Ponyo (Blu-ray)

Inspired by Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Miyazaki’s latest Studio Ghibli outing tells the story of Sosuke, a five-year-old boy living with his mother and father in a small fishing village. When Sosuke finds a strange looking fish trapped in a jar, he adopts his new pal as his pet and names it Ponyo. However, little does Sosuke know that Ponyo is in actual fact the escaped daughter of an undersea wizard, whose journey to the human world could well cause a great unbalance across the globe.

Just how does Hayao Miyazaki do it? Even in the opening, dialogue-free segments, there is so much poetic beauty and magic in Ponyo that one can’t help but wonder if the director is in fact the finest animator that ever lived (or at the very least a guy that gives old Walt a run for his money).

Beautifully crafted with wondrous 2D animation and enough charm to fully engulf the imaginations of adults and kids in equal measure (indeed, this is one of Ghibli’s more kid-accessible adventures), Ponyo is yet another magical mystical tour-de-force from Japan’s finest. Be it a fantasy epic, ecological cautionary tale, an acutely observed family drama or all of the above and more, Ponyo is a gripping, beautiful and cute as a button offering from the world’s only studio specialising in traditional animation, and you’ve got to love them for it.

The Ponyo Blu-ray sees the Ghibli animation looking more dazzling than ever, with sharp detail and vibrant colours that leap from the screen. The rich, clean picture throughout is complimented by the wonderful audio, with an impressive 6.1 DTS soundtrack on the Japanese version, while the PCM English version offers up a decent sound balance and nice clean dialogue also.

The special features are excellent, complete with an endless list of featurettes which include interviews with the crew (including Miyazaki himself), plus an in-depth and fascinating ‘The Five Geniuses Who Created Ponyo’ documentary.

Overall Verdict: A magical Blu-ray. Ponyo is one hell of a catch.

Special Features:
Storyboards
‘Meet Ponyo’ Featurette
‘A Conversation With Hayao Miyazaki and John Lassetter’ Featurette
‘Behind The Microphone: The Voices Of Ponyo’ Featurette
‘Creating Ponyo’ Featurette
‘Ponyo and Fujimoto’ Featurette
‘The Nursery’ Featurette
‘Scoring Miyazaki’ Featurette
‘Telling The Story’ Featurette
‘The Locations In Ponyo’ Featurette
‘The Five Geniuses Who Created Ponyo’ Documentary
Hayao Miyazaki Interview
Toshio Suzuki Interview
‘Dubbing Session’ Featurette
Music Video
Trailers
TV Spots

Reviewer: Lee Griffiths