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From Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, how may very well be the most famous anime maker in the world at this point, Ponyo On A Cliff
was released in Japan in 2008, where it quickly became the #1 film of
the year, earning over ¥14.9 billion (over $155 million US) and
becoming Japan's 8th highest grossing film. No surprise at all that
Walt Disney snapped it up, calling it simply Ponyo. Ponyo is a fantasy story that some say is very loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid (didn't see much of that myself). Of course the focus is on the titular character, Ponyo, a little sea creature called a "goldfish", who is one of the many daughters of the sorcerer Fujimoto, who was apparently once human, and the sea goddess Gran Mamare. Fujimoto, who hates humans, is apparently is in charge of raising their many children. He keeps them in a house under the sea in a bubble, taking them for "walks" of a sort. The oldest of the kids, is a curious sort, though, and wants more freedom, so one day she "escapes".
She eventually finds herself near a coast line where she meets a human boy, Sosuke, and becomes his "pet". He names her Ponyo, carries her around in a bucket, feeds her ham (which she apparently loves), and grows quite fond of her. He also realizes she has some unusual powers, such as healing a cut on his finger. Eventually her frantic father retrieves her, but Ponyo wants to stay with Sosuke. Through her determination and with her sisters' help, she escapes again, but her power's go a bit heywire. While she is making her way back to Sosuke, she manages to turn herself into a human, but unknowningly causes a massive storm at sea that eventually causes a lot of damage and threatens Sosuke's home city. Once her mother calms the storm, Ponyo and Sosuke go searching the aftermath for his missing mother (or possibly stepmother...it is never really clear to me).
Disney's DVD release, titled simply Ponyo, includes the original Japanese audio track with subtitles, and an all star English dub cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Cloris Leachman, Tina Fey, Betty White, and Liam Neeson. I have only watched it with the original Japanese, so I can't comment much on the English dub other than to say that the clips I've seen seemed pretty high quality and well-acted. As for how close the dub is actual original script, I would expect it to have mostly minor variations though I would be curious to know how they handled the innocent romance aspect. In general, I'd recommend watching both, if you can, as the English dub cast does do their own spins on the characters. For example, in the original Japanese, Fujimoto is often frantic and seemingly half-insane, while Liam Neeson gives him a calmer, more tiredly cynical air.
Of course, beying a Miyazaki work, the animation is fantastic and the original music is good. The scene of Ponyo running on the waves as she tries to rejoin Sosuke is particularly awesome. Ponyo and Sosuke are fairly simple characters, with the latter being a 5 year old child, and Ponyo seeming to have the same basic mentality. The adult characters are, to me, quite interesting and very complex, but alas they are largely left unexplored. Fujimoto initially comes across as a cruel father, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear he is a good man who is simply trying to do what he thinks it best to protect his unusual children from the world. It is clear that there is some interesting back story to this man, but due to the focus and target audience, it is totally unexplored. We never find out what negative experiences made him turn from humanity and feel he needed to shield his children from ever knowing them, or how he met and apparently made kids with a goddess. And Sosuke's mother seems to have a love/hate thing with her husband, who apparently is gone for long stretches at sea and has a habit of saying he'll be home then not arriving.
Ponyo is very clearly aimed at younger viewers, with the story skipping over some of the more complex elements it could explore, such as the seemingly odd relationship between Fujimoto and Gran Mamare, why Sosuke calls his parents by their first names, Ponyo's seemingly random mix of powers, etc. Though the storm is shown as very serious, no one seems to actually die or really suffer beyond having to relocate for a short time. The main focus seems to be Ponyo's learning to be human and her reactions to new experiences. While the ending attempts to throw out a bit of seriousness, it is definately kept fully in the level appropriate for younger kids, and it is resolved in a very basic, lets leave out any real explanations, fashion one might expect from a story with such a focus. To be sure, it is more complex than we'd see with, say an American film aimed at the same audience, but adult viewers will likely find themselves left with more questions than answers on the story elements. If you have kids, it is a great one for introducing them anime, but otherwise, at most I'd rate it a rental. While I enjoyed it, it isn't one I'm inclined to watch again.
Rating: B (for adults), A (for kids)
