Ponyo 2008

     Sosuke is five years old and he lives on an ocean side cliff with his mother Lisa.  His father is a sailor and sometimes he needs to take extra shifts at sea.  Sosuke heads to the edge of the water to play with his boat and it’s designed just like the boat his father sails.  He rescues a beautiful goldfish trapped in a glass bottle and he names her Ponyo.  She isn’t an ordinary goldfish, she is the daughter of a wizard and a sea goddess.  She is still very young but she uses some of her father’s powerful elixir to turn herself into a young girl.  She doesn’t realize she has caused an imbalance in the world by using this magic.  The moon is drawing nearer to the earth and Ponyo’s father has sent mighty waves to find her.  The small village has never seen the ocean in such turmoil and there is heavy rain. 

     There is a lot of imagination and artistry in this film.  The ocean is very alive and the debris of human civilization is threatening the creatures and the water.  Ponyo is trapped in a bottle left behind by a human.  A bottom-scooping ship dredges up many items thrown into the water as trash.  The debris is not the focus of this film.  The love between Sosuke and Ponyo is the story.  4* (I really liked this movie)

101 min, Animation directed by Hayao Miyazaki with the voices of Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Noah Lindsey Cyrus, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, Betty White.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 92% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.