaters across America, which is by far the widest release for a Studio Ghibli film ever in the U.S, as compared to other Miyazaki films (Spirited Away
Spirited Away
is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy-adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film tells the story of Chihiro Ogino, a sullen ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood and after her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba,...
opened in 26 theaters, Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle (film)
is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones...
opened in 36 theaters, and Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke
is a 1997 epic Japanese animated historical fantasy feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. is not a name, but a general term in the Japanese language for a spirit or monster...
opened in 38 theaters).
The film's English dub was directed by John Lasseter
John Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering....
, Brad Lewis
Brad Lewis
Bradford "Brad" Lewis is an American film producer, animation director and local politician. He produced DreamWorks' Antz and, for Pixar, the Oscar winning Ratatouille. He is a former mayor of the city of San Carlos, California....
and Peter Sohn
Peter Sohn
Peter Sohn is an American animator, voice actor and storyboard artist at Pixar Animation Studios.,Sohn started his career with Pixar in the art and story departments for Finding Nemo. He also worked on The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E. Sohn also performed the voice of Emile in Ratatouille...
of Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
and produced by Frank Marshall, Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
, John Lasseter, Steve Alpert, and Kathleen Kennedy; the English script was written by Melissa Mathison
Melissa Mathison
Melissa Mathison , sometimes credited as Josh Rogan, is an American film and television screenwriter.-Career:She is perhaps most notable for writing the screenplays for the films E.T...
.
In July 2009, there were multiple pre-screenings of the film in California. Miyazaki traveled to America to promote this film by speaking at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and the San Diego Comic-Con.
Soundtrack
Gake no Ue no Ponyo (song)
is the eponymous theme song to the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo, released on December 5, 2007...
," was released ahead of the film on December 5, 2007, performed by Fujioka Fujimaki
Fujioka Fujimaki
is a Japanese folk band, created from two members of the 1970s novelty group , and . They are best known for their collaboration with then eight year old singer Nozomi Ōhashi for the theme song of the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo.-Biography:...
(a duo consisting of Takaaki Fujioka and Naoya Fujimaki who are known for their underground band Marichans from the 1970s) and eight year old Nozomi Ōhashi
Nozomi Ōhashi
is a Japanese child actress and singer attached to the Central Kodomo Gekidan talent agency.-Career:She made her drama debut at the age of three. On December 5, 2007, she debuted as a singer with the theme song for the animated film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.-Personal Life:Nozomi Ōhashi is the...
. It entered the top 100 on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
Weekly Charts on July 14, then rose to 24th on (July 21), then 6th on (July 28), and after the release of the film it ranked 3rd (August 4). By the end of 2008, it was ranked as the 14th highest selling single on the Oricon Yearly Charts. Ōhashi was also the youngest participant in the 59th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen
59th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen
The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", was aired on December 31, 2008 from NHK Hall in Japan.- Hosts :*Red team host: Yukie Nakama*White team host: Masahiro Nakai*Mediators: Kazuya Matsumoto and Fumie Ono...
, beating C-ute's Mai Hagiwara
Mai Hagiwara
is a Japanese pop singer, currently a member of C-ute and Hello! Project Kids.Hagiwara joined Hello! Project after passing the 2002 Hello! Project Kids audition. She is the youngest out of the fifteen Hello! Project Kids and is also the youngest member in C-ute. As a member of Hello! Project, she...
's record at age 11. Afterward, Ōhashi announced her unit with Fujioka Fujimaki was disbanding.
An English-translated pop version of the theme was recorded by Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus, the voices of Sōsuke and Ponyo in the North American dub, to tie in with the film's English release. The theme plays over the second half of the English version's closing credits; the first half is merely a translated version of the theme rather than remix.
The film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
is by veteran composer Joe Hisaishi
Joe Hisaishi
, known professionally as , is a composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981.While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic,...
, his ninth composer-director collaboration with Miyazaki. The score album
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, published on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in Japan by Tokuma Japan Communications
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...
, in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
by Pony Canyon Korea
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
and throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-based label Colosseum, received a great deal of press in the West, including positive reviews from several veteran film music reviewers.
Reception
The film has received considerable critical acclaim. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that the film has a "certified fresh" rating of 92%, based on 149 reviews (137 "Fresh"; 12 "Rotten"), with an average score of 7.7 and a Top Critics' score of 88%. The consensus is that "While not Miyazaki's best film, Ponyo is a visually stunning fairy tale that's a sweetly poetic treat for children and Miyazaki fans of all ages." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported a metascore of 86.
On its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, it made $3,585,852 on 927 screens, which is a per screen average of $3,868. It also opened at number nine at the United States and Canada box office. In the United States and Canada the film made a total of $15,090,399 at the box office. It was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, as well as a DVD/Plush Toy pack, on March 2, 2010.
The Japan Times
The Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
gave the film four out of five stars, and praised the film's simple thematic elements and its visual scheme, and compared the film to Miyazaki's classic animation My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro
, is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan...
.
Anime Diet cited the quality of the translation, noting, "The story and the core of the film was communicated more than adequately through the professional dub and it did not get in the way of the sheer delight and joy that Miyazaki wanted to convey." Citing "slight pacing problems," it gave Ponyo a rating of 88%. The pronunciation of Japanese names in the English cinema version varied between characters, however.
Critics at the Venice International Film Festival generally had high praise. Wendy Ide of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
said Ponyo "is as chaotic and exuberant as a story told by a hyperactive toddler," and gave it 4 stars out of 5. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film four out of four stars, the highest rank on his review scale, stating that, "There is a word to describe Ponyo, and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched. It's wonderful and never even seems to try: It unfolds fantastically."
The film was rated #2 on Dentsu
Dentsu
is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. Its headquarters are located in the Dentsu Building in the Shiodome district of Minato, Tokyo....
's list of "2008 Hit Products in Japan", after the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console.
Awards
Ponyo was an entrant in the 65th Venice International Film Festival65th Venice International Film Festival
The 65th Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was opened on August 27, 2008 by Burn After Reading, and closed on September 6, 2008....
. It received a special mention in the Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
Future Film Festival, for "the high artistic and expressive quality of animation able to give form to wonderful imagination of the worldwide cinema master".
In 2009, Ponyo won five awards at the 8th annual Tokyo Anime Award
Tokyo Anime Award
The Tokyo Anime Award started from 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third awards were only named simply 'Competition'. The award ceremony is held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair....
s. The awards included "Anime of the year" and "Best domestic feature". Miyazaki received the award for best director and best original story, and Noboru Yoshida received the award for best art direction.
The film won the awards for Animation of the Year
Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year
The of the Japan Academy Prize is one of the annual Awards given by the Nippon Academy-sho association .-History:...
and Outstanding Achievement in Music at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize
32nd Japan Academy Prize
The 32nd Annual Japan Academy Prize ceremony was held by the Japan Academy Prize Association to honor its selection of the best films of 2008 on February 20, 2009. NTV was broadcast the event, which will take place again at Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan...
.
Further reading
- "Japan's fantasy films act as a buffer against the reality of the natural world" -(The Guardian & Le Monde)